Everything We Know About the JFK Files: CIA Secrets, Details on Kennedy’s Killer, 800 Bags of Contaminated Sugar

• A CIA memo describes the use of a fake organization to target revolutionary groups in the Middle East.
• Newly disclosed surveillance records confirm that American journalists were monitored during the Cold War.
• Another document shows that contaminated Cuban sugar was used in an effort to damage Soviet food supplies.

Previously censored files related to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination have been released in full, revealing government activities that spanned multiple countries and decades. The documents outline undisclosed CIA operations, including acts of foreign interference, domestic surveillance, and logistical maneuvers involving individuals later linked to the events of November 1963.

Among the newly available material are records detailing how American intelligence managed assets, disrupted supply chains, and tracked key figures under suspicion. These disclosures, now accessible to the public, mark the most complete account to date of how U.S. agencies functioned around one of the most scrutinized events in modern history.

Full Release of Redacted Files – March 2025 Order

On March 17, 2025, the federal government released tens of thousands of pages related to the assassination of President Kennedy, removing all remaining redactions. The release was made per Executive Order 14176, issued by President Donald Trump, who directed that no information be withheld. He stated, “Just don’t redact. You can’t redact.”

To comply with the order, the National Archives coordinated with multiple federal agencies. As part of this process, attorneys from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division conducted a line-by-line review of the documents. This review took place overnight, with attorneys reading hundreds of pages each.

Only those involved in pending prosecutions were exempt from participation, according to internal reports. The records became available to the public on March 18, 2025, both online through the National Archives’ official website and in person at the National Archives facility in College Park, Maryland.

Files are also being digitized for continued online access. According to the National Archives, this release includes documents in analog formats such as microfilm and physical print, in addition to digital files. A senior White House official stated that the files would reveal content that “the American people will be shocked by.”

The release includes a wide range of materials, such as internal agency memos, cables, reports, and foreign intelligence summaries. Among the unredacted files are detailed records of CIA operations conducted under diplomatic cover and covert actions in foreign countries during the early 1960s.

CIA Activities Abroad – Embassy Cover and Foreign Interference

A 1961 memo titled “CIA Reorganization,” written for President Kennedy, revealed that over 1,500 CIA employees were operating under the cover of State Department roles around the world.

This approach was initially intended to be limited and temporary but was expanded by the agency because it was faster and less costly than developing independent cover identities.

The memo, authored by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., a historian and advisor in the Kennedy administration, cited specific examples of how widespread the practice had become. In Paris, for instance, 128 CIA operatives occupied the top floor of the U.S. Embassy.

During the Algerian generals’ revolt, passersby reportedly noted that the embassy’s top floor was “ablaze with lights” throughout the night. The unredacted records also confirmed CIA involvement in foreign elections and labor movements in Brazil, Finland, Cyprus, Greece, and Spain.

These activities, previously assumed, are now directly documented. Additional materials from this release include translated messages, internal memos, and field reports, such as a cable requesting medication to treat anemia.

It also features a partially faded report referencing the movements of Joachim Joesten, an early author on the Kennedy assassination. In addition to foreign interference and intelligence gathering, the files reveal details of a covert CIA operation that targeted a Soviet-bound shipment of Cuban sugar.

CIA Sabotage Operation – Contaminated Sugar Shipment

In August 1962, the CIA executed a covert operation to contaminate a shipment of Cuban raw sugar that was en route to the Soviet Union. According to an unredacted agency report dated August 29, 1962, the operation targeted 800 bags of sugar after the cargo ship carrying 80,000 bags was forced to dock at a Caribbean port due to minor hull damage.

Approximately 14,000 bags were temporarily offloaded, providing access for the operation. The CIA introduced a chemical “used in the process of denaturing alcohol” into the selected bags. Though not dangerous, the substance was described as “so strong to the taste that it ruins the taste of the consumer for any food or drink for a considerable time.”

Once refined in the Soviet Union, the contaminated sugar was expected to render the entire shipment “unfit for human or animal consumption in any form.” The operation was designed to inflict economic loss on the Soviet Union, with the shipment valued between $50,000 and $100,000.

The agency’s report noted that this contamination would result in the complete spoilage of the affected cargo. Other documents in the release identified a CIA agent positioned to report on Cuban revolutionary activity, including information from within Fidel Castro’s circle.

CIA Asset in Mexico – Ties to Fidel Castro

A newly unredacted one-page document revealed that Manuel Machado Llosas, treasurer of the Mexican revolutionary movement and identified as a personal friend of Fidel Castro, was working as a CIA agent.

According to the report, the CIA intended to station Machado Llosas in Mexico City, where he would be used to gather intelligence on Cuban revolutionary activities. The document specified that his relationship with Castro and other Cuban leaders would enable him to act as a “political action” asset.

His assignment was to report on the internal operations of Cuban revolutionaries and to provide insights based on his direct access to individuals within Castro’s circle. During the same period, the CIA also developed new surveillance technology, with one document linking this advancement to a figure later involved in the Watergate scandal.

CIA Surveillance Technology – Fluoroscopic Scanning Development

Between December 1965 and May 1966, James W. McCord Jr., an employee of the CIA’s Office of Security, participated in the off-duty development of a new surveillance detection method known as fluoroscopic scanning.

According to a CIA document dated August 4, 1966, this method allowed the agency to detect hidden listening devices for the first time. The scanning technique was considered a major advancement in counter-surveillance and was used to improve the security of U.S. government facilities worldwide.

Intelligence agencies had previously spent significant resources attempting to develop similar capabilities. The document states that McCord and his colleagues “contributed significantly to the future clandestine use of this technique on a worldwide basis.”

McCord was later convicted in connection with the Watergate burglary and died in 2017. In addition to technological developments, the released files also confirm that the CIA created and operated a fake organization aimed at influencing political groups in the Middle East.

CIA Propaganda Front – ‘Union for the Revolution’

An unredacted CIA memo disclosed the existence of a fabricated organization called the “Union for the Revolution,” created by the agency to gain access to revolutionary Arab groups in the Middle East.

The group maintained post office box addresses in Boston and Philadelphia, which were used to circulate propaganda materials. The memo states that the goal was to develop “penetrations and/or sources” within Arab revolutionary movements.

The propaganda was distributed from these addresses in hopes of attracting interest and establishing contact with targeted groups. The files also revealed that the CIA’s efforts to control information extended to the surveillance of American journalists.

A newly unredacted memo confirmed that Michael Getler, a reporter who joined The Washington Post in 1970 and died in 2018, was placed under CIA surveillance. The surveillance was conducted to determine the source of classified information leaks.

Getler’s name appears in documents listed under “Surveillance of Newsmen,” a CIA initiative targeting journalists suspected of receiving sensitive information.

A 1975 memo from the Senate Church Committee reported that CIA employee, Brewer, was aware that the surveillance was intended to identify the source of leaked materials but was not given full details. Brewer later learned that Getler was the subject of the surveillance and questioned why the FBI declined to be involved.

References to this surveillance appear in at least two other newly unredacted documents, confirming the CIA’s monitoring of Getler as part of broader efforts to manage internal security leaks.

Other files released in the collection detail how the CIA and KGB tracked Lee Harvey Oswald’s movements in the months leading up to President Kennedy’s assassination.

Lee Harvey Oswald – Surveillance by CIA and KGB

Unredacted records confirmed that the CIA monitored Lee Harvey Oswald during his visits to the Cuban Consulate and Soviet Embassy in Mexico City, which took place in the weeks before the assassination of President Kennedy. Additional files revealed that the KGB also tracked Oswald during his time in the Soviet Union.

A 1991 teletype cited statements from Vyacheslav Nikonov, a KGB official, and grandson of former Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov. Nikonov told an American professor that he had “personally reviewed” five volumes of files on Oswald and concluded that Oswald “was at no time an agent controlled by the KGB.”

He added that Oswald was “watched closely and constantly” while in the USSR and described as “a poor shot” during target practice. The American professor, E.B. Smith, a retired University of Maryland history professor, provided this information to U.S. authorities after befriending Nikonov during a Fulbright fellowship in Russia.

Smith died in 2013. Nikonov is currently a member of the Russian State Duma and was sanctioned by the United States during the early stages of the Ukraine conflict. Experts have pointed to several entries that may alter public understanding of the events surrounding Kennedy’s assassination.

Expert Observations – Challenges to the Official Account

Reviewers of the newly unredacted files noted multiple documents that raise questions about the official narrative presented in the Warren Report. One document includes a CIA memo referencing Jack Ruby and Oswald being seen together in a nightclub weeks before the assassination.

Another entry contains information from ballistics experts who questioned the single bullet theory, which suggested that a single shot caused injuries to both President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally. Paul Landis, a former Secret Service agent, previously reported that he recovered a bullet from the limousine where Kennedy had been seated.

According to Landis, the bullet had only superficially entered Kennedy’s back and fell back out, contradicting the conclusion that it passed through his body and into Connally. Experts reviewing the files stated that the time interval between shots and the bolt-action rifle’s mechanics do not support the theory that Oswald acted alone.

In addition, the documents point to CIA involvement with anti-Castro groups based in Miami and New Orleans during 1963. Experts stated that the CIA’s extensive activity with these groups may have been used to influence Oswald’s actions or public perception surrounding them.

One expert noted, “This is like a big jigsaw puzzle… now we’re starting to connect all this information,” citing the unredacted materials linking individuals and operations in Miami, Mexico City, and elsewhere. The same source confirmed that no redactions were found in the documents reviewed to date.

Despite the recent release, thousands of documents related to Kennedy’s assassination remain either partially redacted or completely withheld from the public.

Remaining JFK Files – Unreleased and Withheld Records

According to estimates from researchers, there are still approximately 3,000 to 4,000 documents in the JFK records collection that have not been fully released. Of these, about 500 documents remain completely withheld, while others contain partial redactions.

These include records such as tax returns for Oswald and Ruby, which were not subject to the 2017 disclosure law and therefore remain sealed. Researchers, including Gerald Posner, have identified specific pages that may provide additional historical information.

Posner stated that individuals familiar with the archive “are zeroed in on the pages [they] think might provide some additional information for history.” The National Archives has confirmed on its website that some files continue to be withheld for legal reasons.

Documents already released are accessible through the National Archives and the Mary Ferrell Foundation, which hosts digitized records collected by Mary Ferrell, a legal secretary in Dallas who began researching the assassination shortly after it occurred.

President Trump, speaking on the release, remarked, “You’ve got a lot of reading,” referencing the volume of material disclosed. Further releases are anticipated, though no specific dates have been announced. As the public and researchers continue to examine the released records, reactions have surfaced.

Public Reactions – JFK’s Grandson Responds to Document Release

The release of the previously classified documents has sparked strong reactions, including from JFK’s only grandson, Jack Schlossberg. Schlossberg, who was against this move, took to social media to express his frustration, dismissing any notion that his family had been given advance notice before the files were released.

“No — THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DID NOT GIVE ANYONE IN PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S FAMILY ‘A HEADS UP’ ABOUT THE RELEASE,” he wrote, calling it “a total surprise” but “not a shocker.” He also suggested that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had prior knowledge of the release.

Trump had pledged to declassify JFK assassination records, partly due to his political ties with Kennedy Jr., who has long pushed for greater transparency regarding the killings of his uncle and father.

In one clip, Schlossberg shared a video of CNN reporting on the document dump, urging the media to stop fueling speculation. He argued that if outlets stopped covering it so extensively, it wouldn’t remain a trending topic.

In another post on X, he criticized President Donald Trump’s interest in the files, “President Trump is obsessed with my grandfather — but not in his life or what he achieved in it.”

He then highlighted JFK’s legacy, including his role in drafting the Civil Rights Act, founding USAID, and supporting the arts—accomplishments he suggested Trump could focus on instead of revisiting the assassination files.

These released documents were uploaded to a portal maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration. Donald Trump estimated the new files contain approximately 80,000 pages.

Only time will tell whether these newly released files will shed fresh light on one of the most debated assassinations in history or simply add more layers to the mystery.