Washington, D.C. - March 25, 2025: During a Department Press Briefing on March 24, 2025, State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce addressed questions regarding the recent release of 80,000 unredacted pages of JFK assassination records by the U.S. National Archives, ordered by President Trump. The release, completed as of March 18, 2025, has reignited public interest in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, particularly with new revelations about CIA operations and international connections at the time.
A reporter highlighted a specific claim from Jefferson Morley of *JFK Facts*, discussed on Bill O’Reilly’s show, that CIA counterintelligence chief James Angleton had relied on Israeli intelligence in operations that included monitoring Lee Harvey Oswald prior to the assassination. The reporter connected this to JFK’s 1963 pressure on Israel to allow nuclear inspections, noting Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion’s resignation amid the dispute and the subsequent stalling of inspections before JFK’s death. The question posed was whether the Trump administration would acknowledge Israel’s nuclear arsenal, a policy of ambiguity maintained by U.S. presidents since the assassination.
Bruce firmly declined to engage with the speculation, stating, “As far as the speculation and conspiracy theories about what was happening regarding that assassination and in the decades that followed, I have no comment for you, and nor am I going to speculate or comment on that.” She also refused to address the question about Israel’s nuclear weapons, redirecting the conversation to the release of the JFK files. Bruce noted, “About 80,000 pages of unredacted records related to the Kennedy assassination are currently being released… This is all the material. It’s out and, again, unredacted,” emphasizing the transparency effort but avoiding any discussion of the content’s implications.
The newly released files, a subset of which was analyzed, reveal intriguing details that challenge the official narrative of Oswald acting alone. For instance, documents show extensive CIA operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on countering Cuban subversion, with activities like passport confiscation, propaganda destruction, and monitoring of Cuban travelers [198-10007-10022](https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/2025/0318/198-10007-10022.pdf). A surprising revelation is the arrest of Ecuadoran returnees from Cuba, one possessing a large sum of U.S. dollars and another with a revolutionary plan, based on CIA tips [198-10007-10022](https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/2025/0318/198-10007-10022.pdf). Additionally, the files indicate the CIA’s awareness of fabricated Cuban passports, suggesting deeper intelligence networks at play [198-10007-10022](https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/2025/0318/198-10007-10022.pdf).
Another file details the formation of the Movimiento 17 de Abril (M-37-A), a splinter group of Brigade 2506, formed in Miami after a leadership dispute, which took control of naval operations against Cuba [104-10164-10060](https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/2025/0318/104-10164-10060.pdf). This group’s activities, alongside the CIA’s coordination with the Dominican Republic, hint at a broader anti-Castro network that could intersect with Oswald’s known Cuban connections, raising questions about whether he was truly a lone actor.
The official narrative has long held that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating JFK, a conclusion drawn by the Warren Commission in 1964. However, these documents suggest a complex web of international intelligence operations, including CIA involvement in the region and potential Israeli intelligence ties, as noted by Morley. While the files do not directly implicate Israel or others in the assassination, they highlight a tense geopolitical climate—JFK’s push against Israel’s nuclear ambitions, combined with the CIA’s reliance on Israeli intelligence, could fuel alternative theories about motives and involvement.
Bruce’s refusal to engage with these revelations or the question of Israel’s nuclear arsenal aligns with the U.S. government’s historical policy of ambiguity on the latter and its reluctance to revisit the JFK assassination narrative officially. However, the release of these files, unredacted for the first time, offers researchers and the public a chance to reexamine the events of 1963, potentially challenging long-held assumptions about the assassination.