The release of new documents surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy has sparked a renewed focus on the topic.
On Tuesday, nearly 80,000 pages of files, including 1,124 newly unredacted documents, were made available to the public for the first time, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
While the new documents provide some fresh insights into the events leading up to the assassination in November of 1963, most researchers seem to agree that the reports do not offer any groundbreaking revelations that would change the widely accepted narrative of Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone gunman.
Despite this, several updates in the newly released files are raising eyebrows and fueling ongoing debates between theorists and the general public. Here are some of the main highlights:
The newly released files provide some details on the CIA’s surveillance of Oswald, particularly during his trip to Mexico City in October 1963, just weeks before the assassination. Unredacted documents confirm that the CIA was aware of Oswald’s contacts with Soviet and Cuban embassies, per Al Jazeera.
A social media post from Steven Portnoy also details an unredacted 1961 memo from Arthur Schlesinger Jr., an aide to President Kennedy. The memo reveals that Kennedy was advised to curb the CIA’s influence after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. The memo further indicates that Kennedy became increasingly distrustful of the CIA, fearing the agency’s growing power at that time.
The full text of the 1961 Schlesinger memo, long sought by JFK researchers, show how a trusted Kennedy aide urged a reorganization of the CIA in the months after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion.
More than a full page had been blacked out for more than 60 years. Why?
We now…
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) March 19, 2025
The 80,000-page release also sheds new light on Jack Ruby, the former Dallas nightclub owner who killed Oswald two days after the assassination. While he has been primarily viewed as a solo figure seeking revenge for Kennedy, the newly released files suggest that organized crime associates may have instructed Ruby to murder Oswald before he could expose more complex conspiracies, per Financial Express.
However, experts, including Jefferson Morley of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, have pointed out that while many previously redacted documents have now been fully released, there are still files that have not yet been disclosed. According to Morley, more than 500 IRS records, two-thirds of the expected files, and 2,400 recently discovered FBI files remain withheld.
While the recent release of JFK-related files provides new details about certain intelligence operations, law enforcement communications, and figures like Jack Ruby, they do not seem to solve the central mystery of President Kennedy’s assassination or significantly change many of the popular past narratives.