Page:House Select Committee on Assassinations, final report.pdf/41

 were the assassin(s) of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? Second did the assassin(s) have any aid or assist ance either before or after the assassination? Third did the agencies and departments of the U.S Government adequately perform their duties and functions in (a) collecting and sharing information prior to the assassination; (b) protecting John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.; and (c) conducting investigations into each assassination and coordinating the results of those investigations? Fourth given the evidence the committee uncovered are the amendment of existing legislation or the enactment of new legislation appropriate.

The necessity for the committee to explore each of these issues as well as the manner in which they could be investigated was carefully considered by the committee because the committee was acutely aware of the potential risks and dangers inherent in a congressional committee addressing aspects of these issues. The issues that posed particular risks and dangers were the committee's investigation of who the assassin(s) was or were and if the assassin(s) had help before or after the assassination Necessarily the committee's inquiry into these issues would entail an examination of the conduct of individuals. Further the conduct to be examined might also be found to be criminal in a judicial proceeding and might well carry with it in the minds of the general public the severest moral disapprobation because of the nature of the crimes committed. Possible injury of the reputation of potential "subjects or "targets of the investigation was therefore a significant danger or risk clearly recognized by the committee The committee also recognized other risks and dangers inherent in the special character of its investigation For example associates of a "target might have to be investigated fully The associate may not have engaged in any activity connected with the assassination but dis closure of the facts of the investigation alone might carry with it an invasion of privacy of the associate The risk and danger were also considered by the committee The committee recognized that unlike a criminal trial in a court no matter how definitively the committee's findings were presented in its report no legal sanctions such as fine or imprisonment could be im posed as a direct result of its investigation Nevertheless the danger of injury to reputation and invasion of privacy of the individuals the committee had investigated required that the committee responsibly assess precisely how its investigation would be conducted and its re sults disclosed Many of the potential risks and dangers from Congress undertaking an investigation into conduct that is also criminal primarily arise be cause of the nature and scope of a congressional investigation and the procedures a congressional committee employs to conduct an investiga tion The procedures that Congress uses are dramatically different than those employed when individual conduct is examined by either the executive or judicial branches of Government The manner in which the investigations differ should be understood by each person reading this report and should be considered by Congress in deciding when an investigation of this character is appropriate in the future The primary determinant of the character or scope of any govern mental investigation is dependent upon which branch of Government is responsible for conducting it Each of the three branches of govern