Filmmaker Oliver Stone on Tuesday called for Congress to reopen the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Stone is testifying before a House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets hearing on the release of recently declassified records of the investigation into the Kennedy assassination.
Stone took aim at the Central Intelligence Agency, calling it a tax-funded agency that “arrogantly believes it is outside our laws” and that “nothing of importance has been revealed by the CIA in all these years.”
He asked, “Can we return to a world where our government can level with us,” and tell the truth?
Stone’s 1991 film “JFK” focused on the work of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who conducted an independent investigation of the assassination, resulting in his failed prosecution of New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw, who Garrison alleged was involved in a CIA conspiracy to kill the president. The film was a commercial and critical success, grossing $205 million and winning two Academy Awards. The film is credited with popularizing conspiracy theories of FBI and CIA involvement in the Kennedy assassination.
The film was credited by the Assassination Records Review Board as being at least partially responsible for the passage of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. Stone testified before Congress in support of the bill. The act mandated the release of all documents related to the assassination by 2017, though that timeline was delayed several times.
The film’s release also coincided with an increased degree of public skepticism in the Warren Commission’s findings that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of Kennedy. Gallup polling has consistently shown that a majority of Americans has consistently believed more than one person was responsible for the assassination. The number believing the official conclusion of a lone gunman saw a sharp decline in the 1970s and 1980s, reaching an all-time low of 10% in 1992.
Stone has long been active in politics, largely supporting Democratic candidates and has been a vocal supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He has been the subject of criticism for statements that have been perceived as supportive of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
he took aim at the cia calling it a tax funded agency that “arrogantly believes it is outside our laws” and that “nothing of importance has been revealed by the cia in all these years”.
He asked “can we return to a world where our government can level with us” and tell us the truth.
