News

Were the Kennedy Files a Bust? Not So Fast, Historians Say.

Published

11 months ago

March 21, 2025

Were the Kennedy Files a Bust? Not So Fast, Historians Say.

In June 1973, a C.I.A. employee wrote a memo at the request of William E. Colby, the agency’s director, listing various ways the C.I.A. had, to put it delicately, “exceeded” its charter over the years.

The seven pages matter-of-factly described break-ins at the French Consulate in Washington, planned paramilitary attacks on Chinese nuclear facilities and injections of a “contaminating agent” in Cuban sugar bound for the Soviet Union. The memo ended with an offhand aside about John A. McCone, the agency’s former director.

“Finally, and this will reflect my Middle Western Protestant upbringing, McCone’s dealings with the Vatican, including Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI, would and could raise eyebrows in certain quarters,” the author wrote.

It was just one paragraph in the roughly 77,000 pages the National Archives posted online this week as part of the latest — and supposedly final — release of its vast collection of documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

But for some of the scholars who immediately started combing through the documents, the brief passage, seen unredacted for the first time, raised eyebrows for sure.

“This opens a door on a whole history of collaboration between the Vatican and the C.I.A., which, boy, would be explosive if we could get documents about it,” said Peter Kornbluh, a senior analyst at the National Security Archive, an independent research center at George Washington University.

“Which of course,” he added, “we will now try to do.”

The document drop may have been a disappointment for those hoping for juicy revelations about the Kennedy assassination. But for scholars steeped in the history of intelligence agencies and the secret side of American foreign policy, there have been revelations aplenty.

They include information about C.I.A. involvement in various attempted coups, election interference in countries around the world and connections that ran to the top of some foreign governments. To see the documents all drop suddenly, without redactions, was remarkable to scholars.

“I didn’t think I’d live to see it,” Mr. Kornbluh said.

That the release included so much material with no obvious connection to the assassination reflected the broad intentions of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, a 1992 law passed after the Oliver Stone film “JFK” prompted a resurgence of conspiracy theorizing.

The law ordered that all government records related to the assassination and various investigations be gathered in one place and released within 25 years, with some exceptions for grand jury secrecy, tax privacy and concern for “identifiable harm” to national security.

And the law defined “assassination-related record” broadly, taking in a swath of documents related to the inner workings and covert operations of the C.I.A. and F.B.I., including many gathered by the Senate’s Church Committee, established in 1975 to investigate abuses by the intelligence agencies.

Before this week, 99 percent of the roughly six million pages in the collection had already been made public. Only several thousand documents remained redacted, and as few as 50 withheld in full, according to past statements from the archives.

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said this week that only a few documents, which remained under a court seal because of grand jury rules, were still secret. The federal government is working to get those documents unsealed.

The release of the newly unredacted material had long been opposed by the C.I.A. because it would give up the names of its sources. But equally important to the agency was the desire to protect its mid-20th-century tradecraft: how well it had penetrated the Egyptian government’s communications, or the depth of its contacts in France.

Unredacted passages in the new documents revealed how the C.I.A. wiretapped phones in Mexico City in 1962. While that may be interesting in a Cold War spy movie kind of way, it has no bearing on whether American spy agencies can listen to a phone call made on an encrypted app on a modern cellphone.

But for historians, the agency’s closely guarded “sources and methods” are important to filling out the full historical picture. And some of the new material is startling, they said.

Fredrik Logevall, a Harvard historian who is working on a multivolume biography of Kennedy, said that it was remarkable to see a full version of an unredacted 1961 memo by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., an aide to Kennedy, written shortly after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, warning of the growing power of the C.I.A. and calling for it to be reorganized.

Newly visible passages revealed, among other things, that nearly half of the political officers in American embassies around the world were working for the C.I.A. “That’s astonishing,” Dr. Logevall said.

He also cited a now-unredacted 41-page memo of minutes from meetings between 1962 and 1963 of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, which included many suggestive new details, including some related to surveillance of China’s efforts to develop a nuclear bomb.

There was also an unredacted 1967 report by the C.I.A.’s inspector general on the 1961 assassination of the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo that now shows the names of all the C.I.A. agents involved in the plot.

“Without the 1992 law, all of this probably would have been under lock and key forever,” Dr. Logevall said.

The revelation of sources’ identities causes the C.I.A. deep angst, on principle and because it undermines efforts to recruit sources today.

“These relationships are secret for a reason,” said Nicholas Dujmovic, a retired C.I.A. historian. “If people don’t want others to know that they were cooperating with the C.I.A., for whatever reason, we have a moral obligation to keep these relationships secret, because that was the going in agreement.”

Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi, a historian at the University of South Florida and researcher for the National Security Archive, said the documents also revealed efforts to interfere in elections in Finland, Peru and Somalia that had been rumored but undocumented, or entirely unknown. There was also new information, he said, about C.I.A. involvement in failed and successful coups in various countries, including Brazil, Haiti and what is now Guyana.

A 1964 C.I.A. inspector general report on the workings of the agency’s station in Mexico City was particularly significant, he said, because it contained one of the most detailed accounts available of how the agency organized its ground operations.

A heavily redacted version was released in 2022. But newly visible passages revealed that Adolfo López Mateos, the president of Mexico, had approved a joint surveillance operation against Soviets in Mexico.

The memo also described a “highly successful project” aimed at “rural and peasant targets,” led by a Catholic priest who had created an extensive network of youth groups, credit unions, agricultural co-ops and study centers — presumably, Dr. Jimenez-Bacardi said, to make sure people “don’t go on the Soviet path.”

The White House said on Thursday that all remaining classified documents in the collection are now open for research at the National Archives, with additional pages still set to be digitized and posted online “in the coming days.”

Dr. Jimenez-Bacardi said he was eager to see the Church Committee interviews and depositions of former directors of the C.I.A., but had not yet found them.

Parts were included in previous releases. “But there are still secrets in those depositions,” he said.

Click to comment

News

Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

Published

8 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to give deposition Friday to a congressional committee investigating his links to Jeffrey Epstein, one day after Hillary Clinton testified before the committee and called the proceedings “partisan political theatre” and “an insult to the American people”.

During remarks before the House oversight committee, Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, insisted on Thursday that she had never met Epstein.

The former Democratic president, however, flew on Epstein’s private jet several times in the early 2000s but said he never visited his island.

Clinton, who engaged in an extramarital affair while president and has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, also appears in a photo from the recently released files, in a hot tub with Epstein and a woman whose identity is redacted.

Clinton has denied the sexual misconduct claims and was not charged with any crimes. He also has not been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein.

Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times during the early years of Clinton’s presidency, according to White House visitor records cited in news reports. Clinton said he cut ties with him around 2005, before the disgraced financier, who died from suicide in 2019, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor in Florida.

The House committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August. They initially refused to testify but agreed after Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt.

The Clintons asked for their depositions to be held publicly, with the former president stating that to do so behind closed doors would amount to a “kangaroo court”.

“Let’s stop the games + do this the right way: in a public hearing,” Clinton said on X earlier this month.

The committee’s chair, James Comer, did not grant their request, and the proceedings will be conducted behind closed doors with video to be released later.

On Thursday, Hillary Clinton’s proceedings were briefly halted after representative Lauren Boebert leaked an image of Clinton testifying.

During the full day deposition, Clinton said she had no information about Epstein and did not recall ever meeting him.

Before the deposition, Comer said it would be a long interview and that one with Bill Clinton would be “even longer”.

News

Read Judge Schiltz’s Order

Published

17 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

CASE 0:26-cv-00107-PJS-DLM

Doc. 12-1 Filed 02/26/26

Page 5 of 17

and to file a status update by 11:00 am on January 20. ECF No. 5. Respondents never provided a bond hearing and did not release Petitioner until January 21, ECF Nos. 10, 12, after failing to file an update, ECF No. 9. Further, Respondents released Petitioner subject to conditions despite the Court’s release order not providing for conditions. ECF Nos. 5, 12–13.

Abdi W. v. Trump, et al., Case No. 26-CV-00208 (KMM/SGE)

On January 21, 2026, the Court ordered Respondents, within 3 days, to either (a) complete Petitioner’s inspection and examination and file a notice confirming completion, or (b) release Petitioner immediately in Minnesota and confirm the date, time, and location of release. ECF No. 7. No notice was ever filed. The Court emailed counsel on January 27, 2026, at 10:39 am. No response was provided.

Adriana M.Y.M. v. David Easterwood, et al., Case No. 26-CV-213 (JWB/JFD)

On January 24, 2026, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and ordered Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release, or anticipated release, within 48 hours. ECF No. 12. Respondent was not released until January 30, and Respondents never disclosed the time of release, instead describing it as “early this morning.” ECF No. 16.

Estefany J.S. v. Bondi, Case No. 26-CV-216 (JWB/SGE)

On January 13, 2026, at 10:59 am, the Court ordered Respondents to file a letter by 4:00 pm confirming Petitioner’s current location. ECF No. 8. After receiving no response, the Court ordered Respondents, at 5:11 pm, to immediately confirm Petitioner’s location and, by noon on January 14, file a memorandum explaining their failure to comply with the initial order. ECF No. 9. Respondents did not file the memorandum, requiring the Court to issue another order. ECF No. 12. On January 15, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and required Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release within 48 hours. ECF No. 18. On January 20, having received no confirmation, the Court ordered Respondents to comply immediately. ECF No. 21. Respondents informed the Court that Petitioner was released in Minnesota on January 17, but did not specify the time. ECF No. 22.

5

News

Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

Published

20 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

James Hickman holds a photo montage of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Nam Y. Huh/AP

CHICAGO — A line of mourners streamed through a Chicago auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. as cross-country memorial services began in the city the late civil rights leader called home.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson died Tuesday at the age of 84.

The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.

Family members wiped away tears as the casket was brought into the stately brick building. Flowers lined the sidewalks where people waiting to enter watched a large screen playing video excerpts of Jackson’s notable speeches. Some raised their fists in solidarity.

The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Nam Y. Huh/AP

Inside, Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those who stood by the open casket to shake hands and hug those coming to view the body of Jackson, dressed in a suit and blue shirt and tie.

“The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” Sharpton told reporters. “Dr. King’s dream and Jesse Jackson’s mission now falls on our shoulders. We’ve got to stand up and keep it going.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as Jesse Jackson Jr. listens after the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Nam Y. Huh/AP

Jackson died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.

Remembrances have already poured in from around the globe, and several U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, are flying flags at half-staff in his honor.

But perhaps nowhere has his death been felt as strongly as in the nation’s third-largest city, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children, including a son who is a congressman.

Bouquets have been left outside the family’s Tudor-style home on the city’s South Side for days. Public schools have offered condolences, and city trains have used digital screens to display Jackson’s portrait and his well-known mantra, “I am Somebody!”

People wait to enter the security checkpoint for the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Nam Y. Huh/AP

His causes, both in the United States and abroad, were countless: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.

Family members stand in front of a portrait of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

How the Rev. Jesse Jackson transformed American politics

“We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” the mayor said in a statement.

Next week, Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services. According to Rainbow PUSH’s agenda, Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to deliver remarks; however, the governor’s office said Thursday that his participation wasn’t yet confirmed. Jackson spent his childhood and started his activism in South Carolina.

Details on services in Washington have not yet been made public. However, he will not lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.

The two weeks of events will wrap up next week with a large celebration of life gathering at a Chicago megachurch and finally, homegoing services at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Family members said the services will be open to all.

“Our family is overwhelmed and overjoyed by the amazing amount of support being offered by common, ordinary people who our father’s life has come into contact with,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said before the services began. “This is a unique opportunity to lay down some of the political rhetoric and to lay down some of the division that deeply divides our country and to reflect upon a man who brought people together.”

The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives as Yusep Jackson wipes his eyes before public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Nam Y. Huh/AP

The services included prayers from some of the city’s most well-known religious leaders, including Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. Mourners of all ages — from toddlers in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs — came to pay respects.

Video clips of his appearances at news conferences, the campaign trail and even “Sesame Street” also played inside the auditorium.

Claudette Redic, a retiree who lives in Chicago, said her family has respected Jackson, from backing his presidential ambitions to her son getting a scholarship from a program Jackson championed.

“We have generations of support,” she said. “I’m hoping we continue.”