For decades, the Central Intelligence Agency maintained a firm denial: it had no prior connection with Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. But a newly released trove of documents is now calling that official narrative into question, according to a report from Axios.
While the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone, suspicions have long persisted that U.S. intelligence agencies may have known more about Oswald’s activities than was ever disclosed to the public. The latest document release adds serious fuel to those doubts.
According to Axios, the new evidence directly implicates CIA officer George Joannides, revealing he played a hidden — and now undeniable — role in events leading up to and following the assassination.
“The CIA lied for decades about his role in the Kennedy case,” Axios reported, citing experts on the JFK assassination.
The Hidden Identity of a Key CIA Operative
A memo dated January 17, 1963, shows that Joannides was ordered to operate under the alias Howard Gebler, a direct contradiction to previous CIA claims that Joannides and “Howard” — the handler of a Cuban exile student group known as the DRE — were different people.
The revelation is significant because the DRE, or Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil, clashed publicly with Oswald just months before the assassination.
“The cover story for Joannides is officially dead,” said Jefferson Morley, a veteran investigative journalist and author who has spent years researching the Kennedy assassination.
“This is a big deal. The CIA is changing its tune on Lee Harvey Oswald.”
A Tangled Web of Connections
Joannides served as deputy chief of the CIA’s Miami station, overseeing political operations and psychological warfare — responsibilities that included the CIA’s covert support of the DRE, a vehemently anti-Castro student organization.
On August 9, 1963, four members of the DRE were involved in a physical altercation with Oswald in New Orleans, an incident that received widespread media attention and resulted in a televised court appearance. Just weeks later, on August 21, Oswald debated members of the group on local TV. Following the assassination, the DRE quickly painted Oswald as a pro-Castro communist, helping shape early public perceptions of his motives.
Despite Joannides’ deep involvement with the DRE, the CIA never disclosed his role to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which investigated the Kennedy case in the 1970s. In fact, according to Axios, the agency actively concealed his identity and influence, lied to investigators, and delayed the release of crucial documents.
“He played a central role in deceiving the House Select Committee,” Axios stated bluntly.
No New Details on the Assassination Itself — But Big Questions Remain
The newly released files don’t provide smoking-gun evidence directly linking Oswald’s actions to a larger conspiracy. However, they cast serious doubt on the CIA’s credibility and reinforce long-standing concerns that key elements of the assassination investigation were obstructed or manipulated.
The agency’s documented history of misleading the Warren Commission, the Church Committee, and the Assassination Review Board only deepens the mystery.
Why Now?
Critics have raised eyebrows over the timing of the release — which happened quietly over the July 4th holiday weekend. In a video posted to X (formerly Twitter), Axios reporter Marc Caputo acknowledged public skepticism.
“I can certainly understand — especially considering the CIA’s past behavior — why people are suspicious that this was released so late on the July 4th weekend,” Caputo said.
While the official story of JFK’s assassination remains unchanged, the growing paper trail suggests that the full truth may have been deliberately buried for decades — and that questions about Oswald’s real connections and the CIA’s role are far from settled.