Image Credit: Ap photo
Reigniting debate on the JFK assassination, President Donald Trump has asked whether Lee Harvey Oswald worked alone or had help. It comes as 80,000 pages of declassified JFK files are released shedding the light on new details. These documents look into Oswald’s connections, CIA surveillance, and possible accomplices.
Conspiracy theories have pressed the idea that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK alone for decades. Most people believe he had help from the CIA, the Mafia or from other countries. Unconventional specialists began to grow in public skepticism based on discrepancies within official reports. But this distrust has distorted American culture, these topics are reflected in films, books, and public discussion. This debate openly reflects the continued doubt in government transparency and accountability.
In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14176 ordering the declassification of records pertaining to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was only the latest attempt to meet decades-old public interest and skepticism about the integrity of historical documents that had been kept secret for so long, although it was intended to lower barriers of access to the documents and to promote transparency.
Recently released JFK files reveal a few very interesting things about Lee Harvey Oswald’s actions one dark November day. The files indicate Oswald tried to obtain visas from Cuban and Soviet embassies in Mexico City, perhaps before the assassination, trying to escape post assassination. The JFK files also detail Oswald’s dealings with Soviet officials, including a KGB officer, and the fact that he was engaged internationally prior to President Kennedy’s assassination.
The recent public questioning by President Donald Trump questioning Lee Harvey Oswald’s solitary involvement in President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination has sparked heated debates and conspiracy theories about the event. Trump’s statements as sitting president endorsing alternate theories have weight in public perception and trust in official historical narratives as a sitting president. Such endorsements could become a step further in legitimizing the distrust in government accounts, thus feeding the public speculation and questioning governmental transparency.
For decades, there have been allegations that Lee Harvey Oswald had ties with the CIA. Nevertheless, declassified documents, including a 1975 CIA memorandum, show that agency searches were thorough and that there is no evidence in CIA or any other U.S. government agency JFK files to connect Oswald with the CIA. In the same manner, the Warren Commission had determined that Oswald was never employed by the CIA in any capacity.
In 1962, Russian geologist George de Mohrenschildt befriended Lee Harvey Oswald and helped him move to Dallas. Speculation arose from his intelligence connections over a deeper role in Oswald’s life. Some said he was watching Oswald while no proof exists that he helped the CIA. There was no evidence to link him to JFK’s assassination. Further conspiracies arose over his mysterious death in 1977.
Jacob Rubenstein was a Dallas nightclub owner with underworld ties in the local area. On November 24, 1963, he shot to death Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of United States President John F. Kennedy, while the latter was being transferred live on television at the Dallas police station. But he said that his motive was to save Jacqueline Kennedy from going through a trial. Ruby was said to have acted to silence Oswald out of mob ties, but investigations including the Warren Commission failed to find evidence of a broader conspiracy linked to him.
David Ferrie was a former pilot, anti-Castro activist, who was associated with Lee Harvey Oswald after entering the Civil Air Patrol in the late 1950s. Ferrie was investigated after President John F Kennedy’s assassination due to his links with Oswald and his duties in anti-Castro operations. Even with much scrutiny, there was no concrete evidence that linked Ferrie to the assassination plot. Ferrie was implicated in the investigation of a possible conspiracy, led by District Attorney Jim Garrison, before he died in 1967, before any formal charges were brought against him.
On September 26, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald went to Mexico City and visited the Cuban, and Soviet embassies to obtain visas to Cuba and the USSR. The speculation about his intentions ranged from wanting to defect to organizing an escape route if he was set to be assassinated. His application was denied. Conspiracy theories that Oswald perhaps sought support or guidance from foreign governments have grown out of these visits. But official inquiries, including the Warren Commission, concluded that the contacts had nothing to do with a broader conspiracy regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
More mixed has been the media’s response to Trump’s comments and the declassification of the JFK files. The release was also criticized as politically driven by some while others pointed to the possibility of new insights. The situation was also mocked by late night shows as being insignificant. Selective reporting is an integral part of shaping the public perception through journalism. It is these events that shape and inform public trust of how storytelling by a government will be understood as historical.
The JFK files’ release keeps the mystery alive, though it sparks new debate and speculation. The public is clearly still fascinated, whether its change influences history or fans’ scepticism. Continuing on to find the answers, the conversation never dies.
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