Dallas-based expert on new JFK files: Documents reveal intelligence failures, Oswald's foreign ties
Newly declassified records related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy expose intelligence failures and Lee Harvey Oswald's foreign connections, according to FBI expert and Dallas-based historian Farris Rookstool III.
In his analysis of part of the 80,000 documents released Tuesday, Rookstool highlighted newly confirmed details about Oswald's movements, disputes within U.S. intelligence agencies, and potential cover-ups that have fueled decades of speculation.
"While these documents do not offer a definitive 'smoking gun,' they clarify longstanding questions about Oswald's activities, intelligence failures, and the broader geopolitical context of the assassination," Rookstool wrote in a statement.
The documents confirm Oswald's visits to Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico City before the assassination, reinforcing concerns about his foreign ties, Rookstool said.
Surveillance reports suggest intelligence agencies closely monitored Oswald's activities, yet newly revealed memos show that the CIA and FBI disagreed on the threat he posed. Some files confirm that key intelligence reports were withheld from the Warren Commission and later investigations, Rookstool said.
Rookstool's analysis also pointed to stronger connections between Jack Ruby, Oswald's killer, and organized crime figures in Texas and Louisiana. FBI surveillance records suggest Ruby may have had prior knowledge of Oswald's movements before he shot him on November 24, 1963.
The historian noted that certain CIA and FBI communications discussed efforts to withhold files from congressional inquiries in the 1970s. Declassified memos also reveal that U.S. officials feared Oswald's Soviet and Cuban ties could be used as justification for military action during the Cold War.
"While these documents do not conclusively prove a conspiracy, they highlight intelligence failures, bureaucratic missteps, and the continued complexity surrounding JFK's assassination. This release provides new leads for historians and researchers, reinforcing the need for further scrutiny of the case," Rookstool concluded.
Gerald Posner, author of "Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK," also said the files are not a "smoking gun," but are still important.
"What could be major about these new files, but won't be what the public is expecting, is information that the CIA knew more about what an unhinged character Lee Harvey Oswald was only six weeks before the assassination," the best-selling author said.
"I think that it became part of Dallas's DNA. It was associated with Dallas in a way that other assassinations have not been," Posner added. "These last thousands of pages will help to fill in some of the history."
But despite the files, some folks still hold on to their own conclusions. "People want to hear that the CIA was involved, the Mafia was involved. George Hickey accidentally shot him, lied to the world about it, and now we can't go back on it," said tourist Chris Sparkman.
Even though nothing can erase that dark November day at Dealey Plaza, Americans say a veil on history has been lifted. "It's time that we know what happens on our very own soil, and I think it's important and does justice to the American people and going forward to set a lot of wrongs right again," said Dallas resident Trevor Howard.
Although President Trump promised to release 80,000 pages, some of them are still not online yet, and some are only available to see in person, according to the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.
