Filmmaker Oliver Stone on Tuesday referred to as for Congress to reopen the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, attempting to revive unfounded conspiracy theories greater than six a long time after the 1963 killing that shook the nation.
Stone, who raised the theories in his 1991 film “JFK,” testified earlier than a Home Activity Drive on the Declassification of Federal Secrets and techniques listening to on final month’s launch of lately declassified data of the investigation.
“I ask the committee to reopen what the Warren Fee failed miserably to finish. I ask you, in good religion, outdoors all political issues, to reinvestigate the assassination of this President Kennedy, from the scene of the crime to the courtroom,” he mentioned in his opening remarks.
Stone, as he is performed earlier than with out offering conclusive proof, took intention on the Central Intelligence Company. “Allow us to reinvestigate the fingerprints of intelligence throughout Lee Harvey Oswald from 1959 to 1960 his violent demise in 1963 and most significantly this CIA, whose muddy footprints are throughout,” he mentioned.
Filmmaker Oliver Stone (C) arrives to testify earlier than the Home Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s Activity Drive on the declassification of federal secrets and techniques on the JFK information, following the current launch of information by the Trump administration, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 1, 2025.
Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Photos
In March, the federal government rapidly launched greater than 2000 paperwork totaling roughly 80,000 pages. Most of what the federal government launched was not new — in truth, a lot of what attracted consideration on social media and in information reviews had lengthy been within the public area, apart from minor redactions, such because the blacking out of personally-identifiable info of CIA sources or staff (names and addresses) which have now been disclosed.
The newly-declassified variations of those paperwork didn’t substantively change what is thought in regards to the central Warren Fee discovering that Stone has referred to as into query: that Oswald was the lone gunman.
However they did make clear particulars of mid-Twentieth century espionage that the CIA had fiercely fought to maintain secret and which might be treasure trove for historians and students.
Republican committee members on Tuesday pushed claims, additionally with out proof, in regards to the investigations into JFK’s demise, repeatedly getting information surrounding the probes mistaken and even yielding their time to permit witnesses to freely speak about theories quite than asking questions.
On this Could 20, 2024, file picture, Oliver Stone attends the 77th annual Cannes Movie Competition at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France.
Daniele Venturelli/WireImage through Getty Photos, FILE
Whereas praising the Trump administration for the discharge of the JFK paperwork, in addition they pushed unfounded claims that not all info has been made publicly out there, questioning whether or not the general public would ever actually know what occurred.
Democrats on the subcommittee sought to concentrate on what they referenced as the reality, dissuading their colleagues and witnesses from drifting into conspiracy theories whereas criticizing the rollout of the declassified paperwork.
Stone’s movie centered on the work of New Orleans District Lawyer Jim Garrison, who carried out an impartial investigation of the assassination, leading to his failed prosecution of New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw, who Garrison alleged was concerned in a CIA conspiracy to kill the president.
The movie was a industrial and important success, grossing $205 million and profitable two Academy Awards. It was credited with popularizing conspiracy theories of FBI and CIA involvement within the Kennedy assassination.
The movie was credited by the Assassination Information Assessment Board as being at the least partially chargeable for the passage of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Information Assortment Act of 1992. Stone testified earlier than Congress in assist of that invoice. The act mandated the discharge of all paperwork associated to the assassination by 2017, although that timeline was delayed a number of occasions.
The film’s launch additionally coincided with an elevated diploma of public skepticism within the Warren Fee discovering that Oswald acted alone.
Gallup polling as current as 2023 has constantly proven {that a} majority of People has constantly believed a couple of individual was chargeable for the assassination. The quantity believing the official conclusion of a lone gunman noticed a pointy decline within the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties, reaching an all-time low of 10% in 1992.
ABC Information’ Ely Brown contributed to this report.