President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday began declassifying all government files related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, making potentially tens of thousands of unredacted pages available to the public for the first time.
This release follows Trump’s executive order, signed on his first day in office in January, directing the full disclosure of government documents concerning the assassinations of Kennedy, his brother and presidential candidate Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
The specific contents of these newly available documents, and whether they contain any previously undisclosed information, remain unclear. Historians noted they would need time to analyze the files to determine whether they offer any significant new insights.
Thus far, the documents have not altered the longstanding conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, as the president rode in a Dallas motorcade.
Public Access to the JFK Files
The newly released JFK files can be accessed on the National Archives’ website. Most are scanned documents, some of which have faded or become difficult to read over time. The collection also includes photographs and sound recordings, predominantly from the 1960s.
Report from Russia: Oswald’s Poor Marksmanship
One document dated Nov. 20, 1991, appears to summarize U.S. intelligence findings on Lee Harvey Oswald, detailing his time in the Soviet Union, his tumultuous marriage to his Soviet wife, and his reportedly poor shooting skills.
According to the document, KGB official Nikonov reviewed Soviet security service files to determine if Oswald had ever been a KGB agent.
“Nikonov is now confident that Oswald was at no time an agent controlled by the KGB,” the document states.
The report, citing American professor E.B. Smith, describes how Nikonov examined five extensive files on Oswald and doubted that anyone could control him. However, the KGB reportedly monitored him closely while he was in the USSR.
The files also document Oswald’s troubled relationship with his wife and suggest that his marksmanship was subpar. “The KGB files reflected that Oswald was a poor shot when he tried target firing in the USSR,” the document notes.
Some conspiracy theorists have pointed to inconsistencies in Oswald’s behavioral records in CIA files, arguing that they support theories suggesting he did not act alone or was not involved in Kennedy’s assassination.
References to Conspiracy Theories in the Files
The newly disclosed documents reference conspiracy theories suggesting that Oswald left the Soviet Union in 1962 with the intent to assassinate Kennedy.
Documents from the Department of Defense, dated 1963, focus on Cold War tensions and U.S. efforts to counter Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s support for communist movements in Latin America.
The records suggest Castro was unlikely to instigate a war with the U.S. but might “intensify his support of subversive forces in Latin America.”
Experts’ Initial Reactions
James Johnston, author of Murder, Inc.: The CIA under John F. Kennedy, told USA Today that he did not expect any major revelations, given that the CIA and other agencies had already transferred their records to the National Archives in 1988.
“If it was going to embarrass the agency or tell a different story, they wouldn’t have turned them over to the National Archives in the first place,” said Johnston, who was a congressional investigator on the 1975 Church Committee, which examined CIA activities.
Johnston cited one notable document missing from the release: a transcript of the first conversation between President Lyndon Johnson and CIA Director John McCone after Kennedy’s assassination.
McCone had long been suspected of withholding information from the Warren Commission, the investigative panel established by Johnson. According to Philip Shenon, author of A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination, McCone initially pledged full cooperation but later withheld certain details.
McCone testified that the CIA had no evidence linking Oswald to any conspiracy, foreign or domestic. His testimony aligned with the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Oswald, a former Marine and self-proclaimed Marxist, acted alone.
Years later, however, the CIA acknowledged that McCone had not been entirely forthcoming with the Warren Commission.
The Warren Commission’s Findings
Several of the newly released documents pertain to the Warren Commission, which was created by President Johnson to investigate Kennedy’s assassination.
The commission concluded that Oswald, who was arrested but later killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby on live television, acted alone. However, Kennedy’s assassination has remained the subject of intense debate, with numerous theories challenging the official findings. Polls have consistently shown that many Americans believe the assassination was part of a broader conspiracy.
Trump’s Push for ‘Maximum Transparency’
Trump did not immediately comment on the document release, but Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard praised the move, calling it part of Trump’s pledge for “maximum transparency and a commitment to rebuild the trust of the American people in the Intelligence Community.”
For years, critics have accused the intelligence community, particularly the CIA, of withholding key information about Kennedy’s assassination. However, intelligence officials have insisted that all essential files have already been released and that any remaining redactions were necessary to protect intelligence sources and methods.
Gabbard stated that she issued a directive following Trump’s announcement, instructing all intelligence agencies to provide unredacted records for immediate public release.
Digital Release and Remaining Files
The newly released documents were made public just before 7 p.m. Tuesday. The National Archives and Records Administration, which manages the files, issued a statement confirming that all records previously withheld for classification were now released in accordance with Trump’s directive.
The National Archives noted that while some files are available online, others can only be accessed in person at the National Archives facility in College Park, Maryland.
“As the records continue to be digitized, they will be posted to this page,” the statement read, indicating that some documents are not yet available in digital form.
The agency also noted that certain information remains restricted under court seals or grand jury secrecy laws, while tax return records are protected under federal regulations.
Public Anticipation and Reaction
The document release followed Trump’s visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he now serves as board chairman.
“People have been waiting for decades for this,” Trump told reporters. “We have a tremendous amount of paper. You’ve got a lot of reading. I don’t believe we’re going to redact anything.”
The CIA and FBI, both of which played roles in JFK assassination investigations, declined immediate comment.
Expert Analysis on the Newly Released Files
JFK scholar Jefferson Morley called the release “an encouraging start.”
“We now have complete versions of approximately a third of the redacted JFK documents held by the National Archives,” said Morley, vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for historical government transparency.
He added that seven out of ten JFK files sought by researchers are now fully public, providing new insights into Kennedy’s distrust of the CIA, attempts to assassinate Castro, surveillance of Oswald in Mexico City, and CIA propaganda efforts involving Oswald.
However, Morley noted that two-thirds of the promised files remain unreleased, including over 500 IRS records and 2,400 recently discovered FBI documents.
“Nonetheless, this is the most positive news on the declassification of JFK files since the 1990s,” Morley said.
The Justice Department’s Effort to Meet Trump’s Deadline
Trump’s order reportedly triggered a rush within the Justice Department to meet his deadline. ABC News and Reuters reported that a senior official in the DOJ’s Office of Intelligence sent an internal email just before 5 p.m. Monday, instructing attorneys to conduct a final review of the documents.
The push for full declassification began with Trump’s first executive order on Jan. 20, when he directed agencies to release files related to the assassinations of Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.
FBI Unveils Additional 2,400 JFK Records
Last month, the FBI announced the discovery of approximately 2,400 additional records connected to Kennedy’s assassination. These files are in the process of being transferred to the National Archives, but their contents remain unclear.
While previous investigations found no evidence of a government conspiracy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, has advocated for releasing the files to examine whether U.S. officials were involved in a cover-up.
The National Archives continues to review and release documents in compliance with Trump’s directive.