- The National Archives on March 18, 2025, released 63,400 pages of previously classified documents about President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
- Newly unredacted reports reveal Mafia figures discussing JFK’s assassination, with mob boss Santo Trafficante Jr.—a key player in CIA-backed attempts to kill Fidel Castro—aware of a plot.
- Surveillance footage of “Oswald” at the embassies, however, does not correspond with his known appearance.
- Historians, journalists, and transparency advocates pressured the government to release the files, resulting in the passage of the 2025 Justice for Kennedy Act (H.R. 239), which called for the immediate release of all assassination-related records.
Historical Context The Day That Shaped a Conspiracy Culture
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy embarked on a political trip to Texas ahead of the upcoming election. As the presidential motorcade wound through the streets of Dallas where thousands lined the route to cheer on the President and First Lady. President Kennedy was struck by bullets and was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:00 PM.
Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine with Marxist tendencies who defected to the Soviet Union, was caught and accused of the killing. Two days later, he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby, a local nightclub owner, during a live television broadcast, fueling public speculation about a possible conspiracy. After being arrested, Lee Harvey Oswald said, “I’m just a patsy,” meaning that he was put up to take the fall for a crime he did not commit.[1] This speech has served as a rallying cry for conspiracy theorists, who believe Oswald was either a co-conspirator or an unwitting pawn.
Following the assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the Warren Commission on November 29, 1963, to investigate the circumstances of Kennedy’s murder. The commission, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren decided that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating JFK, and there was no proof of a conspiracy[2]. Critics claim the panel ignored witness allegations of numerous shooters, particularly from the grassy knoll, and that the FBI and CIA concealed critical material, casting doubt on the investigation’s credibility.
The Zapruder film, a home movie shot by amateur filmmaker Abraham Zapruder, was one of the pieces of evidence examined in the aftermath[3]. One image depicts JFK’s head jolting backwards, an action that sparked much discussion. Few experts say that this rearward movement indicates a shot from the front, maybe from the notorious “grassy knoll,” contradicting the official narrative of a lone shooter firing from behind. This one frame has become a pillar for those who challenge the official account.
In the 1970s, the House Select Committee on Assassinations found that JFK was most likely murdered in a conspiracy, citing disputed acoustic evidence. His assassination had a profound influence on the country, increasing hostility between Vietnam and the Watergate scandal. By 2023, a Gallup poll indicated that two-thirds of Americans had abandoned the lone-gunman scenario.[4]
The 2025 Release: A Step Toward Transparency or Another Controlled Disclosure?
The National Archives on March 18, 2025, released 63,400 pages of previously classified documents about President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.[5] The publication, mandated by President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14176, was intended to meet a long-standing need for complete transparency around one of America’s most closely watched historical events. Notably, the release contained 2,400 newly discovered FBI papers, raising concerns about whether important information had been overlooked—or purposefully concealed—for decades.
Important facets of the investigation, such as CIA monitoring, Oswald’s travel to Mexico City, and unredacted informant names, are included in the recently disclosed JFK files, which are currently accessible on the National Archives website. Oswald asked for a Cuban visa, presumably to enter the Soviet Union, according to declassified CIA documents. Surveillance footage of “Oswald” at the embassies, however, does not correspond with his known appearance. Intercepted calls also show that he—or an impersonator—spoke Spanish fluently, which was not a skill he possessed. This raises concerns that Oswald was impersonated to frame him before the assassination. Historian Jefferson Morley advocates for further investigation, claiming that the archives generate more questions than answers.[6]
Another crucial figure in the recently disclosed files is George Joannides, a CIA officer who managed anti-Castro Cuban exile groups in the early 1960s. Previously, Joannides was accused of hindering a congressional investigation by neglecting to divulge his involvement with the same exile group that had communication with Oswald before the assassination.[7] The new documents suggest that Joannides was actively organizing covert operations with Cuban refugees at the time. Did the CIA have a deeper knowledge of Oswald’s actions and connections than it ever admitted? It is worth noting that some documents related to Joannides remain redacted, citing national security concerns.
Newly unredacted reports reveal Mafia figures discussing JFK’s assassination, with mob boss Santo Trafficante Jr.—a key player in CIA-backed attempts to kill Fidel Castro—aware of a plot. Yet, no direct evidence links these conversations to a coordinated conspiracy.
Why Now? The Forces Behind the 2025 JFK File Release
The release of 63,400 JFK assassination records in 2025 stemmed from political machination, bureaucratic confrontation and unceasing public pressure. Donald Trump’s Executive Order required full declassification in 15 days and was characterized as fulfilling a long-standing campaign promise. His alliance with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal critic of the official narrative, is a calculated manoeuvre to facilitate appeal with Kennedy’s anti-establishment base. Rather than just a push for historical transparency, the release also served as a political manoeuvre, tapping into decades of public scepticism and distrust in government secrecy.
The timing of the release cannot be entirely explained by politics alone. The urgency was heightened in February 2025[8] when 2,400 previously undiscovered FBI data were found. Officials blamed it on bureaucratic oversight, but suspicions mounted that the files were purposefully hidden until public pressure compelled their release. Former R&AW Chief Vikram Sood observed that the findings reignited interest in Jim Garrison’s repressed inquiry as social media was ablaze with conjecture. Garrison’s findings, documented in On the Trail of Assassins, inspired Oliver Stone’s film JFK, which faced fierce media backlash for challenging the lone gunman theory.[9]
Historians, journalists and transparency advocates pressured the government to release the files. Organizations like the Mary Ferrell Foundation fought legal battles to compel disclosure, keeping the question in the public eye. Their work resulted in the passage of the 2025 Justice for Kennedy Act (H.R. 239), which called for the immediate release of all assassination-related records.[10] Spearheaded by a bipartisan group, the bill was a sign of mounting impatience with the government’s slow, selective process of declassification.
The question now is whether this massive document dump is truly full disclosure or just another selective release. Are we finally seeing the full scope of what the government knew about Kennedy’s assassination, or is this just another carefully controlled trickle of information? And if crucial records could remain hidden for over six decades, what else might still be buried?
Politics Over the Years: A Tug-of-War of Secrecy
The dispute for JFK assassination materials has long pitted public calls for transparency against official secrecy. Since the 1960s, the CIA and FBI have concealed critical information from probes, alleging national security. Public pressure increased in the 1990s with Oliver Stone’s JFK hitting the screens, resulting in the 1992 JFK Records Act, which set a 2017 deadline for full disclosure unless a president intervened. While nearly six million pages were provided, many were censored. When the time came, Congress deferred to the executive branch, infuriating those who saw it as yet another delay in determining the real truth. Trump released 2,800 papers during his first term[11], but withheld others due to last-minute requests from the FBI and CIA, who cited “irreversible harm.” Despite his initial support for conspiracy ideas regarding Oswald, he eventually aligned himself with intelligence organizations.
The Biden administration also took incremental steps, declassifying thousands more documents between 2021 and 2023, but left more than 2,100 files redacted[12]. Official claims were redolent of previous rationales — national security, intelligence techniques and foreign policy risks. But to researchers and sceptics, those arguments sounded like that same decades-long inertia continuing — if not a concerted effort to stamp on uncomfortable truths.
In 2025, the landscape changed. Trump’s second term and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s demand for disclosure resulted in the release of the JFK Assassination files, which required complete declassification. While some celebrated it as a populist win over the “deep state,” others saw it as political theatre. Was this a long-awaited reckoning, or simply another chapter in the cover-up?
Claims and Counterclaims: The Evidence Divide
The newly disclosed 2025 papers shed light on long-held concerns about CIA complicity in the Kennedy assassination. Documents show that Lee Harvey Oswald was under CIA observation before November 22, 1963 and that George Joannides, a CIA operative, had direct contacts with anti-Castro-Cuban exile groups that Oswald had contacted. Critics argue that this reveals more than simply ordinary monitoring; it implies greater agency engagement. However, historians such as Tim Naftali warn against reading too much into these clues, arguing that intelligence organizations routinely monitor possible dangers without necessarily planning an incident.
Another ongoing argument concerns the potential of a second gunman. The new papers contain unredacted witness testimony from Dealey Plaza, with some alleging gunfire came from the notorious grassy knoll. Autopsy discrepancies and HSCA acoustic analysis indicating multiple gunmen support the notion, fueling debate on social media. However, early 2025 reports, notably CBS News, support the Warren Commission’s finding that Oswald acted alone.
New informant recordings have also revealed the mafia’s involvement in Kennedy’s murder. Oswald’s pro-Castro sympathies, combined with the CIA’s previous participation with mob leaders in anti-Castro operations, have fanned conjecture that the assassination was a form of retribution.
Lastly, there are still rumours that Lyndon B. Johnson knew about the assassination. According to posts on X, considering the speed at which Johnson came to power, recently leaked documents suggest that he was aware of an imminent scheme. Historians are still not convinced as no hard proof has surfaced.
Was Johnson’s ascension merely a result of political ambition and circumstance, or was there more to it?
References:
- [1] Letter to the Editor: “I’m Just a Patsy”—Jack Kennedy’s Assassination Still Unexplained
- [2]Warren Commission
- [3] Never-seen-before-footage-of-jfk-assassination-shot-by-a-texas-businessman-emerges-what-we Know
- [4]Decades Later, Most Americans Doubt Lone Gunman Killed JFK
- [5]The JFK files are out. Here’s what experts are looking for.
- [6] https://x.com/jeffersonmorley/status/1843623347399385507
- [7] Interview: G. Robert Blakey
- [8]FBI says it has discovered 2,400 new records related to JFK assassination
- [9] https://x.com/Vikram_Sood/status/1902250609023316115
- [10] H.R.637 – JFK Act of 2023
- [11] https://x.com/ajplus/status/923674710973366272
- [12] What Biden is keeping secret in the JFK files
Pranav S is a Project Assistant at the Energy Department, Government of Karnataka with an MA in Public Policy. Views expressed are the author’s own.
Balaji Subramanian 
Shashank Pandey 
Sakshi Yadav