Gabbard unveils RFK assassination files, raising skepticism over historical narrative

In the United States, on April 10, 2025, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, announced the release of a significant number of previously classified documents related to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. This announcement came as part of an effort to increase government transparency and follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in January 2025, which directed the declassification of such files. The initial batch included over 10,000 pages that had not been publicly available before, offering the American public their first look at parts of the federal investigation into the 1968 assassination of Kennedy, who was a prominent senator and presidential candidate at the time. His assassination occurred mere moments after he delivered a speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles during his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. The release of these documents has stirred new discussions and raised additional questions surrounding the established narrative of Kennedy's assassination due to the involvement of Sirhan Sirhan, the presumed shooter who is currently serving a life sentence. Moreover, Gabbard revealed that an additional 50,000 documents relating to Kennedy's assassination are expected to be processed and made public in the near future, demonstrating a commitment to thoroughness and transparency in the investigation. Gabbard's study team is actively analyzing these records as part of a broader mandate to declassify records associated also with the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. The implications of this release have sparked curiosity regarding the findings and have been met with various reactions, highlighting a mixture of skepticism and hope for a more transparent understanding of historical events in American political history. Notably, there are calls for more documents to be declassified to fully comprehend the details of influence, manipulation, and assassination surrounding prominent political figures, which could encourage public engagement and scrutiny of government actions during such tumultuous times. As Gabbard noted, many items within the newly released records raise important questions that have implications on historical narratives and trust in governmental accounts.