Government Involvement in JFK Assassination

The Warren Commission, established by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 29, 1963, explicitly dismissed claims of government involvement in Kennedy’s assassination. Its 1964 report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, with no credible evidence implicating the CIA, FBI, or other agencies (Warren Commission Report, 1964, pp. 21–22). FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover reinforced this in a November 25, 1963, memo to Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, asserting that the Bureau’s investigation found no conspiracy and that Oswald’s actions were independent (Hoover, Memo to Katzenbach, 1963). CIA Director John McCone testified before the Commission that agency records showed no operational ties to Oswald beyond routine monitoring of his Soviet defection (McCone, Testimony to Warren Commission, May 14, 1964). Media outlets, such as The Washington Post in “Warren Board Ends Probe” (September 28, 1964), echoed the official stance, labeling government involvement theories as speculative and unsupported. The Commission cited Oswald’s rifle, ballistic matches, and lack of corroborating witness testimony to reject claims of a coordinated plot (Warren Commission Report, 1964, pp. 189–190). Inconsistencies challenged these dismissals, but official sources maintained the lone gunman narrative throughout the 1960s and beyond.