CIA, Israel, and "conspiracy theories": Anticipating the Contents of the JFK Files
Numerous still-classified documents have sparked speculation surrounding espionage activities, nuclear secrets, and government conspiracies. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Thousands of records regarding the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963 remain classified, despite President Donald Trump’s recent order for their declassification. Nearly 5,000 documents are still kept under wraps.
Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963 during his visit to Dallas, Texas. A congressional investigation, led by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, determined in 1964 that Lee Harvey Oswald acted as a "lone gunman." The CIA introduced the term "conspiracy theory" to label alternative explanations for JFK's death, which has led to ongoing skepticism among many Americans about the Warren Commission’s findings.
Trump’s directive also includes the remaining classified records concerning the 1968 assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
The National Archives and Records Administration notes that it has declassified 99% of approximately 320,000 documents related to JFK’s assassination, in compliance with legislation enacted by Congress in 1992. Although the deadline for full declassification was set for October 2017, the US intelligence community requested additional time for review and redaction of the documents.
Currently, around 2,140 documents remain either fully or partially redacted, while another 2,500 records are held back due to various reasons, including court mandates or donor stipulations.
Among the documents of interest is a memorandum from June 1961 by White House adviser Arthur Schlesinger, which discusses how Kennedy could achieve his objective of "splintering the Agency [CIA] into a thousand pieces and scattering it to the winds." The memo shows one fully redacted page and two others with partial redactions. Kennedy’s frustration with the CIA stemmed from the failed Bay of Pigs invasion earlier that year.
Another document under scrutiny is a partial transcript of CIA Counterintelligence Chief James Jesus Angleton’s testimony to the Church Committee in January 1976. Some experts suspect that Angleton misled Congress regarding Israel’s acquisition of nuclear weapons during the 1960s, a claim that Israel has neither confirmed nor denied.
Additionally, there are potentially significant records concerning CIA surveillance in Mexico during the early 1960s, when Oswald visited, as well as a CIA officer's involvement with Cuban exiles in Miami that connected to Oswald.
Experts and historians generally agree that the unclassified documents are unlikely to reveal a definitive breakthrough in the case. Tom Samoluk, a board member of the JFK Library Foundation, remarked, “There will be some puzzle pieces that will be put back in that will tell a more robust and rich story.” However, journalist Gerald Posner cautioned that individuals hoping for a dramatic revelation might be disappointed, stating, “anybody waiting for a smoking gun that’s going to turn this case upside down will be sorely disappointed.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of JFK, praised the declassification as a move against the “60-year strategy of lies and secrecy, disinformation, censorship, and defamation” employed by intelligence agencies to conceal “troubling facts” regarding his uncle’s assassination. He asserted that this approach has influenced a series of subsequent events, including the MLK and RFK assassinations, Vietnam, 9/11, the Iraq war, and COVID-19, which he believes have undermined American democracy, driven by the Military/Medical Industrial Complex.
Moreover, RFK Jr. expressed that he perceives “overwhelming evidence” linking the CIA to the assassinations of both his uncle and father.
As for the timeline for the document release, Trump's executive order requires the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General to review the records within 45 days and formulate a plan for their complete declassification. Currently, these roles are held by acting officials, as the Senate has yet to confirm Pam Bondi as Attorney General and Tulsi Gabbard as DNI.
Larry Schnapf, a New York attorney who has sought the release of JFK files, expected a straightforward review process, hoping it would be “a mechanical plan.” However, he warned that if a more detailed review is undertaken on a document-by-document basis, it may take a considerable amount of time.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963 during his visit to Dallas, Texas. A congressional investigation, led by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, determined in 1964 that Lee Harvey Oswald acted as a "lone gunman." The CIA introduced the term "conspiracy theory" to label alternative explanations for JFK's death, which has led to ongoing skepticism among many Americans about the Warren Commission’s findings.
Trump’s directive also includes the remaining classified records concerning the 1968 assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
The National Archives and Records Administration notes that it has declassified 99% of approximately 320,000 documents related to JFK’s assassination, in compliance with legislation enacted by Congress in 1992. Although the deadline for full declassification was set for October 2017, the US intelligence community requested additional time for review and redaction of the documents.
Currently, around 2,140 documents remain either fully or partially redacted, while another 2,500 records are held back due to various reasons, including court mandates or donor stipulations.
Among the documents of interest is a memorandum from June 1961 by White House adviser Arthur Schlesinger, which discusses how Kennedy could achieve his objective of "splintering the Agency [CIA] into a thousand pieces and scattering it to the winds." The memo shows one fully redacted page and two others with partial redactions. Kennedy’s frustration with the CIA stemmed from the failed Bay of Pigs invasion earlier that year.
Another document under scrutiny is a partial transcript of CIA Counterintelligence Chief James Jesus Angleton’s testimony to the Church Committee in January 1976. Some experts suspect that Angleton misled Congress regarding Israel’s acquisition of nuclear weapons during the 1960s, a claim that Israel has neither confirmed nor denied.
Additionally, there are potentially significant records concerning CIA surveillance in Mexico during the early 1960s, when Oswald visited, as well as a CIA officer's involvement with Cuban exiles in Miami that connected to Oswald.
Experts and historians generally agree that the unclassified documents are unlikely to reveal a definitive breakthrough in the case. Tom Samoluk, a board member of the JFK Library Foundation, remarked, “There will be some puzzle pieces that will be put back in that will tell a more robust and rich story.” However, journalist Gerald Posner cautioned that individuals hoping for a dramatic revelation might be disappointed, stating, “anybody waiting for a smoking gun that’s going to turn this case upside down will be sorely disappointed.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of JFK, praised the declassification as a move against the “60-year strategy of lies and secrecy, disinformation, censorship, and defamation” employed by intelligence agencies to conceal “troubling facts” regarding his uncle’s assassination. He asserted that this approach has influenced a series of subsequent events, including the MLK and RFK assassinations, Vietnam, 9/11, the Iraq war, and COVID-19, which he believes have undermined American democracy, driven by the Military/Medical Industrial Complex.
Moreover, RFK Jr. expressed that he perceives “overwhelming evidence” linking the CIA to the assassinations of both his uncle and father.
As for the timeline for the document release, Trump's executive order requires the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General to review the records within 45 days and formulate a plan for their complete declassification. Currently, these roles are held by acting officials, as the Senate has yet to confirm Pam Bondi as Attorney General and Tulsi Gabbard as DNI.
Larry Schnapf, a New York attorney who has sought the release of JFK files, expected a straightforward review process, hoping it would be “a mechanical plan.” However, he warned that if a more detailed review is undertaken on a document-by-document basis, it may take a considerable amount of time.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
