FBI uncovers thousands of secret JFK assassination files
The agency carried out a new record search after the US president called for all
of the files related to the 1963 shooting to be declassified.
Wednesday 12 February 2025 02:09, UK
The FBI says it has found 2,400 new files related to the assassination of
President John F Kennedy.
The agency carried out a new record search after Donald Trump
[https://news.sky.com/topic/donald-trump-5711] signed an executive order in
January for all of the files related to the 1963 shooting to be declassified.
The FBI said on Tuesday that the hundreds of newly inventoried and digitised
records that have been unearthed were previously unrecognised as related to the
Kennedy assassination case file.
It added the documents have been transferred to the National Archives and
Records Administration for “inclusion in the ongoing declassification process”.
The FBI did not say in its statement what kind of information the
newly-discovered files contain.
Last week the Office of the Director of National Intelligence sent
recommendations to Mr Trump on which classified documents he should release to
the public about the assassination, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The office did not release details of the plan or say when the documents would
be released.
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John F Kennedy, commonly referred to as JFK, was shot dead while he travelled
through Dallas, Texas, in a motorcade on 22 November 1963.
Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24-year-old former marine, was charged with the killing the
same day before he was shot dead himself by nightclub owner Jack Ruby two days
later.
In 1964 an investigation into JFK’s assassination concluded that Oswald acted
alone and there was no evidence of a conspiracy.
Historians note that the findings of the Warren Commission were widely accepted
by the public – but scepticism from conspiracy theorists in the years that
followed led many to start doubting the official story.
Conspiracy theories include that there was more than one shooter, the CIA was
behind it, and that the Italian-American mafia was responsible.
While the vast majority of the JFK assassination files – more than five million
records – have been made public, researchers estimated 3,000 files haven’t been
released, either in whole or in part.
Read more:
What are the main conspiracy theories about JFK’s assassination?
[https://news.sky.com/story/what-are-the-main-conspiracy-theories-about-jfks-assassination-13295641]
Analysis: ‘Who shot JFK?’ question fits Trump’s ‘deep state’ narrative
[https://news.sky.com/story/who-shot-jfk-question-fits-trump-narrative-about-deep-state-hiding-secrets-from-the-american-people-13295679]
‘Magic bullet’ theory cast into doubt by ex-Secret Service agent
[https://news.sky.com/story/jfk-assassination-magic-bullet-theory-cast-into-doubt-by-ex-secret-service-witness-12960275]
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Mr Trump, who returned to the White House in January, had promised on the
campaign trail to release documents about the shooting.
As part of the same executive order, Mr Trump also promised to release documents
on the assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr and Senator
Robert Kennedy, both of whom were shot dead in 1968.
Mr Trump has allowed more time to come up with a plan for those releases.
His pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department, Robert F Kennedy Jr
[https://news.sky.com/story/robert-f-kennedy-jr-who-is-the-man-who-could-become-donald-trumps-health-chief-13249324],
the son of Robert Kennedy and nephew of JFK, is one of those who believes the
CIA was involved in his uncle’s death.
The agency has described the allegation as baseless.
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Documents may reveal details about one of the most significant moments in US
history, but historians say they are unlikely to bolster any of the conspiracy
theories surrounding JFK’s death.
“I suspect that we won’t get anything too dramatic in the releases, or anything
that fundamentally overturns our understanding of what occurred in Dallas,” said
Fredrik Logevall, a Harvard history professor.
One revelation the documents could contain is that the CIA was more aware of
Oswald than it has previously disclosed.
Files revealing that the CIA failed to share intelligence on Oswald with the FBI
would be “a big story,” said Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed: Lee Harvey
Oswald and the Assassination of JFK, which concludes that Oswald acted alone.
“The question for me is not whether the CIA was complicit, but whether the CIA
was negligent,” Mr Posner said.
