President Donald Trump is defending his administration’s decision to release unredacted secret documents from the government’s JFK assassination files, despite the records containing Social Security numbers and other sensitive personal information of possibly hundreds of former congressional staffers and others.
“I said, release, we even released Social Security numbers. I didn’t want anything deleted,” Trump said about the documents on Friday while in the Oval Office.
Trump, who declined to respond when questioned about who killed John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, stated he did what many previous presidents did not by releasing the files. He added that his decision to not delete peoples’ Social Security numbers from the files was made for the sake of transparency, and with the thought that the individuals were dead.
“They said, ‘Sir, what about Social Security?’ Oh, people are long gone,” Trump said on Friday. “If you don’t delete it, if you do delete it, people are going to say, ‘Why did you delete it, there’s something in there.’ So we gave Social Security. And we gave everything.”
Former top Justice Department official plans to sue over JFK file release
Trump was mistaken, as one individual, who is very much alive, said he was taking legal action because his personal information was made public through the release of the JFK files.
“I intend to sue the National Archives,” Joseph diGenova, a former top Justice Department official and Trump campaign lawyer, said. “They violated the Privacy Act.”
DiGenova, the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. during the Reagan administration, said the information about him that was in the files stemmed from his involvement with the Church Committee in the 1970s, which investigated misdeeds by the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies. He told USA TODAY on Thursday that he has filed his lawsuit and purchased LifeLock to protect his credit rating and accounts from theft.
The Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits federal agencies from disclosing records without the written consent of the individual, especially in cases where it publicizes sensitive information.
James Johnston, another former Church Committee staffer, told USA TODAY his personal information, including his Social Security number, was made public in the files released by the National Archives and Records Administration.
Trump: ‘We’re doing it with Dr. Martin Luther King, too’
In addition to backing his administration’s decision to release the JFK documents, Trump said he is going to do the same regarding the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“We’re doing it with Dr. Martin Luther King, too. They’re preparing all of that. They’re going to release everything. And whoever else we want…We really have nothing to hide,” Trump said on Friday.
Trump then downplayed the JFK files, which he said the public was “going crazy on.”
“I don’t think there’s anything that’s earth-shattering, but you’ll have to make that determination,” he added.
The president even confirmed that there are actually 88,000 pages of documents related to JFK’s assassination, with additional files slated to be released later on Friday.
“Everything is out there. Totally open,” Trump said.
