Staff Reports
The National Archives recently unveiled a trove of JFK assassination files, all thanks to an executive order from President Donald Trump. In a move that many see as a welcome attempt at transparency, the release contains around 80,000 pages of materials, leaving conspiracy theorists and history buffs alike to sift through what’s bound to be a goldmine of tidbits about America’s turbulent past. As Trump himself noted, this is a significant archive that will allow the public to come to their own conclusions—whatever those might be.
Among the newly released files lies a particularly juicy morsel: unredacted testimony from CIA operative William Sturbitts, who disclosed that discussions about the potential assassination of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro were buzzing just before JFK took his fateful trip to Dallas in 1963. It turns out that these secret plots might have been more than just barroom banter. Sturbitts recalled overhearing CIA talks about using a member of Castro’s military to carry out the hit, a revelation that implies a lot about the lengths to which Kennedy and his administration were prepared to go to manage the Communist threat next door.
Trump-ordered release of JFK files provide fresh evidence Kennedys wanted to assassinate Castro https://t.co/63LGp9BCTm via @JustTheNews
— Steven Rose (@StevenR20265527) March 19, 2025
Interestingly, Sturbitts noted that he first stumbled upon this intelligence in late 1963, as talks were taking place in Paris with Desmond Fitzgerald, the head honcho of the Special Activities Staff. While it’s now common knowledge that JFK may have wanted Castro out of the picture, what takes the cake is Sturbitts hinting at former Attorney General Bobby Kennedy’s involvement in the plot. Apparently, there was some deal in the works involving rifles and telescopic sights—one can only imagine the sort of cloak-and-dagger antics happening in the background while the rest of the country was oblivious.
While Sturbitts’s deposition sheds light on various operative details, it seems to reinforce the notion that Bobby Kennedy was not just his brother’s sibling but a key player in the high-stakes drama of US-Cuba relations. As if that wasn’t enough to drape the recent files in fodder for conspiracy theorists, the new documents also come with a “Top Secret” intelligence checklist prepared for President Lyndon Johnson the day after JFK was assassinated, focused primarily on threats posed by the Soviet Union. It’s almost comical how the CIA seemed more concerned about missile sites in Cuba than they were about protecting the President from a likely conspiracy.
And just to throw a cherry on top of this historical sundae, a letter from a man named “Sergyj Czornonob” appears in the archives. This individual claimed to have predicted Oswald’s impending doom—which adds a whimsical touch to the otherwise serious nature of an assassination. It’s a wonder how such ludicrous assertions find their way into important documents, as if they are lines in an improbable screenplay about 1960s espionage.
Yet, as the Warren Commission and later investigations concluded, Oswald was indeed the lone gunman, with grand conspiracies relegated to the realm of speculation. The smoke and mirrors surrounding the events lead one to ponder: with all these newly released documents, it’s hard not to wonder what else is hidden away in the archives. The leaks might not confirm the wildest theories, but they do remind America that history can be stranger—and sometimes more entertaining—than fiction.
