CIA Unseals Chilling New Files on RFK Assassination

he CIA has just dropped 1,450 pages of new documents related to the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy—unveiling a stunning mix of psychological profiles, secret notes, and behind-the-scenes revelations. But despite fresh evidence, the files stop short of confirming any official conspiracy.

Among the 54 newly declassified documents is a detailed look into the mind of Sirhan Sirhan, the 24-year-old Palestinian-born Jordanian who gunned Kennedy down in Los Angeles. One federal personality assessment dated July 8 chillingly noted, “under no circumstances would we have predicted that [Sirhan] was capable of doing what he did.” Another bluntly stated: “Obviously, we cannot see him as part of a conspiracy,” though it admitted he could have been used, just as others were in the Lincoln-era assassination plot.

Still, the files reveal disturbing early signs. In one handwritten note dated May 19, 1968—weeks before the murder—Sirhan wrote: “Kennedy must fall. Please pay to the order of Sirhan Sirhan.” Another entry read, “We believe that Robert F. Kennedy must be sacrificed for the cause of the poor exploited people,” and predicted an assassination “tonight tonight tonight.”

In a 1989 interview with journalist David Frost, Sirhan admitted his motive was Kennedy’s support of Israel in the Six-Day War, calling it a “betrayal.” He expressed remorse but claimed to have no memory of the actual shooting.

An earlier psychological profile compiled just days after the assassination described Sirhan as “intuitive,” with “high intellectual potential,” and suggested he saw communism as an idealistic answer to global injustice.

But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hasn’t been buying it.

The health and human services secretary and son of the slain senator said he never fully believed Sirhan was the man who fired the fatal shot. In 2018, he even visited Sirhan in prison. “I was curious and disturbed by what I had seen in the evidence,” Kennedy Jr. told The Washington Post, “I was disturbed that the wrong person might have been convicted of killing my father.”

In a 2021 op-ed, Kennedy Jr. went even further—accusing part-time hotel security guard Thane Eugene Cesar of being the real triggerman. Cesar, who died in the Philippines in 2019, always denied involvement and was never charged.

And this isn’t the only revelation. The document release also uncovered a long-buried CIA connection: During a 1955 trip to the Soviet Union with Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Robert F. Kennedy reportedly “served the Agency as a voluntary informant.”

That journey produced a 129-page diary filled with intelligence on Soviet activities and over 1,000 photographs and videos—now part of the CIA archives. According to one official, it showed “the depth of his patriotism and commitment to serving his country,” especially given the Cold War context.

The CIA’s move follows a broader push for government transparency that began under President Trump. “Today’s release delivers on President Trump’s commitment to maximum transparency,” said CIA Director John Ratcliffe. “I am proud to share our work on this incredibly important topic with the American people.”

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard had already led the release of more than 10,000 pages tied to Kennedy’s assassination in recent years.

“I commend President Trump for his courage and his commitment to transparency,” Kennedy Jr. said in a statement, while also thanking Gabbard and Ratcliffe “for their dogged efforts.”