RFK Discusses Whistleblowers, Declassifying CIA Files on JFK Assassination
On June 12, 2023, Glenn Greenwald conducts a virtual interview with Robert Kennedy Jr. Among other topics, Greenwald asks Kennedy if elected, whether or not he would declassify CIA documents related to JFK’s assassination, which remain classified 60 years after the assassination. Greenwald also asks Kennedy whether he would pardon prominent whistleblowers. Edward Snowden has fled to Russia, where he currently resides, and Julian Assange is facing extradition to the United States to stand trial.
Key Talking Points
- CIA documents related to JFK’s assassination continue to be classified 60 years later despite nearly everyone involved now being deceased.
- Trump promised in 2016 to declassify all material related to JFK’s assassination but failed to fulfill his promise.
- These documents ought to be declassified because it is a 60 year old case and the American public has a right to know the truth.
- If Kennedy were elected, he would pardon whistleblowers Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, both of whom acted morally and ought to be considered heroes rather than criminals according to Kennedy.
- The classified information released by Edward Snowden detailing intelligence agencies’ misuse of American data and spying on American citizens was initially covered up and unknown to the American public or even Congress.
- Congress proceeded to act upon Snowden’s advice and adjust the laws.
Key Data and Evidence Points
- In October 2017, Trump publicly promised to declassify all documents related to JFK’s assassination for the purposes of “full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest.”
- While Trump oversaw the release of over 19,000 documents in 2017, he ultimately sided with the CIA and the FBI regarding files on JFK’s assassination.
- Many members of Congress have claimed that the NSA’s data collection activities had gone far beyond what Congress allowed legislatively, and that despite the NSA being subject to congressional oversight, “they had been totally unaware of the scope of the agency’s activities.”
- Following Snowden’s revelations, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act in 2015, limiting the NSA’s power to collect citizens’ phone records. It is the most sweeping surveillance reform measure since 1978.
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