JFK Most Wanted: 15 JFK Files for Rep. Luna's Investigators
Here are key assassination-related records, known to exist, which House investigators can make public quickly.
What will President Donald Trump’s Jan. 23 order on the JFK files actually accomplish?
After appearing on a conservative media trifecta (Tucker Carlson, Piers Morgan, and Michael Shellenberger) two weeks ago, I grew more optimistic about the possibilities of full JFK disclosure as a result of President Trump’s executive order on JFK files (E.O. 14176).
I was then encouraged by the FBI’s discovery last week of 2,400 assassination-related records that had never been turned over to the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) or the National Archives. As I told Marc Caputo of Axios, who broke the story, "This is huge. It shows the FBI is taking [Trump’s order] seriously.”
These FBI records, of course, should have been released in the 1990s. (Former ARRB chairman John Tunheim told me he is “anxious” to hear the explanation of why they were not.) But the FBI’s action, while belated, sets an important precedent. It demonstrates that any federal agency possessing assassination-related material today is obliged by the JFK Records Act and Trump’s order to turn them over to the National Archives. This precedent now applies to the CIA, the Secret Service, and the Department of Defense.
Then came the welcome news that Rep. Anna Paulina Luna will head a House task force to investigate “federal secrets,” including the assassinations of JFK, RFK, MLK, as well as “the Epstein files,” a catchall phrase for records related to the disgraced financier who trafficked young women to famous men.
In her opening remarks, Rep. Luna, a Florida Republican and U.S. Air Force veteran, indicated the committee will focus first on JFK files. Rejecting the government’s “lone gunman” theory, she spoke of “two shooters” (a view consistent with the conclusions of the Dallas doctors who tried to save JFK’s life). She referred knowledgeably to several controversies related to JFK’s murder and indicated the committee may subpoena witnesses. The committee’s first hearing will be held March 1, Luna said.
How does the committee’s investigation(s) fit in with the administration’s plans to implement E.O. 14176? That is still unclear.
JFK Most Wanted
What is known for certain are the existence of many JFK assassination records, covered by the Trump’s order, that can be made public quickly without waiting for congressional hearings or CIA obfuscation. These records are:
1) Known to exist (this is not a fishing expedition).
2) Known to be in possession of the government (and can be retrieved easily).
3) Have never been seen in their entirety by the public (in violation of the JFK Records Act).
We call this list JFK Most Wanted. The 15 documents on the list will help fill out the historical record — the fact pattern —of Nov. 22, 1963, one of the darkest days in American history.
What We Will Learn From the JFK Files
Is there a “smoking gun”? Is there a single piece of paper that will change people’s minds about this ancient event? The answer: It’s definitely possible.
The first three documents on the list below have the potential to be dramatically revelatory about the CIA’s surveillance and manipulation of accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and JFK’s differences with the CIA. The others are less dramatic, but still significant. They are more like missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that help complete the larger picture of events leading to Kennedy’s violent death.
This list was compiled in consultation with researchers associated with the nonprofit Mary Ferrell Foundation (which hosts the largest online collection of JFK, RFK, and MLK records) and with other scholars and historians such David Talbot and David Kaiser.
1) The George Joannides File
WHAT IS IT? The “denied in full” personnel file of a Miami-based undercover officer involved in the surveillance of Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.
WHERE IS IT? CIA FOIA office, EOM-2020-00359.
QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED: Did CIA launch an authorized operation targeting Oswald in January 1963?
2) Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s Memo
WHAT: An adviser’s redacted memo to JFK arguing the CIA should be “visibly reorganized.”
WHERE: National Archives; click here to view redactions: RIF #157-10002-10056.
QUESTION: What drove the mistrust between JFK and the CIA that lasted throughout Kennedy’s presidency?
3) James Angleton’s Testimony
WHAT: The heavily redacted 113-page transcript of an interview of the counterintelligence chief who monitored Oswald’s private life and political activities for four years before JFK was killed.
WHERE: National Archives; click here to view redactions: RIF # 157-10014-10005.
QUESTION: Did Angleton use foreign agents to surveil Oswald?
4) CIA Ops Project
WHAT: A heavily redacted 77-page summary of CIA surveillance operations that later monitored Oswald during his visit to Mexico City shortly before the assassination.
WHERE: National Archives; click here to view redactions: RIF #104-10188-10003.
QUESTION: How did the CIA surveil Oswald six weeks before JFK was killed?
5) AMWORLD Files
WHAT: Operational and travel records for CIA officers Emilio Rodriguez, Anthony Sforza, and David Atlee Phillips.
WHERE: CIA.
QUESTION: What did these three undercover operatives know about Oswald during the summer and fall of 1963?
6) Paramilitary Name and Phone List
WHAT: Redacted roster of top-secret CIA paramilitary agents operating in the New Orleans area in the summer of 1963.
WHERE: National Archives, RIF# 104-10122-10135.
QUESTION: What CIA officers and Cuban group surrogates were in contact with, aware of, and reporting on Oswald while he was in New Orleans in the summer of 1963?
7) Miami JFK investigation
WHAT: Situation Reports (SITREPS) submitted by CIA case officers in south Florida who were ordered to question their anti-Castro sources about possible Cuban involvement in JFK’s murder.
WHERE: CIA.
QUESTION: What did the CIA internal investigation find out about JFK’s assassination?
8) William K. Harvey Travel Records
WHAT: Missing travel records of the CIA assassination chief.
WHERE: CIA FOIA office.
QUESTION: Did Kennedy-hater Harvey pay a visit to Dallas in 1963, as recounted by a senior State Department official?
9) CIA File of Herminio Diaz Garcia
WHAT: Missing personality file of a known Cuban assassin.
WHERE: CIA HQs. File # 201-203040.
QUESTION: What did the CIA know about Garcia, whose friends believed had been a gunman in Dallas?
10) The Original Nix Film
WHAT: A missing original home movie of the assassination taken by bystander Orville Nix.
WHERE: National Archives(?)
QUESTION: What happened to the original film that the government never returned to Nix?
11) JFK Whistleblower Report
WHAT: A 40-to-50 page report by the CIA Inspector General on the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA).
WHERE: CIA facility, Herndon, Virginia.
QUESTION: Did CIA officials show an “intent to deceive” the Congress, as a JFK whistleblower told JFK Facts in October 2024?
12) Carlos Marcello File
WHAT: FBI file on New Orleans crime boss that was not shown to the House Select Committee on Assassinations or the Assassination Records Review Board.
WHERE: FBI File 46-42600, opened in 1963.
QUESTION: What did the FBI learn about Marcello’s possible involvement in JFK’s assassination?
13) Carlos Marcello Tapes
WHAT: Sealed surveillance recordings of Marcello made during the BRILAB investigation.
WHERE: FBI.
QUESTION: Did Marcello and associates talk about JFK’s assassination?
14) Infiltration of the Miami Media
WHAT: Redacted CIA memo on influencing Miami newspapers.
WHERE: National Archives: RIF # 104-10072-10289.
QUESTION: Who were the CIA’s two media spies in south Florida at the time of JFK’s assassination?
15) Jackie Kennedy and Robert Kennedy Interviews
WHAT: Five "very personal letters of Mrs. Kennedy" to President Lyndon Johnson, circa 1963; four transcripts of interviews conducted by author William Manchester in May 1964; and two transcripts of interviews with Robert Kennedy in May 1964 and Jan. 1965.
WHERE: Kennedy family material held at Wesleyan University Library.
QUESTION: The First Lady said she did not believe the official story of a “lone gunman.” What did she tell LBJ?
Conclusion
When Trump’s plan for JFK files is implemented, the documents on this list can serve as benchmarks of success. They can also contribute to the factual foundation of Rep. Luna’s investigation.
#13 should be the CAMTEX files, not BRLAB
Clearly the community needs to strongly advocate for all of the expertise that Jeff, Larry and others bring to be fully utilized by the congressional committee. I plan to contact my own representative as well as Congresswoman Luna.