Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced Friday that the release of over 10,000 documents related to the assassination of former U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy has begun. Gabbard told Fox News she determined that keeping the files classified is no longer justified on national security grounds.
The move fulfills a longstanding promise by Trump to make public all records tied to the assassination—a case that stunned the nation and fueled decades of conspiracy theories. “This came about because President Trump promised the American people that his administration would be one of maximum transparency, and one of the first things he did when he came back into the Oval Office was issue an executive order that said we need to release all of the documents that we have, unredacted, on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.,” Gabbard told host Brian Kilmeade.
The release follows an earlier disclosure by the administration that included unredacted CIA notes regarding the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Although much of the information had been previously known, the newly released documents drew fresh attention to specific details—such as claims by a former CIA employee alleging agency involvement in the shooting. That individual was found dead just months after making the accusations.
The documents released Friday include correspondence from RFK’s assistant attorney general addressing advocates who pushed for stronger U.S. safeguards against Communist Party influence—a major concern during the Cold War with Russia. One cable from the U.S. Information Agency, sent shortly after the assassination, advised messengers to avoid “extremist and intemperate statements,” such as referring to America as “a sick society,” when discussing the incident.
Other sections of the 10,000 released documents include a Justice Department summary of the assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, compiled shortly after the killing. According to the assessment, Sirhan had “little association or communication with” his family and became increasingly withdrawn following a head injury sustained in a 1966 horseback riding accident. RFK, who had previously served as U.S. attorney general under his brother before being elected to the Senate, was assassinated by Sirhan in 1968 while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. His death came nearly two months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., who was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.