Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone, renowned for his 1991 film “JFK” which depicted President John F. Kennedy’s assassination as the result of a government conspiracy, appealed for a fresh congressional investigation during a hearing that gave voice to various conspiracy theories.
The House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets conducted a freewheeling hearing in which partisan grievances were prominently featured, following the recent release of multiple government documents linked to the assassination. The Republican chair of the task force began the proceedings by questioning the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when shooting Kennedy during a motorcade in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Scholars argue that the documents President Donald Trump ordered to be disclosed do not contradict the conclusion that Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman. Many of these documents had been released before but now were less redacted, revealing sensitive information like Social Security numbers, and raising concerns over exposed personal information.
Stone’s “JFK” received eight Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and won two, grossing over $200 million. However, it faced scrutiny regarding its historical accuracy. Stone testified that the delayed release of unredacted records had stifled “clarity” about the true circumstances of JFK’s assassination.
He proposed a comprehensive investigation “unaffected by political considerations” starting from the crime scene itself to reexamine all evidence from the assassination day. Academics and historians maintain strong evidence supporting that Oswald, a 24-year-old ex-Marine, acted alone.
“Can we go back to a time when we trust our government to be honest with us, for whom this government exists?” Stone queried. “This is our democracy. This is our presidency. It belongs to us.”
Task force chair Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida claimed previous administrations were engaged in obstruction.
Testifying as a witness, counsel John Davisson from the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center criticized the Trump administration’s approach to the recent JFK document release, suggesting its process was “hurried” and hinted that the National Archives and Records Administration bypassed privacy-protection procedures.
Following Davisson’s remarks, Democrats on the task force criticized the Trump administration over an array of issues. “I find it amusing that the Republicans here are questioning if CIA agents lied 60 years ago,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett from a Texas district that partly includes Dallas.
Crockett proposed that Congress should focus on examining recent revelations concerning top national security officials discussing critical attack plans via a messaging app, inadvertently pulling a journalist into the group conversation.
The last formal congressional investigation into Kennedy’s assassination spanned three years, concluding in 1978, with a House Committee report that dismissed the involvement of the Soviet Union, Cuba, organized crime, the CIA, and the FBI, although suggesting Kennedy’s assassination might have resulted from a conspiracy. A 1976 Senate committee did not uncover sufficient proof for confirming a conspiracy.
The Warren Commission, established by Kennedy’s successor President Lyndon B. Johnson, determined that Oswald shot from a sixth-floor sniper’s perch in the Texas School Book Depository, his workplace. Oswald was arrested within 90 minutes and was killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby during a jail transfer shown live on TV two days later.
For the recent hearing, the task force brought in Jefferson Morley and James DiEugenio, authors suggesting conspiracies in the assassination narrative. Morley also edits the JFK Facts blog and serves as vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a depository for assassination-related files.