In Washington, D.C., renowned filmmaker Oliver Stone is reigniting a decades-old debate by calling on Congress to reopen the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who is fatally shot on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Stone, whose 1991 film “JFK” popularized conspiracy theories involving the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Cuba, testifies before the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets on April 1, 2025, following the release of 80,000 pages of declassified records last month. During his testimony, Stone asserts that the CIA’s “muddy footprints are all over” the case, urging lawmakers to reinvestigate “from the scene of the crime to the courtroom” and specifically to examine the agency’s role, which he claims has been obscured for over six decades. As of 02:06 PM PDT on April 2, 2025, Stone’s remarks are fueling renewed public and political interest in one of America’s most enduring mysteries, while also drawing sharp criticism from those who uphold the official narrative that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
Stone’s testimony before the task force, chaired by Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), centers on the recently declassified documents, which are released on March 18, 2025, under an executive order from President Donald Trump, who returns to office in January 2025. The filmmaker, known for his provocative takes on historical events, tells the committee, “I ask you, in good faith, outside all political considerations, to reinvestigate the assassination of President Kennedy.” He specifically calls for a reexamination of the “fingerprints of intelligence all over Lee Harvey Oswald from 1959 to 1960, his violent death in 1963, and most importantly this CIA,” echoing themes from his Oscar-winning film “JFK,” which grossed $205 million and is credited with spurring the 1992 President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act. Stone’s film, based on the investigation by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, alleges a sprawling conspiracy involving the CIA, the FBI, and anti-Castro Cuban exiles, a narrative that has long been dismissed by official investigations but embraced by a majority of Americans, with Gallup polls showing only 10% believed the lone gunman theory by 1992.
The declassified records, totaling approximately 80,000 pages, are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to release long-concealed materials related to the assassinations of JFK, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. The documents, uploaded to a National Archives portal, include previously redacted details about CIA operations in the 1960s, such as wiretapping in Mexico City to monitor Soviet and Cuban communications—operations that captured Oswald’s visits to their embassies in September 1963. A 1961 memo from White House aide Arthur Schlesinger Jr. to Kennedy, now fully unredacted, reveals the CIA’s extensive use of “Controlled American Sources” (CAS), with 47% of political officers in U.S. embassies being undercover agents, including 123 in Paris and 11 out of 13 in Chile. While these revelations offer historians a glimpse into Cold War espionage, they do not directly challenge the Warren Commission’s 1964 finding that Oswald, a 24-year-old former Marine, acted alone in shooting Kennedy from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Scholars reviewing the files, as reported by CBS News, find no evidence to support Stone’s claims of a broader conspiracy.
The historical context of the JFK assassination and its investigations provides a complex backdrop to Stone’s renewed push. Kennedy is killed during a motorcade in Dallas, and Oswald is arrested within 90 minutes. Two days later, on November 24, 1963, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shoots Oswald dead during a jail transfer, an event broadcast live on television, fueling speculation of a cover-up. The Warren Commission, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, concludes in 1964 that Oswald acted alone, a finding reaffirmed by the Justice Department in subsequent decades. However, a 1976 Senate committee finds insufficient evidence to confirm a conspiracy, while a 1978 House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concludes that Kennedy “probably was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy,” though it rules out involvement by the Soviet Union, Cuba, organized crime, the CIA, or the FBI. The HSCA’s report, based on acoustic evidence suggesting a second shooter, is later discredited by the National Academy of Sciences, which attributes the sound to a police motorcycle backfiring.
Stone’s 1991 film, starring Kevin Costner as Garrison, dramatizes the New Orleans DA’s failed prosecution of businessman Clay Shaw, whom Garrison accuses of being part of a CIA-orchestrated plot. The film, while a commercial success, is widely criticized for historical inaccuracies, blending fact and fiction to suggest high-level government involvement. It plays a pivotal role in prompting the 1992 JFK Records Act, which mandates the release of all assassination-related documents by 2017—a deadline repeatedly delayed by successive administrations, including those of Trump and Joe Biden, until the latest release in March 2025. The Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB), established by the act, declassifies over 2 million pages between 1994 and 1998, a process National Security Archive senior analyst Peter Kornbluh calls the “most ambitious declassification effort in American history.” The ARRB’s final report in 1998 notes that public suspicion, exacerbated by government secrecy and Stone’s film, erodes trust in federal agencies.
The newly released documents, while not altering the Warren Commission’s core findings, reveal granular details of CIA covert operations, including efforts to sabotage Cuban sugar shipments to the Soviet Union and wiretapping operations in Mexico City, where Oswald is monitored after meeting a KGB officer in October 1963. Jefferson Morley, a journalist and author testifying alongside Stone, argues that the CIA’s 200 pages of pre-assassination files on Oswald suggest the agency could have prevented Kennedy’s death, though he stops short of claiming direct involvement. Morley, editor of the JFK Facts blog, tells the committee, “Oswald might have fired a gun, but he was not the intellectual author of the President’s death,” pointing to “Kennedy’s enemies high in his own government,” possibly the CIA and Pentagon. James DiEugenio, another author and conspiracy theorist invited to testify, also questions the official narrative, focusing on discrepancies in the evidence.
Stone’s testimony is not without controversy. Democrats on the task force, including Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), whose district includes part of Dallas, criticize the hearing for “relitigating whether CIA agents lied 60 years ago,” urging focus on more pressing transparency issues, such as national security officials discussing attack plans on a messaging app. Republicans, led by Luna, express frustration with past investigations, with Luna accusing them of “omissions and half-truths.” However, some GOP members are criticized for promoting unproven theories and yielding time to witnesses to air conspiracy claims without evidence. The release of the documents also raises privacy concerns, as Social Security numbers of former government employees, some still alive, are disclosed, prompting Democratic objections to the Trump administration’s handling of the declassification process.
Stone’s critique of the CIA is scathing. He calls it a “tax-funded agency that arrogantly believes it is outside our laws,” claiming that “nothing of importance has been revealed by the CIA in all these years.” He references Deputy CIA Director James Angleton’s alleged deathbed remark about agency leaders like Allen Dulles and Richard Helms, whom Angleton reportedly said “deservedly end up in hell.” Stone’s rhetoric aligns with his long-standing skepticism of government narratives, a theme in his broader filmography, including “Platoon” and “Born on the Fourth of July,” both of which earn him Academy Awards. In a January 2025 statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Stone praises Trump for ordering the release of the JFK files, though he remains critical of the CIA’s historical opacity, alleging it hides a “true history” of U.S. foreign policy misdeeds in countries like Cuba, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Public sentiment, as reflected in posts on X, is mixed. Some users support Stone’s call for a new investigation, with one stating, “Oliver Stone’s testimony is a bombshell—time to uncover the truth about JFK.” Others dismiss it as rehashing discredited theories, with a user noting, “Stone’s CIA claims have been debunked for decades. This is a distraction.” The hearing also draws attention to broader transparency issues, with Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) posting on X, “I’m not scared of the deep state. I am going to keep exposing their corruption alongside @POTUS because this nation deserves better than their cover-ups.”
The historical backdrop of U.S.-Cuba tensions in the early 1960s adds context to the conspiracy theories Stone champions. Kennedy’s presidency is marked by the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, a CIA-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro, and the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, which brings the U.S. and Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war. Declassified documents reveal CIA plots to assassinate Castro, including discussions under the Johnson administration, though Robert F. Kennedy, then Attorney General, reportedly opposes such plans. These operations fuel speculation, popularized by Stone’s film, that Castro retaliates by ordering Kennedy’s assassination—a theory the 1978 HSCA explicitly rejects. The documents also expose the CIA’s extensive surveillance of anti-Castro Cuban groups in the U.S., as well as its manipulation of elections in nations like Mexico, where President Adolfo López Mateos collaborates with the agency.
Breaking news updates as of 02:06 PM PDT on April 2, 2025, indicate that the House Task Force has not yet announced whether it will pursue Stone’s request for a new investigation. However, Luna tells reporters after the hearing that she aims to “get to the bottom of this mystery” by consulting experts and tracking down surviving staff from past investigative committees. Meanwhile, the National Archives confirms that the declassified records are now fully accessible online, though researchers like Morley note that some CIA files on Oswald’s pre-assassination activities remain incomplete, suggesting the agency may still be withholding information. The controversy over the document release continues, with Democrats on the task force planning to introduce a resolution to address privacy breaches in the declassification process.
Stone’s call to reopen the JFK investigation taps into a deep vein of public distrust in government institutions, a sentiment that has persisted since the assassination. While the declassified records provide a window into the CIA’s covert operations during the Cold War, they do not substantiate Stone’s claims of a conspiracy. Critics argue that his focus on the CIA distracts from more immediate transparency challenges, while supporters see his testimony as a necessary push for accountability. As the debate unfolds, the question of whether Congress will revisit one of the 20th century’s most pivotal events remains unanswered, leaving the legacy of JFK’s death as contested as ever.
Sources:
- Video: https://youtu.be/C0OcZF1fR4w
- ABC News, “Oliver Stone calls on Congress to reopen JFK assassination investigation,” April 1, 2025
- Fox News, “‘JFK’ director Oliver Stone calls on Congress to reopen investigation into Kennedy assassination,” April 1, 2025
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- PBS News, “WATCH: Film director Oliver Stone calls for new congressional investigation in hearing on release of JFK files,” April 1, 2025
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- The Guardian, “Oliver Stone to testify at John F Kennedy assassination hearing,” March 31, 2025
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- USA Today, “Oliver Stone calls on lawmakers to reopen Kennedy assassination inquiry: Key moments from JFK hearing,” April 1, 2025
- The Hollywood Reporter, “Guest Column: Oliver Stone Calls Out President for Not Yet Declassifying All JFK Assassination Records,” November 22, 2021
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