CIA releases more than 1,000 pages on RFK assassination
WASHINGTON — The CIA released 1,450 additional pages of documents related to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy on Thursday, including 54 previously classified documents.
The files could shed new light on the motivations of Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian-born Jordanian citizen convicted of Kennedy’s murder after the June 5, 1968, shooting — and contain a psychological profile of Sirhan as well as his handwritten notes.
One of the handwritten notes includes the lines “Kennedy must fall” and “tonight, tonight.”
Other records will disclose details about a trip that RFK took with former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas to the Soviet Union in 1955, during which the future US attorney general and senator “served the Agency as a voluntary informant.”
A CIA official said that the documents about Kennedy’s journey “exemplifies the depth of his patriotism and commitment to serving his country,” knowing that “the USSR was our top adversary at the time.”
The information on Sirhan covers his family history and international ties but notes that the gunman was never connected to any terrorist groups, the official added.
“Today’s release delivers on President Trump’s commitment to maximum transparency, enabling the CIA to shine light on information that serves the public interest,” said CIA Director John Ratcliffe in a statement.
“I am proud to share our work on this incredibly important topic with the American people.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard previously released more than 10,000 pages about the senator’s murder at a Los Angeles hotel following his victory in the 1968 California Democratic presidential primary.
“I commend President Trump for his courage and his commitment to transparency,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the third of RFK’s 11 children, added in his own statement. “I’m grateful also to Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe for their dogged efforts to root out and declassify these documents.”