Release Of JFK Files Sparks Memories For 2 Chicagoans
(CBS) -- The federal government is expected to release the last secret files in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
CBS 2 Political Reporter Derrick Blakley sat down with two Chicagoans with close ties to the Kennedy family to hear their expectations about what the documents may reveal.
The office of Chicago attorney Newton Minow is chock full of mementos from his days as FCC Commissioner for the Kennedy Administration. He isn't expecting big revelations in the final papers from the assassination probe, but wants to know more about the background of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
"The big question, I think, most people have is learning more about Oswald's travel before the assassination: his trip to Cuba, his trip to Mexico, his trip to Russia.
Meantime, Bill Daley's questions have more to do with U.S. intelligence.
"How did Oswald -- if he did come on the radar screen of intelligence agencies and security agencies of the United States -- what did they ever do about it? That's the only real question in my mind," he says.
As son of powerful Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, Bill Daley paid an early visit to the Kennedy White House. The mayor, who used every bit of his political muscle to get Kennedy elected, felt the president's loss deeply.
"It was the only time I ever saw my father cry, other than when his father died," Bill Daley says.
Minow says there's no doubt in his mind Oswald acted alone. Daley agrees, but he doubts these final documents will put an end to the conspiracy theories.
"It seems to have taken a life of its own, and I'm not sure you can ever end it," he says.
In all, 2,800 documents were expected to be released. But due to lobbying from the CIA and FBI, some documents will be withheld or redacted due to security concerns.
President Trump has ordered that all the information withheld must be reviewed or will be released by April 2018.
