Analysis

Did The CIA Really Kill JFK?

/ AFP PHOTO /Getty Images

Gage Klipper Commentary & Analysis Writer
Font Size:

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Joe Rogan that CIA involvement in his uncle President John F. Kennedy’s murder was “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

As he tells it, JFK was “at war” with the military-industrial complex throughout his presidency after realizing the CIA tried to “trick him” into invading Cuba. “Everyone around him” supported a more militaristic Cold War approach. In 1963, he signed a national security order scaling down U.S. troop presence in Vietnam, “and a month later he was killed.”

Americans have long doubted the established Warren Commission narrative that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in Kennedy’s assassination. But with the media’s now-glaring record and the blatant corruption of Trump-era intelligence agencies, it is worth examining the evidence against the state-approved story.

In defense of his claim, RFK references the “overwhelming” evidence from historian James W. Douglass‘ book “JFK and the Unspeakable” — the “best account” of the “tragedy and its significance.”

Douglass’ account rests on three main points: the CIA’s grievance against JFK, Oswald’s CIA connections, and inconsistencies in accounts following the assassination. The book is meticulously documented, with 96 pages of footnotes.

Kennedy’s problem with the CIA began after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. As the operation went south, the CIA banked on JFK sending U.S. troops, but he refused. Afterwards, he reportedly vowed “to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds” and cracked down on CIA operations off the coast of Miami.

He also developed a back channel with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, circumventing his administration’s war hawks. Thus he appeared “weak” to intelligence officials who advocated a confrontational approach. (RELATED: Majority Of Dems Want Biden To Debate RFK Jr: POLL)

In agreement with Khrushchev on the need for detente, JFK slow-rolled U.S. deployment in Vietnam and supported a coalition government in Laos. He also canceled Pentagon contracts with the U.S. steel industry. He proposed nuclear disarmament and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam by the end of 1963.

By assassinating JFK, the military-industrial complex would have hoped to bring the country back toward a more hawkish foreign policy that benefited powerful business and governmental interests.

Yet this is only circumstantial evidence. Oswald’s connection to the CIA is more convincing, especially since the CIA holds that it “never had a relationship of any kind” with him.

Oswald was a radar operator with high security clearance at the Atsugi Air Force base in Japan. Ιn the late 1950s, he defected to the USSR offering information on U.S. radar operations. He may have provided information that helped the Soviets shoot down U.S. planes, but was welcomed back with open arms by the U.S. embassy in Moscow a year later.

However, the American consul in Moscow later noted that Oswald had not formally renounced his citizenship while in the USSR and could legally return home.

After returning to the U.S in 1962, he became involved with two individuals with known CIA connections. One, an oil consultant named George de Mohrenschildt, became Oswald’s mentor in Dallas and later admitted that he established the relationship at the agency’s behest.

Oswald also worked at a detective agency run by a former FBI agent Guy Bannister. Another former employee of Bannister admitted he was a “bagman for the CIA” and helped arm covert missions in Miami.

There may be completely harmless explanations for these CIA associations — but then why not admit it and clear the record?

After the shooting, 21 doctors and nurses confirmed that the injuries suggested a bullet wound from the front. The military soon took over the autopsy and were accused of forging X-rays to suggest a bullet wound from behind. Under pressure, the initial observers later recanted. One doctor claimed the Secret Service threatened him.

Douglass also documents witness reports claiming that unknown agents prevented them from pursuing a gunman fleeing from the infamous grassy knoll. Another witness described seeing Jack Ruby drop off a gunman nearby before the shooting.

Douglass concludes that at least another gunman was involved and powerful government forces covered it up. (RELATED: YouTube Censors Presidential Candidate RFK Jr Interview With Jordan Peterson)

Ultimately, Douglass does not provide a unified theory of the assassination, but merely lays out the CIA’s motive, means, and opportunity. These sinister details are only convincing if you already believe that the CIA killed JFK.

Thus, it is somewhat ironic that Douglass — a “Catholic peace activist” associated with the left-wing group Sojourners — portrays JFK’s murder as a “right-wing conspiracy.” It shows how drastic the Trump realignment really has been.

Meanwhile, conservatives are no longer defending business interests and intelligence agencies, and are now willing to entertain Douglass’ theories.

The corporate media, meanwhile, has been quick to point out how RFK’s claims are far from conclusive. As respectable liberals, they are obligated to denigrate him for daring to impugn our glorious intelligence officials and continue to call him a “conspiracy theorist.” (RELATED: Elon Musk Backs Joe Rogan’s Challenge For COVID-19 Scientist To Debate Vaccines With RFK Jr.)

While it’s a stretch to conclude that the CIA’s involvement was established “beyond a reasonable doubt,” as RFK argues, it is nevertheless worth scrutinizing everything these agencies have told us.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel