That comment is brilliant because a lot of the commentary on past bad deeds exude that stance without stating it so explicitly.
Here's the general lifecycle:
1. Year 0: you are a conspiracy theorist if you think that X is doing Y
2. Year 15: only people on the fringes think that X was doing Y
3. Year [declassified documents]: Some nerd reads it, tells it to a living room full of people
4. Year [declassified documents] + 15: We have learned a lot from how X was doing Y in the past; the leaders of current X will have to reckon with this past [which is definitely the past and has nothing to do with the present]
5. Year [declassified documents] + 30: Yeah, everyone knew that X was doing Y all along, idiot. It was a different time back then and nothing about it is comparable to our current times.
Here's the general lifecycle:
1. Year 0: you are a conspiracy theorist if you think that X is doing Y
2. Year 15: only people on the fringes think that X was doing Y
3. Year [declassified documents]: Some nerd reads it, tells it to a living room full of people
4. Year [declassified documents] + 15: We have learned a lot from how X was doing Y in the past; the leaders of current X will have to reckon with this past [which is definitely the past and has nothing to do with the present]
5. Year [declassified documents] + 30: Yeah, everyone knew that X was doing Y all along, idiot. It was a different time back then and nothing about it is comparable to our current times.