If the CIA wanted Kennedy dead–and the evidence for that is slim to circumstantial, which is too little to believe that it is established–it likely had little to nothing to do with a Kennedy plan to withdraw from Vietnam.
It may have been because there were discussions about disbanding the CIA, as Arthur Schlesinger outright recommended in 1961.
Personally, I doubt that the CIA was directly involved, or if they were, there would be a smoking gun memo laying out the plan. The CIA may have been run by sociopaths, but not stupid ones. The likelier explanation of their coverup of the Soviet ties is that they were CYA-ing because they had warnings and ignored them.
So for me the more interesting thing we are being reminded of–we had lots of data about this but are just now focusing on it again–is that the CIA was already part of a Deep State in 1961 and definitely part of the “military-industrial complex” that Eisenhower warned us of.
The Church Committee laid a pattern of illegal and immoral activities back in the 1970s, but the reminder is highly relevant to today’s circumstances. Whether the CIA got rid of Kennedy or just sat back and watched it unfold, we do know that they conspired to get rid of Trump during his term and after and helped cover up the origins of COVID for 5 years.
They were corrupt then, and corrupt now.
Schlesinger: “The contemporary CIA possesses many of the characteristics of a state within a state.”
“There is no doctrine governing our conduct of clandestine operations.”
Schlesinger slammed the idea that the CIA should “fight fire with fire” to defeat communism.
“If… pic.twitter.com/dymH78SoAP
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) March 19, 2025
Schlesinger: “The contemporary CIA possesses many of the characteristics of a state within a state.”
“There is no doctrine governing our conduct of clandestine operations.”
Schlesinger slammed the idea that the CIA should “fight fire with fire” to defeat communism.
“If fighting fire with fire means contracting the freedoms traditionally enjoyed by Americans in order to give more freedom to the CIA, no one seriously wishes to do that.”
The CIA was a rogue agency, often working against US interests as defined by the higher levels of the Executive Branch. It became a law unto itself, just as it is today.
In practice, Schlesinger told JFK, the State Department had become a “rubber stamp” for CIA clandestine operations.
“The concept of ‘contingency planning’ has legitimized the concrete preparation of operations still presumably in a hypothetical stage.”
“If a group is assembled… pic.twitter.com/DStcoreq6H
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) March 19, 2025
Schlesinger: “CIA operations have not been held effectively subordinate to US foreign policy.”“In short, no one knows how many potential problems for US foreign policy — and how much potential friction with friendly states — are being created at this moment by CIA clandestine intelligence operations.”
In practice, Schlesinger told JFK, the State Department had become a “rubber stamp” for CIA clandestine operations.“The concept of ‘contingency planning’ has legitimized the concrete preparation of operations still presumably in a hypothetical stage.”“If a group is assembled and revved up on a contingency basis, then the failure to carry the project through (it is argued) will invite the disappointment and alienation of the group.”
Most of what is in this document is not “new” information, but the context in which it is coming out and the public focus on the JFK assassination highlights the concerns. Just as the COVID information about the virus being engineered in Wuhan and the US funding of that effort has been easily deduced from public documents is not new, the admission that intelligence agencies worldwide had briefed policymakers back in 2020 puts a public spotlight on the dishonesty and coverup.
Schlesinger proposed that JFK de-couple the CIA’s clandestine operations from its research and analysis work.
“If intelligence is too closely connected with operations, then those committed to a particular operation will tend to select out the intelligence which validates the… pic.twitter.com/z0ExPFbfzx
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) March 19, 2025
“CIA has effectively ‘made’ policy in many parts of the world.”
“A number of governments still in power know that they have been targets of CIA attempts at overthrow — not a state of mind calculated to stimulate friendly feelings toward” the US.
Schlesinger recalled Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Thomas C. Mann’s reaction to the botched Bay of Pigs invasion:
“I would never have favored initiating this operation, but, since it has gone as far as it has, I do not think we can risk calling it off.”
Schlesinger proposed that JFK de-couple the CIA’s clandestine operations from its research and analysis work.
“If intelligence is too closely connected with operations, then those committed to a particular operation will tend to select out the intelligence which validates the operation.”
The CIA suffers (or enjoys) nearly unlimited power and lack of accountability, and even people with the best intentions are corrupted when that happens. “I know better” and “I have the means” make for a dangerous combination–again, this is how COVID policies went so far off the track and became totalitarian.
One month after JFK’s assassination, former President Harry Truman echoed Schlesinger’s fears outlined in this 1961 memo.
“There is something about the way the CIA has been functioning that is casting a shadow over our historic position.”
Truman wrote that he set up the CIA to… pic.twitter.com/CBICgApIrA
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) March 19, 2025
In conclusion, Schlesinger proposed “a drastic overhaul of the State Department” to rein in CIA clandestine operations.
“The State Department would be granted general clearance authority over all clandestine activity.”
Schlesinger also proposed splitting the CIA into two agencies, one for clandestine and paramilitary activities and another for information collection and analysis.
One month after JFK’s assassination, former President Harry Truman echoed Schlesinger’s fears outlined in this 1961 memo.
“There is something about the way the CIA has been functioning that is casting a shadow over our historic position.”
Truman wrote that he set up the CIA to streamline information-gathering.
“At times, the intelligence reports tended to be slanted to conform to established positions of a given department.”
But between his presidency and JFK’s, Truman witnessed a change in the CIA.
“For some time I have been disturbed by the way CIA has been diverted from its original assignment.”
“It has become an operational and at times a policy-making arm of the Government.”
“I never had any thought that when I set up the CIA that it would be injected into peacetime cloak and dagger operations.”
Truman called for the termination of the CIA’s “operational duties” and the restoration of the agency to its “original assignment as the intelligence arm of the President.”
It doesn’t require “Dr. Evil” levels of bad intent to wind up with truly evil actions. All it requires is a group of people who are certain they know best what to do and how to do it combined with a lack of accountability. Good people, given unlimited power, will inevitably do worse and worse things for the “good of the people.”
After the assassination attempt on Trump it reminded me of the time Schumer warned Trump on national television about taking on the Intelligence Community.
“You take on the intelligence community they have 6 ways from sunday at getting back at you”
Was this one of their “6ways” pic.twitter.com/LCFg5jGw7P
— Sean (@Xcellent78) July 16, 2024
And there were plenty of bad people in the mix here.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the CIA walked directly into hell then, and also in recent years.
Surely it does many necessary things and we need something like it. But we also need far more oversight and far less concentrated power in one place.
