Hundreds of Americans’ Social Security numbers were exposed when the Trump administration released a trove of largely unredacted files linked to the assassination of former President John F Kennedy.
The files, which so far haven’t included any surprises about the assassination, exposed the Social Security numbers — along with other personal information such as addresses and names — of some 400 congressional staffers and others, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
They included members of the 1975 Senate Church Committee and House Select Committee on Assassinations that investigated Kennedy’s killing.
The leaked numbers also belonged to a former assistant secretary of state, former U.S. ambassador, former Army officer, and former Donald Trump campaign lawyer Joseph diGenova, according to The Post.
Some of the numbers appeared in the records multiple times, noted the newspaper.
DiGenova was livid, calling the breach “absolutely outrageous . . . sloppy” and “unprofessional” in a statement to The Post.
He added: “It not only means identity theft, but I’ve had threats against me … there are dangerous nuts out there.”
“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.”
Ironically, his breached personal information was on documents relating to his work for the Senate Select Committee that investigated abuses of power by government officials in the 1970s.
He told AP plans to sue the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration for violating privacy laws.
Social Security numbers can be used in identity theft to open bank accounts and apply for loans and credit cards in the holder’s name that can massively hike debt, especially if a crime syndicate uses a number in different locations before authorities are alerted to the thefts.
Many of the JFK assassination files that included Social Security numbers had previously been released — but with redactions. The Trump administration made the records public without the privacy protections.
Officials at the White House said Thursday a plan was in place to help those whose personal information was disclosed, including credit monitoring, the Associated Press reported. Officials also said new Social Security numbers will be issued to those affected, AP noted.
Trump talked about the records release to reporters on Monday, saying: “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.”
