Further, declassification is a process and not simply a mass release of unreviewed documents. Though over 60 years old, there still may be facts in those files that should remain classified even today.
When a president directs declassification, that starts a review process whereby everything in the cache to be declassified is reviewed by competent entities to be sure there aren't items within the cache that should remain classified.
The names of innocent or otherwise uninvolved people could be revealed that could stigmatize them today, if still living, or jeopardize their descendants.
Facts about Cuba or the USSR or other countries could come up that open the US to liability.
There could be line items in the documents that could reveal highly sensitive national security data about things that have nothing to do with the assassinations and could therefore not be in the scope of the declassification order.
There could be references to means and methods still in use today that could collapse our ability to maintain an edge in intelligence gathering in the present.
There could be intelligence facts present in the cache that were provided by other countries with intelligence sharing agreements with the US. This could cause countries in the present day to alter or cancel currently ongoing intelligence sharing agreements out of a lack of trust that the US can keep secrets on their behalf.
There may be imagery in the files whose release would insult the dignity of people involved without revealing anything new about the assassinations - such as photos of dead bodies, injuries, torture, etc.
I, too, would like to see Kennedy files declassified to the largest extent possible so that conspiracy theories could be put to rest once and for all. But taking "hundreds of thousands" of documents outside of a SCIF-like facility without review is a very bad thing and could put the US at a disadvantage.
I would suggest that - with Tulsi Gabbard's prior involvement with, and favorable statements about, Russia - she'll give the Russians a crack at the documents to perhaps "sanitize" them of any prior USSR involvement.
Make no mistake - the chain of custody has been compromised with this cache. Any findings they reveal from this point forward are suspect.
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