Democrats decry 'sloppy and rushed' release of JFK files during task force hearing

House Democrats on Tuesday decried the Trump administration’s rollout of records related to the 1963 assassination of former President Kennedy, raising concerns about the release of personal information even as they agreed with Republican colleagues that there was value in accessing the files.

“We’ve got to have transparency so that we can learn to be better, so that we can hold agencies accountable. But being reckless with this sensitive information is also not the way to do it,” said Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) during a hearing focused on the flood of so-called “JFK files.”

“Unfortunately, the rollout of documents that we’ve seen so far has been sloppy and rushed. The release didn’t really give us a smoking gun, but it did produce plenty of collateral damage,” Lee said.

An executive order from President Trump prompted the National Archives to release thousands of files related to Kennedy’s killing. Through unredacted documents, hundreds of Social Security numbers and other personal data were made public, putting some living individuals named in the records at risk.

Though Democrats on the committee largely said there was value in examining previously classified information, Lee and others sounded alarm about the risks of releasing materials without regard for personal data. 

“We know that in the past the government has over-classified documents. … Over-classification at the expense of transparency is something we should all take seriously. But also note that it’s incredibly serious and a delicate subject,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.

Later in the hearing, Garcia stressed his concern that “a lot of personal information” had been released during the document rollout that has “actually caused harm to folks.” 

John Davisson, senior counsel and director of litigation at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, testified that the National Archives were aware that the documents included sensitive personal information – and completed the document release “without taking the steps that are ordinarily taken to redact that information and to ensure the privacy is protected.”

“There’s a whole host of harms that can come from that,” Davisson said, pointing out the possibility of identity fraud and other issues. 

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in a release acknowledged that files went out without redactions and contained the personal identification information of some living individuals. Along with the Social Security Administration, NARA said it’s now working “to protect the individuals who may be affected from their information being exploited.” 

Officials at the White House have also said there’s a plan in place to help those affected by the document release, according to the Associated Press, but Davisson argued that significant harm can still happen in the meantime. 

Also testifying before the committee was Oliver Stone, the American filmmaker behind the 1991 political thriller “JFK,” which stoked conspiracy questions surrounding Kennedy’s death. 

“I ask the committee to reopen what the Warren Commission failed miserably to complete. I ask you … to reinvestigate the assassination of this President Kennedy from the scene of the crime to the courtroom,” Oliver Stone told lawmakers in his opening statement, contending that the CIA’s “muddy footprints are all over this case.”

But Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), another of just five Democrats on the 12-member subcommittee, stressed that the latest flood of documents does not contradict the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman in the assassination. 

“While I value government accountability and transparency like most of my colleagues, nearly all of the previously classified JFK assassination files are now public and show no evidence of a CIA conspiracy,” Crockett said. 

“But what I find funny about this hearing is that the Republicans are here litigating whether CIA agents lied 60 years ago, but aren’t doing anything about the CIA director lying to Congress just six days ago,” she added, decrying that Trump administration officials who controversially used a Signal group chat, arguing they were "carelessly discussing classified military plans."

Task force Chair Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) pitched the document release as a "historical day" for transparency.

"With the recent efforts made to declassify over 80,000 pages of classified documents, fighting against the request for redactions—combined with prior releases under the previous administration—we have an unprecedented opportunity to peel back the layers of that dark day and lay bare the facts for all to see and for the first time in many years we are seeing complete cooperation between the U.S. government enterprise," Luna said in her opening remarks.

Jefferson Morley, editor of the JFK Facts blog, and James DiEugenio, author of books on the assassination, were additional witnesses who raised questions about the investigations and long-held conclusions about the case.