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Acclaimed filmmaker Oliver Stone, known for his Oscar-winning work, is scheduled to address Congress on Tuesday regarding newly released documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. His 1991 film, “JFK,” suggested that a conspiracy within the government was involved in Kennedy’s death, a theory that has been a subject of extensive debate.
However, experts indicate that the documents released under former President Donald Trump’s directive do not challenge the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination. A review by CBS News of the declassified materials suggested that no groundbreaking revelations emerged from this latest release. Many of the documents had been previously disclosed but now contain lifted redactions, leading to concerns over the exposure of personal information such as Social Security numbers.
This upcoming hearing marks the first meeting of the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, occurring decades after the Warren Commission’s investigation, which determined that Oswald, a former Marine aged 24, was solely responsible for shooting Kennedy during a motorcade in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Chairing the task force, Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna from Florida has expressed a desire to collaborate with historians and authors in unraveling what she describes as “one of the biggest cold case files in U.S. history.” Contrarily, many historians and scholars maintain that the evidence supporting Oswald’s sole role is compelling and that the assassination should not be classified as a cold case.
Stone’s “JFK” received eight Academy Award nominations and secured two wins, with a box office take exceeding $200 million, yet it has faced criticism over its historical accuracy.
The most recent formal congressional investigation into Kennedy’s assassination concluded in 1978, with a House committee’s report suggesting no direct involvement from the Soviet Union, Cuba, organized crime, the CIA, or the FBI, although it did propose that Kennedy likely was the victim of a conspiracy. Additionally, a 1976 Senate committee determined that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to confirm any conspiracy.
The Warren Commission, established by President Lyndon B. Johnson following Kennedy’s assassination, found that Oswald fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, where he was employed. He was apprehended within 90 minutes of the shooting, and two days later, he was killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby in a highly publicized incident during a jail transfer.
For the Tuesday hearing, the task force has also extended invitations to authors Jefferson Morley and James DiEugenio, both of whom advocate for conspiracy theories concerning the assassination. Morley serves as the editor of the JFK Facts blog and is vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, which archives documents related to the case. He commended Rep. Luna for her willingness to consider new information about the assassination.
Upon assuming office, former President Trump initiated actions to declassify certain documents related not only to Kennedy’s assassination but also to those of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. The documents pertaining to JFK’s assassination are accessible through a portal maintained by the National Archives, available here.
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