United States president Donald Trump’s administration has leaked hundreds of Social Security numbers of living people linked to the assassination of former President John F Kennedy.
Earlier this week on Tuesday (18 March), the administration published on the National Archives website over 60,000 pages of documents related to Kennedy’s 1963 assassination - a historical event which has has fuelled a number of opposing conspiracy theories for decades - a number around 20,000 short of the 80,000 Trump promised the day prior on Monday to make public.
Talking about the release of the records, Trump declared: "People have been waiting for decades for this. We have a tremendous amount of paper. You've got a lot of reading. I don't believe we're going to redact anything."
The public release of the unredacted files related to JFK's assassination have since exposed hundreds of Social Security numbers, which can be used in identity theft to open bank accounts and apply for loans and credit cards in the holder’s name that can result in some pretty steep debt.
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According to The Washington Post, the files - which so far haven’t included any surprises about the assassination - exposed the Social Security numbers as well as other personal information such as addresses and names of 400 congressional staffers and others.
Such included former Trump campaign lawyer, Joseph diGenova, who called the breach in privacy 'absolutely outrageous', 'sloppy' and 'unprofessional' in a statement to the outlet.
"It not only means identity theft, but I’ve had threats against me ... there are dangerous nuts out there," he explained.
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"It should not have happened," diGenova told the Associated Press. "I think it's the result of incompetent people doing the reviewing. The people who reviewed these documents did not do their job."
On Thursday (20 March), White House officials claimed there was a plan in place to ensure that the people whose personal information was disclosed would receive help, the Associated Press reported, adding that new Social Security numbers will be issued to those affected.
The same day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the president 'delivered on his promise of maximum transparency by fully releasing the files related to the assassination of President John F Kennedy'.
Leavitt also outlined the 'proactive' steps that are reportedly now being taken in order to protect the members of the public whose Social Security numbers were exposed.
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, News
Rhiannon Ingle