[1][3] He stated the court was ordered by superiors to ascribe the attack to an accident, rather than to deliberate hostility,[4] and that the original findings he signed were later modified by government attorneys.
[5] As senior legal counsel for the Navy's Court of Inquiry, in 1967, Boston, together with Commander-in-Chief Naval Forces Europe and the Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd Jr., were given one week by Admiral John S. McCain Jr. to investigate the USS Liberty incident; They produced a three-inch thick report after gathering evidence from survivors who were still on board.
[6] The Court decided that there was insufficient evidence to make a decision regarding why Israel attacked the ship, but stopped short of assigning guilt or ruling that it was an accident.
I saw the flag, which had visibly identified the ship as American, riddled with bullet holes, and heard testimony that made it clear that the Israelis intended there be no survivors…I know from personal conversations I had with Admiral Kidd that President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered him to conclude that the attack was a case of “mistaken identity” despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.” He also confirmed that the court of inquiry transcript had been altered before becoming part of the official record, “I know that the Court of Inquiry transcript that has been released to the public is not the same one that I certified and sent off to Washington.
Finally, the testimony of Lt. Painter concerning the deliberate machine gunning of the life rafts by the Israeli torpedo boat crews, which I distinctly recall being given at the Court of Inquiry and included in the original transcript, is now missing and has been excised.”[10] In 2007, Cristol suggested that another individual helped Boston with his initial affidavit and declaration, and very likely wrote or assisted in the preparation of a June 8, 2007, article; he claimed this was part of a much broader propaganda effort emanating from "a small but well-funded and very vocal group of people and organizations principally supported by Saudi Arabian money".