The Weinstein Deposition (Orlikow, 1988) — A Subject's Own Words
nodeIntelligence & Surveillance
They damaged his memory, then cross-examined him on the dates he couldn't remember.
Who they are
One of the nine Subproject 68 plaintiffs, questioned by government lawyers in Orlikow v. United States.
What they do
To have his claim thrown out as too late, the government had to prove he had found out years earlier.
How it works
His answers, as reproduced in the judgment: 'Well I couldn't tell you exactly. I wouldn't know just when it was. That's impossible for me to know. I don't know.' 'It was in the paper, the newspaper.' 'No I don't know what was said. I read it at the time, but I don't know.' His family had learned of it from an article about a journalist's book: his son 'feared that his father's condition was too fragile to broach the subject'.
Why it matters
Nobody from the government ever told him. He found out from a newspaper, because a journalist filed a freedom-of-information request — and then that newspaper was used to argue he had waited too long.
The engine's record — word for word
[Report #191] The subject-side record, in the subject's words, from the same decision that supplies the programme's dates. The government's limitations defence required fixing the date on which each plaintiff learned what had been done to him. The treatment at issue had damaged memory. Reproduced verbatim in the decision: 'Q. Okay. Your Interrogatory answers state that you learned in the 1980 about the Marks book. Does that sound right to you, timewise. A. Well I couldn't tell you exactly. I wouldn't know just when it was. That's impossible for me to know. I don't know. Q. How did you learn about Mrs. Orlikow's lawsuit, the one that you are currently a member of? A. It was in the paper, the newspaper. Q. Do you recall what was said in the newspaper? A. No I don't know what was said. I read it at the time, but I don't know. I don't recall what was said.' How the family learned at all: 'Dr. Weinstein claims that he read about the CIA funding in an article about John Mark's book and feared that his father's condition was too fragile to broach the subject. After informing his mother, the information was conveyed to Mr. Weinstein who became very upset and was unable to discuss it.' The route of disclosure was a journalist's FOIA request and the book written from it, then a newspaper. Held alongside mkultra_subjects_never_notified, in which the agency is recorded refusing to release the names.
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