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Judge Who Reviewed Secret Files Says 'It's Time' To Release JFK Documents

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The last batch of classified government documents related to the John F. Kennedy assassination are set to be released Thursday.

The documents from the assassination and subsequent investigation were kept secret for years, and a federal judge in Minnesota has reviewed all of them.

Kennedy's assassination remains a national obsession 54 years after the president was murdered in Dallas.

Federal Judge Jack Tunheim served as President Bill Clinton's Chair of the Assassination Records Review Commission.

His job in 1993 was to review every government document on the assassination, and make them public.

"It's time to do this, so that everyone can believe that all of the records that are in the hands of the federal government are released," Tunheim said.

Tunheim oversaw release of tens of thousands of assassination documents, including this last 3,000 pages containing sensitive information about names and locations of intelligence agents or informants from many years ago.

"Chances are slim that any of this information should be protected anymore," Tunheim said.

Half a century later, large numbers of Americans don't believe Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone.

Days after the assassination, millions watched Oswald's murder on live TV. There were subsequent reports of Oswald's Soviet Union and Cuba connections.

But Tunheim says there's no direct evidence linking Oswald to a conspiracy.

"Those who are expecting to see a bombshell about the assassination are likely to be very disappointed," he said.

Tunheim has examined every piece of evidence, reviewed every document, scrutinized every film, and even held the murder rifle.

His conclusion: Oswald acted alone.

"People want to believe that a conspiracy killed President Kennedy," Tunheim said, "and not a 24-year-old loser who was mad at the world and wanted to make a name for himself. ut the fact of the matter is, there's very little evidence that points anywhere else."

If there is any coverup, Tunheim says it's agencies like the FBI and the CIA covering up what he called "shoddy work," a coverup he says included destroying documents after the assassination.

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