KGB files on JFK assassination to be released in months: Luna
'It's information the Russian government was in charge of releasing and I'm sure that you'll see that information coming out here pretty soon,' Luna, who chairs the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, told NewsNation's Chris Cuomo on Wednesday. 'There is some level of open communication, and so as a result of that, that information will now be available in the coming months to the American people and also to JFK researchers.'
During her appearance on 'Cuomo,' she did not provide additional details about the anticipated contents or the channels that are being used to facilitate their release.
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for additional information and comment.
Luna indicated that new information the Task Force has obtained and observed supports long-standing conspiracy theories that Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, didn't act alone and the CIA helped cover up details about the killing.
'I've been told that the KGB had actually observed Oswald in Russia when he was there as a citizen, and he was actually not a good shot,' Luna told Cuomo. 'This is not also the only piece of information that we have.'
'The whole story that was the official narrative has been going to pieces within the last week,' she added.
Conspiracies have persisted about CIA involvement or the existence of another assassin for decades.
The National Archives in March released more than 2,000 files connected to Kennedy's assassination, after President Trump in January signed an executive order directing the release of all documents related to the government's investigation into the then-president's death.
The Archives in 2022 released nearly 13,000 new files — the largest tranche disclosed on the case since 2018.
Luna said late Wednesday that federal investigators attempted to obtain the KGB files in the 1990s, amid renewed interest in the case.
'[They] actually reached out to the Russian government for those files, and unfortunately, they were not able to obtain them,' she said.
American filmmaker Oliver Stone, whose 1991 film 'JFK' fueled renewed interest in a possible coverup of a second shooter and portrayed the assassination as a government conspiracy, took part in a hearing with the Luna-led task force earlier this year.
'I ask you, in good faith outside all political considerations, to reinvestigate the assassination of this President Kennedy from the scene of the crime to the courtroom,' he told the panel in April.
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Los Angeles Times
16 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump plays golf in Scotland while protesters take to the streets and decry his visit
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Gorman, who works in advertising, said he came out 'because I have deep disdain for Donald Trump and everything that he stands for.' A Scottish newspaper, the National, greeted Trump's arrival with a banner headline in its Friday edition that read, 'Convicted U.S. felon to arrive in Scotland.' Saturday's protests were not nearly as large as the throngs that demonstrated across Scotland when Trump played at Turnberry during his first term in 2018. But, as bagpipes played, people chanted, 'Trump out!' and raised dozens of homemade signs with such messages as 'No red carpet for dictators,' 'We don't want you here' and 'Stop Trump. Migrants welcome.' One dog had a sign attached that said 'No treats for tyrants.' Some on the far right took to social media to call for gatherings supporting Trump in places such as Glasgow. Trump also plans to talk trade with Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president. But golf is a major focus. 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Chicago Tribune
16 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
The House is looking into the Epstein investigation. Here's what could happen next
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Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
No proof Hamas routinely stole UN aid, Israeli military officials say
Now, with hunger at crisis levels in the territory, Israel is coming under increased international pressure over its conduct of the war in Gaza and the humanitarian suffering it has brought. Doctors in the territory say that an increasing number of their patients are suffering from -- and dying of -- starvation. More than 100 aid agencies and rights groups warned this past week of 'mass starvation' and implored Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian assistance. The European Union and at least 28 governments, including Israeli allies like Britain, France, and Canada, issued a joint statement condemning Israel's 'drip-feeding of aid' to Gaza's 2 million Palestinian residents. Advertisement Israel has largely brushed off the criticism. David Mencer, a government spokesperson, said this past week that there was 'no famine caused by Israel.' Instead, he blamed Hamas and poor coordination by the United Nations for any food shortages. Advertisement Israel moved in May toward replacing the UN-led aid system that had been in place for most of the 21-month war in Gaza, opting instead to back a private, American-run operation guarded by armed US contractors in areas controlled by Israeli military forces. Some aid still comes into Gaza through the United Nations and other organizations. The new system has proved to be much deadlier for Palestinians trying to obtain food handouts. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, almost 1,100 people have been killed by gunfire on their way to get food handouts under the new system, in many cases by Israeli soldiers who opened fire on hungry crowds. Israeli officials have said they fired shots in the air in some instances because the crowds came too close or endangered their forces. The military officials who spoke to The New York Times said that the original UN aid operation was relatively reliable and less vulnerable to Hamas interference than the operations of many of the other groups bringing aid into Gaza. That's largely because the United Nations managed its own supply chain and handled distribution directly inside Gaza. Hamas did steal from some of the smaller organizations that donated aid, as those groups were not always on the ground to oversee distribution, according to the senior Israeli officials and others involved in the matter. But, they say, there was no evidence that Hamas regularly stole from the United Nations, which provided the largest chunk of the aid. A Hamas representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An internal US government analysis came to a similar conclusion, Reuters reported Friday. It found no evidence of systematic Hamas theft of US-funded humanitarian supplies, the report said. 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Early last year, top commanders urged a cease-fire with Hamas to secure the release of hostages. Netanyahu's government instead expanded the ground operation in southern Gaza. Israel used the rationale that Hamas steals aid when it cut off all food and other supplies to Gaza between March and May. In March, after a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel collapsed, Netanyahu said: 'Hamas is currently taking control of all supplies and goods entering Gaza,' and he declared that Israel would prevent anything from entering the territory. That blockade, and problems with a new aid system that launched in May, brought hunger and starvation in Gaza to the current crisis levels. For most of the war, the UN was the largest single source of aid entering Gaza, according to data from the Israeli military unit that oversees policy in the territory. Advertisement Now, the new aid system is managed instead by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private American company led by a former CIA agent. It was intended to eventually replace international aid organizations and the UN role. But it has only a few distribution hubs, compared with hundreds under the former UN-run operation. The new system's rollout at the end of May was quickly followed by near-daily episodes of deadly violence near distribution sites. Desperate and hungry Palestinians must go to the few aid distribution sites located in areas controlled by Israeli forces. The hours of operation are limited and supplies run out, so crowds arrive early, with some walking for miles to get there. Since May 19, when Israel allowed emergency supplies to resume entering Gaza after its two-month blockade, half of the aid has been distributed by the United Nations and international organizations, with the other half coming through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the Israeli military says. Petropoulos welcomed the notion that some Israeli officials had recognized the UN-led aid system as effective during the war. But he said he wished that endorsement had come much sooner. 'If the UN had been taken at face value months ago, we wouldn't have wasted all this time and Gazans wouldn't be starving and being shot at trying to feed their families,' he said. This article originally appeared in
