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Federal tensions erupted in April when ODNI officials arrived unannounced at a CIA archive to seize assassination files tied to JFK, RFK, and Martin Luther King Jr.

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A Pre-Dawn Mission Sparks Washington Turmoil

On a quiet morning in early April, a convoy of government vehicles pulled into an unmarked CIA archival site outside Washington. What happened next set off one of the most dramatic intelligence standoffs in recent memory. Acting on orders from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a team of officials arrived to take custody of highly classified files tied to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Caught by surprise, CIA personnel suddenly found themselves on the defensive as a power struggle one rooted in decades-old secrecy burst into the open.

A Clash Years in the Making

The unexpected operation came amid increasing friction between the CIA and Gabbard’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). For months, Trump administration appointees had been under pressure to fulfill the president’s directive: finally release the government’s full record on the nation-shaping assassinations of the 1960s.

Despite Trump’s January order demanding swift declassification, progress had been slow. By early spring, frustration inside Gabbard’s orbit had reached a breaking point. The 45-day deadline to produce a release plan for RFK and King-related documents had already passed, and ODNI officials felt the CIA was dragging its feet.

That tension is what drove the April operation an unannounced visit powerful enough to jolt the intelligence community.

Inside the Operation: ‘We’re on a Mission’

According to individuals familiar with the events, the team leading the retrieval effort entered the CIA facility without prior notice, prompting confusion among security personnel. The official heading the mission, Paul Allen McDonald II normally with the Defense Intelligence Agency but temporarily assigned to Gabbard’s office made his purpose unmistakably clear. Witnesses recalled him stating that the team was “on a mission” directly from the DNI.

Among those who briefly appeared was Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, a Trump administration official and former CIA officer who is also the daughter-in-law of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Despite lacking the required access badge, she was reportedly allowed inside and spent time examining digitization efforts underway on the massive file collection.

The operation stretched late into the night. By around 2 a.m., a substantial batch of CIA records had been boxed, logged, and transferred to the National Archives, where they would begin the formal review and declassification process.

A Rare Showdown Between Intelligence Powers

The encounter marked what one source described as the most confrontational moment to date between Gabbard’s team and the CIA. Another insider said the agency had not been warned that ODNI authorities would be asserting oversight so aggressively.

Upon arrival, ODNI officials presented paperwork asserting legal authority to remove the records even without CIA consent and included a warning that anyone obstructing the process could be held accountable. One source said ODNI felt compelled to take this step “because they [CIA officials] were not cooperating up until that point.”

Not everyone viewed the clash as hostile. Some present described the interactions as professional, noting that despite the time pressure, there was a shared sense that the public had already waited six decades for answers about the assassinations.

White House and Intelligence Leaders Defend the Mission

The White House quickly pushed back on any suggestion of internal conflict. Press secretary Steven Cheung said President Trump maintained full confidence in both Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, dismissing reports of friction as media attempts to stir controversy.

A spokesperson for the DNI’s office said ODNI and the CIA had worked closely from the start of the administration to carry out the president’s historically significant document-release initiative. In a rare joint statement, the two agencies insisted they would continue working “hand-in-hand” to declassify records and rebuild trust in the intelligence apparatus.

Still, many questions remain including how much Trump knew about the specific April operation and whether he approved its execution.

Historical Shadows and Public Skepticism

The mission touched a nerve that has never fully healed. Official findings have long held that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he assassinated President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Yet public surveys consistently show that a majority of Americans doubt the lone-gunman conclusion.

Conspiracy theories whether about Epstein, QAnon, or the Kennedy cases remain a defining feature of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base. Interest in the assassinations of RFK in 1968 and Martin Luther King Jr. in the same era has only grown over time.

For RFK’s killing, Sirhan Sirhan admitted responsibility and was convicted. But debates around motive, influence, and potential accomplices remain part of America’s political and cultural landscape.

A Long Night at the Archive

Following ODNI’s push, CIA officials involved in ongoing declassification efforts were summoned to the warehouse to manage security and ensure compliance with federal procedures. The agency was not opposed to releasing the documents, one source emphasized, but insisted on transporting them under proper chain-of-custody protocols.

The process from gathering the files to arranging secure transport to the National Archives facility in College Park, Maryland took hours. Each box had to be vetted, logged, and transferred using government vehicles.

“It all had to be coordinated,” one individual involved said.

What the Newly Released Files Reveal

In March, the National Archives began publishing roughly 80,000 Kennedy-related files, many containing CIA records. Experts say the newly released material sheds additional light on how much the agency knew about Oswald before the assassination, though nothing so far has undermined the longstanding conclusion that he acted alone.

Subsequent releases in April and May added around 70,000 RFK-related documents, none of which have produced evidence contradicting the official account of his death.

Neither Allen McDonald nor Fox Kennedy was made available for comment by ODNI.

Impact and What Comes Next

The dramatic April encounter highlights a central truth about the U.S. government’s most sensitive historical records: their handling is shaped as much by politics and institutional rivalry as by national security.

The forced handover of files underscores a broader effort by Trump-aligned officials to accelerate transparency on cases that have fueled public suspicion for generations. Whether the remaining files will offer definitive clarity or simply raise further questions remains to be seen.

For now, the episode stands as one of the most visible flashpoints in the government’s ongoing reckoning with its deepest Cold War secrets.

A Break in the Wall of Secrecy

The overnight transfer of assassination-related files did more than move boxes from one agency to another it signaled a rare moment when long-standing institutional barriers were challenged head-on. As more documents enter the public domain, historians, investigators, and citizens alike will be watching closely to see whether the government is finally ready to confront the unresolved shadows of its past.

Source:  (Reuters)

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