Four key takeaways from release of JFK files

Individuals with a keen interest are meticulously examining thousands of recently declassified documents pertaining to the investigation into President John F Kennedy’s assassination.

As anticipated by numerous experts, this most recent release of information, authorized by the Trump administration, does not definitively resolve all persistent questions surrounding a pivotal moment in American history – the 1963 slaying of Kennedy in Dallas.

However, this latest set of files does incorporate documents that are now largely or entirely uncensored. These records further illustrate the extent to which the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) monitored JFK’s assassin in the period leading up to the fatal event.

A U.S. government inquiry in the 1960s reached the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald, an itinerant worker and former U.S. Marine who had at one point defected to the Soviet Union, acted independently when he fired upon Kennedy’s motorcade from a nearby building.

Nevertheless, the case continues to provoke inquiries, alongside unfounded conspiracy theories, more than six decades subsequently – and this most recent disclosure is unlikely to alter that reality. Key takeaways are outlined below.

The documents further illuminate the CIA’s intensive surveillance of Oswald, according to Jefferson Morley, a former Washington Post journalist and editor at JFK Facts blog.

Mr. Morley stated that Oswald was “a subject of significant interest to the CIA” well before the assassination, and the magnitude of this interest has only become apparent in recent years.

Many of the current documents have been previously disclosed; however, more complete versions are now accessible. While specialists are still scrutinizing the information, no groundbreaking discoveries have surfaced.

Despite the lack of major revelations, Mr. Morley characterizes this release as “the most noteworthy news concerning JFK records since the 1990s.”

He added, “Several very important documents have been made public.”

Experts have generally lauded the release as progress toward transparency. In the past, while numerous documents were released, many were partially redacted, and others were withheld entirely, with officials citing national security concerns.

Philip Shenon, author of a 2013 book on the assassination, informed the Associated Press that previously released documents described Oswald’s trip to Mexico City in September 1963, months before the assassination.

According to the AP, Mr. Shenon stated that the CIA was monitoring Oswald at that time. “There’s reason to believe he spoke openly about assassinating Kennedy in Mexico City and that individuals overheard him.”

The AP also reported that in a previously released April 1975 memo, the CIA minimized its awareness of Oswald’s trip to Mexico City. The agency recorded three phone conversations between Oswald and a guard at the Soviet embassy, but he only identified himself in one instance.

A number of documents provide insights into Kennedy’s association with the CIA prior to his demise and into intelligence-gathering methodologies, offering a glimpse into Cold War operations.

A recently declassified memo reveals a more comprehensive version of a note authored by Kennedy aide Arthur Schlesinger.

The note, critical of the CIA’s influence and its role in shaping foreign policy, highlights the agency’s extensive presence in U.S. embassies, even in allied nations such as France.

In this memo, Schlesinger cautions Kennedy regarding the agency’s impact on American foreign policy. While not directly linked to the assassination, the memo details the strained relationship between the president and intelligence agencies.

David Barrett, a Villanova University professor and expert on the CIA and presidential power, noted that the CIA is traditionally resistant to disclosing operational or budgetary information.

He stated, “It’s highly beneficial for the government to release these documents, even with the possibility of some remaining redactions.”

One document elaborates on the utilization of fluoroscopic scanning—employing X-rays to generate images of an object’s interior.

This technique was developed to detect concealed microphones potentially used to bug CIA offices.

Another document describes a CIA system for covertly tagging and identifying monitored public phone booths using a paint visible only under ultraviolet light.

The memo also gains significance due to the inclusion of James McCord, who later became infamous as one of the individuals involved in the Watergate complex burglary. This break-in initiated the unraveling of the scandal that led to President Richard Nixon’s downfall.

Certain prominent online accounts asserted that the recent documents unveil new specifics regarding long-standing allegations of plots against Kennedy – despite the fact that some purported revelations have been publicly available for years.

These include several widely shared posts concerning Gary Underhill, a World War Two military intelligence operative.

Mr. Underhill reportedly alleged a cabal of CIA operatives orchestrated the assassination, a theory openly published in Ramparts, a left-leaning magazine, in 1967. Ramparts also questioned the ruling of suicide in Mr. Underhill’s 1964 death.

Images of a seven-page memo related to Mr. Underhill circulated rapidly on Tuesday; however, the majority of its content is not new. His narrative has been discussed online for an extended period, and the CIA memo referencing it was initially released in 2017.

Only a few sentences on one page of the memo were newly declassified in this recent release.

Critically, this theory originates from a secondhand account published after Mr. Underhill’s death and lacks concrete evidence.

However, this narrative was merely one of several unsubstantiated theories that emerged following the file release.

A 1992 law mandated the release of all documents pertaining to the assassination within 25 years; however, this law also incorporated exceptions for national security.

The impetus for greater transparency has resulted in subsequent releases over time. Both President Trump, during his initial term, and President Biden, as recently as 2023, have authorized batches of document releases.

Leading up to this latest release, President Trump stated that he instructed his staff “not to redact anything” from the files.

This assertion does not appear to be entirely accurate, as the newly released documents still contain some redactions. Nevertheless, experts largely concurred that this latest release represents a step forward in transparency.

JFK Files journalist Morley indicated that additional documents remain unreleased in the National Archives, and others held by the CIA and FBI are yet to be fully accounted for.

Despite the anticipation of further releases – including promised disclosures regarding the killings of Robert F Kennedy Sr. and Martin Luther King Jr. – the controversies surrounding the JFK assassination will almost certainly persist.

Villanova historian Barrett noted that “Whenever an assassination occurs, debates and, to some extent, conspiracy theories will arise. That is unlikely to change regardless of these or any future documents.”