Newly released communications show confusion, cover-your-ass tactics, and an immediate effort to manage the narrative.
🚪 Before the Public Knew, the CIA Was Already Moving
At 12:30 p.m. CST on November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. By 1:00 p.m., the CIA’s internal communication networks were already lighting up.
The 2025 files give us a rare window into those first 24 hours-and it’s not what we were told.
These weren’t confused patriots trying to figure out what happened.
These were bureaucrats scrambling to control what would be seen, said, and remembered.
📁 Key Messages from Langley
A cable from CIA HQ to all stations, timestamped 1:42 p.m. CST (barely an hour after JFK’s death), states:
“Situation developing rapidly. Await instruction. Recommend precautionary alignment of all press-related personnel.”
Translation: Get your stories straight-fast.
Another message from Western Hemisphere Division to Mexico City:
“Subject ‘Lee Oswald’ may be focal point. Begin compiling public-safe narrative. Restrict independent communication with press.”
That’s before the suspect was even officially named.
📞 The Oswald Panic
At 2:15 p.m., an internal cable marked “Priority” included:
- A request for immediate retrieval of Oswald’s Mexico City tapes
- Instructions to “verify asset handling and remove extraneous documentation”
- A directive to coordinate with FBI on “consistent interpretation for investigative partners”
By 4:00 p.m., the narrative was taking shape-even as the public was still watching live news reports.
🧠 “Information Control” Begins
A memo from the Office of Security, written around 5:30 p.m., is titled:
“Initial Press Risk Management – Assassination Narrative Guidance”
It included:
- Talking point suggestions for media assets
- Warnings against speculation involving Cuba or Soviet contacts
- Suggested phrase: “This appears to be the act of a disturbed individual, not part of a broader threat.”
Sound familiar?
🕵️♂️ The Directive to Sanitize
One of the most striking finds in the 2025 release: a midnight cable from CIA’s Inspector General’s office, sent to internal legal counsel:
“Recommend compartmentalized documentation strategy moving forward. Assassination-related references in CI files must be evaluated for relevance and retained under restricted clearance.”
In other words: clean house, fast.
🔚 They Weren’t Just Reacting. They Were Controlling.
The CIA wasn’t waiting for clarity.
They were creating the frame in real time-not just for the public, but for investigators who hadn’t even begun their work.
The 2025 files show that what happened after the shooting may have been just as important as what happened before it.
Because in those first hours, truth took a back seat to control.