Huge Trove of JFK Assassination Documents Finally Released to the Public After Decades of Secrecy
With President Joe Biden still holding back the full release of files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 59 years ago, the National Archives released over 13,000 documents on Thursday.
The archives said that more than 97 percent of its records relating to the assassination have been released, according to ABC. The release comes over five years after the documents originally were required by law to be disclosed to the public, according to The Washington Post.
Kennedy was killed on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas. The Warren Commission ruled 10 months later that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, killed Kennedy, 46.
Oswald was killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby in Dallas two days after Kennedy’s assassination. Since 1963, multiple theories have arisen to dispute the Warren commission’s finding.
In the presidential memorandum Thursday authorizing the release of the JFK documents, Biden said other documents will be held until June 30.
“Temporary continued postponement of public disclosure of such information is necessary to protect against an identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations that is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure,” Biden wrote in his memo.
According to Politico, the documents released Thursday suggested that the CIA’s office in Mexico “bungled evidence that, had it been passed on quickly to the Secret Service and other agencies in Washington, could have saved Kennedy’s life.”
The CIA explained Thursday why it wanted some of its documents kept secret a little longer. A total of 13,173 documents were released.
“What little information remains redacted in CIA records in the Collection consists of intelligence sources and methods — some from as late as the 1990s, provided initially to give the JFK Review Board overall context on the CIA — the release of which would currently do identifiable harm to intelligence operations……CIA believes all of its information known to be directly related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 has already been released. Likewise, we are not aware of any documents known to be directly related to Oswald that have not already been made part of the Collection,” the CIA said in a statement, according to ABC.
Politico reported that most of the documents will be related to a mammoth CIA file documenting Oswald’s life. Oswald had been the subject of CIA interest even before the assassination.
Politico suggested the document drop might provide more details about a critical September 1963 trip Oswald took to Mexico City. Past document releases have indicated Oswald contacted spies from Cuba and the Soviet Union there, including a KGB member who specialized in assassinations.
Larry Sabato, author of the “The Kennedy Half Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy,” said he expects no game-changers, according to CNN.
“It’s not going to change the story. It’s not. I guarantee you,” he said.
Sabato said it was a lack of competence, not a grand conspiracy, that led to the tragedy in Dallas.
“The truth is not that Oswald was part of a conspiracy to kill Kennedy. The truth is that this assassination was preventable and could have been prevented and should have been prevented if the CIA and FBI were doing their jobs. Really, that’s it. Now that’s serious, but you’re not going to find the names of other conspirators in here,” he said, per CNN.
One document summarizes an October 1963 trip Oswald took to Mexico City in which the CIA “intercepted a telephone call” Oswald made to the Soviet Embassy in the city “using his own name.” The document said Oswald spoke “broken Russian.”
Oswald asked about a telegram supposedly sent to Washington and whether there was anything new. He was told the telegram was sent, and the call ended.
“Our Mexico City Station very often produces information like this on US citizens contacting Soviet bloc embassies in Mexico City. Frequently the information we get is extremely incriminating,” the document said.
The document also noted that efforts of the Mexico City operatives to secure a photo of Oswald for use to compare it to a photo of a man taken outside the Soviet Embassy had failed. The document said a request sent on Oct. 24, 1963, had not produced a photo by the day Kennedy was killed.
Attorney Mark Zaid, who specializes in national security issues and has sought the release of files related to the assassination, said he “does not expect a smoking gun” in the files released this week, according to Politico.
Zaid also noted that “so much of this information should have been released a long time ago.”
Readers wanting to review the documents can click here.
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