CIA's Hidden Oswald Ties Exposed
Declassified files reveal agency deceit in JFK probe, demanding accountability from secretive bureaucrats.
For over 60 years, the CIA claimed scant knowledge of Lee Harvey Oswald before his 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. New House task force documents shatter that, linking the agency via a Miami operative and anti-Castro operations.
CIA officer George Joannides funded and guided the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil (DRE), Cuban exiles targeting Fidel Castro with propaganda—despite curbs on domestic activities.
DRE clashed with Oswald over his pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee efforts, including a New Orleans fight three months pre-assassination; one member said Oswald offered infiltration help.
The CIA denied DRE ties or Oswald awareness, offering no response to these revelations.
Spurred by President Trump's executive orders, the House Oversight Committee's secrets task force, led by Chairwoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), extracted JFK files after hearings, identifying Joannides—known to DRE as alias "Howard."
The agency told the 1964 Warren Commission and 1978 House Select Committee "Howard" was nonexistent; in 1998, to the Assassination Records Review Board, it called it a potential "routing indicator" sans records.
Files show Joannides' phony D.C. license as "Howard Mark Gebler."
“This confirms much of what the public already speculated: that the CIA was lying to the American people, and that there was a cover-up,” Luna stated.
Joannides got a 1981 CIA medal for exile oversight, including 1962 Miami "Deputy Chief of the Psychological Warfare Branch," and 1978 committee liaison—where he impeded access.
“It’s a breakthrough, and there’s more to come,” said Jefferson Morley, JFK researcher and ex-Washington Post reporter who sued for files in 2003. “The burden of proof has shifted. There’s a story here that’s been hidden and avoided, and now it needs to be explored. It’s up to the government to explain.”
No docs imply CIA assassination involvement. Warren ruled Oswald alone; 1978 committee saw conspiracy hints but no accomplices.
Investigators advanced until Joannides' liaison role, unaware of his ties. “The obstruction of our efforts by Joannides escalated over the summer [of 1978]. … It was clear that CIA had begun to carefully review files before delivering them to us for review,” testified Dan Hardway.
Oliver Stone's 1991 "JFK" film fueled scrutiny, leading to the 1992 Assassination Records Collection Act and 1994 Review Board operations, forcing document releases.
Sources for this article: The Washington Post, Axios, USA Today.