JFK's Assassination Files Reveal Lee Harvey Oswald Met With KGB Agent In Mexico Two Months Before Shooting
Dec. 15 2021, Published 2:55 p.m. ET
John F. Kennedy's assassination files have been released Wednesday by the National Archives after more than 50 years since his tragic death.
The estimated 1,500 classified documents included details of his assassin Lee Harvey Oswald's connection with KGB agents prior to killing the former President.
The notes show two months before Oswald shot and killed JFK, he had a meeting with Consul Valeriy Vladimirovich Kostikov, a KGB agent in Mexico City.
"According to an intercepted phone call in Mexico City, Lee Oswald was at the Soviet Embassy there on 23 September 1963 and spoke with Consul Valeriy Vladimirovich," the documents read. "Oswald called the Soviet Embassy on 1 October identifying himself by name and speaking broken Russian, stating the above and asking the guard who answered the phone whether there was 'anything concerning the telegram to Washington.'"
Oswald's Russian wife Marina is also mentioned in the files. Another detail emerged stating a Morrocan student had contacted the CIA after the shooting claiming Oswald had been her boyfriend. However, it is unknown if the information is relevant to their investigation.
Reports also revealed how Oswald had tried to renounce his US citizenship to become Russian four years before the assassination.
In the memo, released after months of delays by Biden's administration due to COVID backlogs, anonymous calls were made a year before the shooting to the US embassy in Canberra, Australia, warning the officials about Soviet Government's desire to have Kennedy killed.
Another call was placed two days after the assassination to inform the government that Russia was involved in the murder plot.
Some of the documents are still being held for further review until next December. The hold-up has sparked outrage from Kennedy's family.
JFK's nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., expressed his disappointment concerning the unreleased files earlier this year.
"It's an outrage," he stressed. "It's an outrage against American democracy. We're not supposed to have secret governments within the government."
He continued, "How the hell is is 58 years later, and what in the world could justify not releasing these documents?"
Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy also blasted President Biden's decision to keep the files redacted, saying, "I think for the good of the country, everything has to be out there, so there's a greater understanding of our history."
On November 22, 1963, JFK was killed when he was sitting in the back seat of a convertible vehicle with First Lady Jackie Kennedy while campaigning in Texas. At 12:30 PM, a bullet struck him in the neck, and he was immediately rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead half an hour after the incident.
Oswald, a former marine, was arrested in a theater shortly after. He maintained his innocence during police interviews. In addition to the assassination, Oswald was also charged with shooting police officer J.D. Tippit.
Although, he was shot two days later by a nightclub owner, Jack Ruby, while transported by the police. Ruby claimed the death of JFK was the motivation behind the killing.