4 takeaways from the JFK files

3. Disturbing revelations of CIA activity

Despite the lack of documentation of any direct link to Oswald, the JFK files raise new questions about CIA operations during the early 1960s.

One example is the revelation that mob associate Joseph Merola claimed to distribute CIA-supplied automatic weapons with silencers to Cuban exiles in 1961, a claim which, if true, hints at the existence of a covert, heavily armed network of intelligence operatives around the time of the assassination.

Another startling revelation is the account of CIA “liaison” Regis T. Blahut allegedly rifling through House Select Committee files — with autopsy photos, X-rays and information on the “magic bullet” — and subsequently failing polygraph tests. While the breach was previously reported, it raises questions about internal sabotage or cover-up attempts concerning data on the assassination.