Three top CIA officials faced scrutiny during a House task force hearing about their knowledge of Lee Harvey Oswald before President John F. Kennedy's assassination.
According to the New York Post, newly declassified documents released by President Trump in March exposed that CIA officials misled investigators about their awareness of Oswald's activities prior to Kennedy's death.
Jefferson Morley, an independent journalist who manages the largest online database of JFK records, presented evidence to the House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. The documents revealed that James Jesus Angleton, the CIA's counterintelligence chief, along with two other officials, provided false information to both the Warren Commission and congressional investigators.
Angleton operated an extensive mail surveillance program from a New York post office that targeted Oswald's correspondence. The operation began monitoring Oswald's letters in November 1959, shortly after his defection to the Soviet Union.
Richard Helms, who later became CIA director, testified to the Warren Commission in May 1964 that the agency had "probably minimal" knowledge of Oswald before the assassination. However, the new documents contradict this claim.
George Joannides, a Miami-based undercover CIA officer, also misrepresented his knowledge of AMSPELL, a CIA program that funded anti-Castro Cuban students who later connected Oswald to Communist Cuba.
Morley told the task force members:
Three makes a pattern, a pattern of malfeasance [and] of institutional misconduct. The new JFK fact pattern leads to a new conclusion. Helms, Angleton, and Joannides were responsible for, or complicit in, JFK's death, either by criminal negligence or covert action.
Gerald Posner, who wrote the bestselling book "Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK," acknowledged the CIA officials' deception but disagreed with Morley's conclusions about their involvement in Kennedy's death. He emphasized Oswald's role as an opportunistic lone gunman.
Film director Oliver Stone, whose 1991 movie "JFK" sparked renewed interest in conspiracy theories, testified alongside Morley. The hearing took an awkward turn when Representative Lauren Boebert mistook Oliver Stone for Trump ally Roger Stone.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who chairs the task force, expressed concern about the investigation's impact on public trust in government institutions. She emphasized the importance of confronting discrepancies in witness accounts and intelligence handling.
Democratic Representative Robert Garcia supported the push for transparency but noted the absence of direct evidence linking the CIA to Kennedy's murder, even after the recent document release.
The House Oversight Task Force hearing marked a significant development in the ongoing investigation of President Kennedy's assassination. New documents revealed that CIA officials Angleton, Helms, and Joannides provided false information about their knowledge of Lee Harvey Oswald.
While some researchers see evidence of CIA involvement in Kennedy's death, others maintain that Oswald acted alone. The investigation continues as more classified documents await release, particularly the personnel files of George Joannides.
