CIA behind JFK assassination? What we know

The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) role in the assassination of Kennedy has been a popular conspiracy theory.

The Donald Trump administration on Tuesday released 80,000 files related to President John F Kennedy’s assassination as part of a campaign promise to declassify all remaining records.

Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, in a statement said this was a move to "maximum transparency."

Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963, on a visit to Dallas. When his motorcade was finishing its parade route, shots were fired from the Texas School Book Depository building. Twenty-four-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested, however, two days later, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer.

Many conspiracy theories surround the assassination of Kennedy.

The official narrative, however, remains that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former marine who had defected to the Soviet Union, acted alone in killing Kennedy. The Warren Commission, established by President Lyndon B Johson in 1964, a year after the assassination, arrived at the same conclusion. However, latest evidence suggests otherwise.

The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) role in assassination of Kennedy has been a popular conspiracy theory.

In the unredacted documents released intelligence asset Gary Underhill stated, "A small clique within the CIA was responsible for the assassination." This has provided new impetus to question the CIA's involvement in the association of the President.

The released documents contain CIA memos, FBI reports and other unrecognised files.

Underhill has remarked on multiple occasions following the assassination that "a small clique within the CIA was responsible for the assassination." This hints towards the CIA's involvement but the credibility of the information is still questionable.

Underhill's statements are categorised as a recorded statement from an individual with insider knowledge rather than an official CIA finding. Given his close relationship with the agency, his claims have some weightage but may lack proof.

He goes on to explain that the group is a "corrupt element every bit as ruthless-and more efficient - as the mafia."

Fearing for this life, Underhill left Washington DC but was found dead in 1964 under suspicious circumstances.

As per Reuters, a Harvard history professor and author of JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century 1917-56, Fredrik Logevall believes the newly released files will provide additional context regarding the assassination.

He adds, "it's valuable to get all the documentation out, ideally in unredacted form. But I don't expect dramatic new revelations that alter in some fundamental way our grasp of the event."