The government has unveiled a large collection of declassified documents concerning the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This release follows an executive order signed by President Trump in January, which aimed to make all remaining records public. The National Archives has now published thousands of pages online, adding to previous releases from recent years.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced that about 80,000 pages of previously classified documents are now available without any redactions. However, some documents still remain sealed due to legal restrictions or ongoing confidentiality requirements.
The initial release on Tuesday included 1,123 records totaling 32,000 pages, followed by an additional 1,059 records with 31,400 pages later that evening. Among these documents is an unredacted memo from June 1961, in which Arthur Schlesinger Jr. criticized the CIA's operations shortly after the Bay of Pigs invasion. The memo, which had previously been heavily redacted, highlighted concerns about the CIA's influence over foreign policy and its presence in American embassies abroad.
Newly revealed details include the CIA's surveillance activities in Mexico City, where they monitored Soviet and Cuban communications prior to Kennedy's assassination. Instructions for wiretapping and the use of special chemicals for covert operations were also disclosed. Despite the CIA's long-standing efforts to keep these methods secret, the release provides fresh insights into the agency's activities during that period.
The documents also shed light on the CIA's recruitment of double agents and surveillance of Soviet embassies, as well as monitoring an American communist in Mexico. Although the files do not mention Lee Harvey Oswald by name, they are significant due to his known visits to these embassies.
Jefferson Morley from the Mary Ferrell Foundation noted that this release marks a significant step in making JFK assassination records public. While a substantial portion of the documents remains classified, the newly available records offer a deeper understanding of the historical context and the CIA's role during that era.
In addition to the JFK files, documents related to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were also released. These include discussions of potential plots against Fidel Castro and the involvement of intelligence agencies in these historical events.
The release follows a long-standing congressional mandate from 1992, which required the declassification of assassination-related records by 2017. However, national security concerns delayed the process. The recent publication represents a fraction of the extensive collection held by the National Archives, with many documents already accessible to the public.