On Friday the Trump administration released classified files related to the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, totaling around 10,000 pages in the first batch.
The move comes as part of President Donald Trump’s push for greater transparency in high-profile political cases, and it’s expected to revive long-standing questions about the official narrative of Kennedy’s death.
The release was initiated under an executive order from Trump just days after taking office and has received strong support from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the late senator’s son. Kennedy Jr. has long questioned whether Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of killing his father, was truly responsible.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed that the documents are now being published online in cooperation with the National Archives, with redactions limited to protect personal information such as Social Security numbers.
Gabbard praised the effort as a milestone for transparency: “Nearly 60 years after the tragic assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the American people will, for the first time, have the opportunity to review the federal government’s investigation thanks to the leadership of President Trump,” she said.
She also revealed that during the declassification process, an additional 50,000 pages of related files were discovered in CIA and FBI storage. Work is underway to prepare those for release as well, and further searches for unreleased documents are ongoing.
BREAKING:
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) April 18, 2025
Tulsi Gabbard Just Released the RFK Files, 50,000+ Never before seen fileshttps://t.co/HkCxTNcwYV pic.twitter.com/8pECcMglFf
While many of the key details in Robert F. Kennedy’s murder were handled by local authorities in Los Angeles, with much of that material already available through California’s archives, it remains unclear what new federal information might emerge.
Experts say it’s possible previously unknown records could shed new light or confirm existing theories — though it’s also possible the files will contain little that’s substantially new.
This release follows similar moves by the Trump administration to declassify files tied to the assassinations of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy. However, unlike those cases, it’s not yet known whether the federal government had many sealed records related to RFK’s killing until now.
Trump ordered the release of the Kennedy and King files in late January. At an April 10 Cabinet meeting, Gabbard stated that both sets of documents were nearly ready, including records that had “never been scanned or seen before.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was 14 at the time of his father’s assassination, expressed gratitude for the decision. He has long raised doubts about Sirhan Sirhan’s guilt, even supporting Sirhan’s 2021 parole request, a position that put him at odds with many of his siblings.
Sirhan was convicted of killing Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where the senator was celebrating a major primary victory during his presidential campaign.
Sirhan initially admitted to the killing, citing Kennedy’s support for Israel as a motive, but later claimed to have no memory of the act. While some claim there may have been a second gunman or that Sirhan couldn’t have fired the fatal shot based on ballistic evidence, others maintain he acted alone.
Sirhan’s parole has been repeatedly denied, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom reversing a parole board’s decision in 2021. Still, questions linger — and with the release of these new records, the debate over what really happened that night in 1968 is likely to intensify once again.