Inside the JFK Files: Trump’s Much Ado About Nothing
President Donald Trump ordered the release of tens of thousands of pages of previously classified documents tied to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This release follows Executive Order 14176, issued in January, which mandated the declassification of all records relating to the assassinations of JFK, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Under the directive, the National Archives and Records Administration posted many of the newly unredacted files online while making hard copies and analog media available at its College Park, Maryland, facility.
Although the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection already contained millions of pages—some of which have been accessible for decades—the newly unveiled material focuses fresh attention on the final, unreleased or partially redacted documents. Trump had promised complete transparency, announcing that his administration would release roughly 80,000 pages for public scrutiny without redacting anything.
“We have a tremendous amount of paper,” he said while touring the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “You’ve got a lot of reading.”
Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, observed that comprehensive review will take time.
“We have a lot of work to do for a long time to come,” he said, noting that some documents remain heavily redacted or are not yet uploaded in searchable formats.
Jefferson Morley, a historian with the Mary Ferrell Foundation, called the release “an encouraging start,” remarking that “much of the rampant overclassification of trivial information has been eliminated.” Yet he also noted that key pieces, including recently discovered FBI files and hundreds of Internal Revenue Service documents, still appear to be missing.
Those who have begun combing through the newly accessible material have already discovered internal memos discussing Lee Harvey Oswald’s time in the Soviet Union, as well as CIA surveillance records indicating that the KGB considered Oswald unpredictable. A once-redacted memo recounting an encounter in St. Petersburg, Russia, as late as 1991 attests that the KGB never “controlled” Oswald—an assertion that may reinforce longstanding official conclusions about his lone role in the assassination.
Among the more intriguing items is a memorandum referencing John Garrett “Gary” Underhill Jr.—a World War II intelligence agent and well-known authority on limited warfare and small arms. The record cites an article from Ramparts magazine that describes Underhill’s startling claims in the immediate aftermath of the Kennedy assassination.
“The day after the assassination, Gary Underhill left Washington in a hurry. Late in the evening he showed up at the home of friends in New Jersey. He was very agitated,” the memo quotes. “A small clique within the CIA was responsible for the assassination, he confided, and he was afraid for his life and probably would have to leave the country. Less than six months later Underhill was found shot to death in his Washington apartment. The coroner ruled it suicide.”
According to the memo, Underhill had been “on a first-name basis with many of the top brass in the Pentagon” and “on intimate terms with a number of high-ranking CIA officials.”
J. Edgar Hoover, then-director of the FBI, is quoted in one set of older but newly unredacted documents, declaring he had seen “no substantial evidence of any type” supporting conspiracies, foreign or domestic.
Addressing the Warren Commission’s inquiry, Hoover stated, “They are correct. I can most emphatically say that at no time was he ever an employee of the Bureau in any capacity, either as an agent or as a special employee, or as an informant.”
Later in the same interview, Hoover addressed suspicions of conspiracy: “I have been unable to find any scintilla of evidence showing any foreign conspiracy or any domestic conspiracy that culminated in the assassination of President Kennedy.”
His testimony echoes the Warren Commission’s official findings in 1964, which concluded that Oswald acted alone.
Further fueling intrigue, some of the newly released files point to confidential CIA operations overseas and sensitive intercepts, reflecting why these documents were withheld in the first place. New details, such as references to CIA surveillance methods, foreign intercepts, and the personal writings of key figures, illuminate the intelligence community’s environment in the early 1960s.
More than six million pages are now housed in the JFK Assassination Records Collection, including the additions made public this week.
Information for this briefing was found via The New York Times, AP News, and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
