Staff Reports
The National Archives decided to unlock the Pandora’s box of conspiracy theories surrounding one of America’s most infamous assassinations—President John F. Kennedy’s murder. This long-awaited release was set into motion by then-President Trump on the campaign trail, where he boldly asserted that he would make these historical documents available to the public. Fast forward to Tuesday, and Trump’s promise comes to fruition, only a few weeks after he signed an executive order directing the federal government to lay bare the records associated with not only JFK’s assassination but also those of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.
Guessing the exact number of completely new documents in this latest release might be impossible, but the order stipulates that the director of national intelligence and the attorney general had a mere 15 days to craft a plan for releasing the “full and complete” records pertaining to JFK’s untimely demise. For the conspiracy-minded, this is like sending out a buffet invitation to a starving crowd; the archives may contain tantalizing morsels of information that could either confirm or completely debunk the decades-old theories swirling around that dark day in Dallas back in November 1963.
Lee Harvey Oswald, the lone gunman in the eyes of the official narrative, has been vilified as the culprit who snuffed out a presidency. After all, what better way to shift focus from the many festive minds buzzing around the case than labeling a troubled Marine as the villain? Oswald’s alleged communist sympathies and his jaunt to the Soviet Union seem almost tailored for Hollywood if one considers the drama of it all. As he took aim from an observatory with his bolt-action rifle, many were left pondering when things went South, especially with chatter surrounding a potential secondary shooter on the infamous “Grassy Knoll.” Conspiracy theories have a unique way of hanging around like a bad smell, and this one is no different.
JUST IN: National Archives Releases JFK Files At Trump’s Direction https://t.co/OltNrZFj3V
— Patriot Pointman (@patriotpointman) March 18, 2025
Oswald’s story took a swift turn when he was shot dead by nightclub owner Jack Ruby just days after the assassination. Though Ruby’s murky ties to the Chicago mafia have led to their own theories and debates, the story again shifts back to the cumbersome Warren Commission. This group cheekily pronounced that Oswald acted entirely alone, just as they declared Ruby was merely a vigilante, somewhat conveniently dismissing any ties that could point to a larger conspiracy at play. The scale of the delusion in the official findings seems a tad too tidy for history buffs who crave the juicy details that typically accompany assassinations.
However, not all was quiet on the archival front. In the 1990s, Congress decided to play the release game, ensuring records would see the light of day by October 2017, unless gossip-worthy secrets were tied to national security. Trump tried to balance the equation in 2018, opting for a partial release—no one likes a cliffhanger after all. Now, with talk of around 80,000 documents hitting the spotlight, the public anticipation grows. As Trump rightly advertised, he’s a man of his word, and it appears future discussions about JFK’s assassination will be anything but dull, promising ample fodder for further speculation and debate among historians and conspiracy theorists alike.
