The US National Archives and Records Administration posted about 2,200 unredacted files, consisting of over 63,000 pages, related to the 1963 assassination of former President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963) on its website on March 18, 2025 in accordance with President Donald John Trump‘s directive. In January (2025), President Trump signed an executive order, calling for the release of all remaining files on the assassination of the former president.

The US Government’s move has triggered a controversy, with the local media claiming that some officials of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were involved in the assassination of the 35th US President, 62 years ago! As expected, historians and researchers have started making a serious attempt to uncover new information about one of the most seismic moments in US history.

The Trump Administration has claimed that no redactions have been made in those documents related to the JFK assassination. Earlier, President Trump announced that his government would release nearly 80,000 pages of such documents. The recently released files mentioned the name of a former CIA Officer, John Garrett Underhill Jr (August 7, 1915 – May 8, 1964). Also known as Garrett Underhill and Gary Underhill, the former CIA official was a US Army Captain in the General Staff G2 during the Second World War and received the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service. Underhill reportedly told one of his friends that a section of the US intelligence community was behind the assassination of JFK. He further claimed that Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963), a US Marine veteran, was falsely framed in the JFK murder case.

Collin Rugg, a US political analyst, has stressed that the newly-released JFK files tell a story about how Underhill, who worked for the CIA, was found dead after he revealed to friends that the CIA was responsible for JFK’s assassination. He stressed: “The day after the assassination (of JFK), Underhill left Washington DC in a hurry. Late in the evening, he showed up at the home of friends in New Jersey. He was very agitated.” Rugg further said: “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 DC apartment. The coroner ruled it suicide,” he added.

Later, one of the friends of Underhill claimed that some CIA officials were not at all satisfied with JFK’s activities. Those officers did not act in a proper manner even after receiving intelligence input that the President might be assassinated. In a 2023 Gallup poll, 65% of the US citizens said that they did not believe the findings of the Warren Commission, which concluded that Oswald acted alone in killing the President during his visit to Dallas on November 22, 1963, while 20% believed that Oswald conspired with the US Government and 16% claimed that he collaborated with the CIA.

The newly released files have also shed light on the CIA’s close cooperation with the Israeli intelligence agencies. They mentioned that James Jesus Angleton (December 9, 1917 – May 11, 1987), who served as Chief of the Counterintelligence Department of the CIA from 1954 to 1975, was in touch with top officials of the Israeli intelligence agencies. He was also responsible for maintaining secrecy of the information received from Israel.

Meanwhile, JFK scholars have claimed that the latest release of documents pumped new energy into conspiracy theories about the assassination, stating that they have not seen anything out of line with the conclusion that Oswald was the lone gunman. Talking to the media, Philip Shenon, who penned a book about the killing of JFK in 2013, said: “The chase for the truth will go on forever, I suspect.“

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das