The release of approximately 80,000 documents was met with skepticism by those looking for concrete evidence about the former president’s 1963 assassination.
WASHINGTON—Thousands of pages of documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, were released late in the evening of March 18, revealing details about intelligence-gathering operations but little new information.
While researchers have long awaited the declassification, some are questioning the content of the released files and whether more documents exist or were previously destroyed.
Many digitized documents are illegible, either due to the quality of the source material or inadequate scanning methods.
Critics of the government’s slow release of information over the last 62 years suggest that the lack of transparency has created controversy and eroded credibility.
Many of the newly released files describe Central Intelligence Agency efforts to counter Russia and Cuba, including plans to isolate, “further discredit,” and overthrow foreign governments with coup d’etat missions using “political and psychological warfare.”
A declassified CIA file from October 1963 instructs agents to offer “no comment and complete denial if specifically asked” about a plot to attack a Cuban merchant ship. According to the document, Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro was concerned about a bomb—which failed to detonate—planted on the ship in Genoa, Italy, that he claimed was placed there by the CIA.
Some reports reveal methods of intelligence gathering, with details about how records are maintained.
In one instance, operatives were advised to destroy all documents to prevent information from falling into the hands of a foreign government.
Several documents indicate that Lee Harvey Oswald, identified by the Warren Commission as the lone gunman responsible for killing Kennedy during a political visit to Dallas, Texas, was under U.S. government surveillance well before the assassination.
They say Oswald had extensive contacts within the intelligence community, and foreknowledge of his alleged activities was reported from European contacts to the U.S. agencies in the days and months before Kennedy was assassinated.
According to the Warren Commission, Oswald fired a Carcano rifle three times within 8.3 seconds, with the second and third shots allegedly striking the president.
Russian spy officials in the KGB rejected the notion, calling Oswald a “poor shooter” and suggested the killing was part of an elaborate “coup,” other documents revealed.
According to one newly released report, former intelligence operative Gary Underhill reportedly told officials that the CIA was responsible for Kennedy’s murder and was found dead by suicide in 1964.
Underhill told friends Kennedy was killed because he uncovered evidence that rogue elements within the intelligence agency were running guns and drugs while also stirring up political mischief, the report reveals.
True crime researcher and author John Leake suggested the former agent’s tragic death likely occurred because of his work exposing potentially illegal actions.
“Underhill was too experienced in 1964 to make unfounded claims,” Leake told The Epoch Times. “I would bet a large sum he knew what he was talking about.”
