FOLLOW US

Thursday marked the long-awaited release of some 2,800 documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Some of the JFK files are still classified while they under go further review. Nevertheless, they are a treasure chest for historians and conspiracy theorists. “I am ordering today that the veil finally be lifted,” President Trump said in a memo to various federal agencies. Federal agencies successfully had some of the documents held back for further review. But even Trump acknowledged that they will need to come out in the near future. The reasoning behind keeping them a secret will only “grown weaker with the passage of time," he said.

No Bombshell Reports, But Speculation Abounds

So far, there have been bombshell revelations from the reports. There has been no reference to a second shooter or a grand government conspiracy to kill JFK. Who knows what's in the remaining documents, however. The 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations left the door open by saying that JFK "was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy." The documents offer a variety of contextual details about JFK's assassination. One memo reported on the USSR's reaction. Moscow believed that the hit was part of an "ultraright" coup, and that they would be blamed. In another memo, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover lamented how Oswald's murder by Jack Ruby would complicate the public story. "The thing I am concerned about,” Hoover wrote, “is having something issued so that we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin.” Every government authority that has examined the evidence, has concluded the Oswald killed JFK with a rifle from a perch overlooking the presidential motorcade. Nevertheless, public opinion still shows many people think he did not act alone.

Other Details

The documents shed light on other salacious details from that time period. Among them are several ideas the CIA had for assassinating Fidel Castro. These ranged from explosive sea shells (Castro enjoyed free diving), to contaminating his diving suits, to bribing Cuban officials to kill their leader. There is one noteworthy document from 1975. The Presidential Commission on CIA Activities called former director Richard Helms to give a disposition. One of the Commission layers asked Helm if the CIA was in any way involved in JFK's assassination. "Is there any information involved with the assassination of President Kennedy which in any way shows that Lee Harvey Oswald was in some way a CIA agent or agent…?" the lawyer asked.