The CIA’s Key Players in the Newly Released JFK Files: Who Shaped the Story?

On March 18, 2025, the National Archives unveiled a fresh batch of documents tied to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, reigniting fascination with the CIA’s role in one of history’s most enduring mysteries. These files—part of an 80,000-document trove released under an executive order from President Trump—don’t explicitly list “the main people at the CIA who interacted with the JFK files.” Yet, by digging into the pages, we can spotlight key figures whose names and actions ripple through the records. From Cold War operatives to Kennedy’s CIA chief, these individuals shaped the agency’s operations, its response to the assassination, and the documents now seeing daylight. While the official story remains that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone on November 22, 1963, the files hint at a more complex CIA tapestry—one woven by these pivotal players.

William K. Harvey: The Anti-Castro Enforcer

Few names loom larger in the files than William K. Harvey, a hard-charging CIA veteran whose career spanned Cold War hotspots and Cuban conspiracies. In a 1975 interview with David W. Belin 157-10005-10141, Harvey—former Berlin Station Chief (1952–1959) and leader of Operation Mongoose—faced questions about CIA assassination plots. He denied knowing of plans to kill Congo’s Patrice Lumumba, sidestepping queries about Fidel Castro, whom he famously targeted under Mongoose, the agency’s Kennedy-era campaign to oust Cuba’s leader.

Harvey’s fingerprints are all over the JFK files. His Mongoose role tied him to anti-Castro exiles, some of whom crossed paths with Oswald in 1963. The files also link him to an earlier era: as Berlin chief, he overlapped with a mysterious “riotous operation” in Vienna (1950–1953) noted in an FBI interview 124-90092-10016. Harvey’s testimony in 1975, amid the Church Committee’s probe into CIA abuses, shows he directly engaged with the assassination records—records now unredacted for 2025. Could his Cuban vendetta or European exploits connect to Oswald’s story? The files don’t say, but Harvey’s presence keeps the question alive.

Serge Peter Karlow: The Vienna Enigma

Less famous but equally intriguing is Serge Peter Karlow, a CIA operative whose early Cold War activities surface in an FBI interview with Earl Allen Gold 124-90092-10016. From 1950 to 1953, Karlow worked with the Technical Aids Detachment in Frankfurt, making 12–15 trips to Vienna—a divided city teeming with spies. Gold recalled a “riotous operation” during one trip, a chaotic mission that hints at sabotage or espionage against Soviet forces. Karlow’s link to Harvey, then in Berlin, ties him to a broader anti-Soviet network.

Karlow’s direct interaction with the 2025 files isn’t documented, but his operations are part of the CIA records later scrutinized for ties to Oswald’s Soviet defection (1959–1962). This obscure figure’s Vienna escapade is a surprising gem—unreported in most histories—suggesting the CIA’s covert reach extended further than we knew, with Karlow as a quiet but critical player in the files’ backstory.

John A. McCone: Kennedy’s CIA Director

As CIA Director from 1961 to 1965, John A. McCone was at the helm when Kennedy was killed—and when the agency first grappled with the aftermath. He’s not named in every file, but his shadow looms large in a June 1961 memo from Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. to JFK 176-10033-10145. Schlesinger critiques the CIA’s autonomy, a legacy from Allen Dulles’s era that McCone inherited and struggled to tame. Under McCone, the agency oversaw operations like PBSUCCESS (Guatemala, 1954) and AJAX (Iran, 1953), and ramped up anti-Castro efforts post-Bay of Pigs.

McCone’s interaction with the files came in 1963, as he directed the CIA’s response to the assassination and fed records to the Warren Commission. Posts on X from March 2025 note historians like Jefferson Morley praising unredacted details of McCone’s Vatican dealings (e.g., with Popes John XXIII and Paul VI), likely expanded in this release. His leadership during this pivotal moment makes him a linchpin in the files’ creation, even if he didn’t oversee their 2025 declassification.

James Jesus Angleton: The Counterintelligence Czar

No discussion of the CIA and JFK is complete without James Jesus Angleton, the agency’s counterintelligence chief from 1954 to 1974. Though not explicitly named in the provided 2025 subset, his role in prior releases—like his 180-page Oswald file—and X posts from March 21, 2025 (e.g., @burackbobby_ citing Morley), suggest he’s a key figure here too. Angleton tracked Oswald from 1959, after his Soviet defection, and managed CIA surveillance in Mexico City, where Oswald visited in 1963.

Angleton shaped the JFK files by controlling what the Warren Commission saw and testifying to the Church Committee in 1975. His paranoia about Soviet moles and his ties to Oswald’s friend George de Mohrenschildt (noted in X chatter) make him a lightning rod for conspiracy theories. The 2025 files likely amplify his influence, positioning him as a gatekeeper of the CIA’s assassination secrets.

Allen Dulles: The Architect Turned Investigator

Allen Dulles, CIA Director from 1953 to 1961, casts a long shadow over the files, even though he’d left the agency by 1963. The Schlesinger memo 176-10033-10145 blames him for the CIA’s unchecked autonomy, forged during triumphs like PBSUCCESS and AJAX. Fired by Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Dulles resurfaced on the Warren Commission, reviewing the very records he’d once influenced.

Dulles’s dual role—shaping CIA operations, then probing the assassination—makes him a unique figure in the files. He didn’t handle their 2025 release, but his fingerprints are on the historical operations and the commission’s conclusions, fueling speculation about bias or cover-up.

John Ratcliffe: The Modern Custodian

Fast-forward to 2025, and John Ratcliffe, the current CIA Director, steps into the spotlight. Per The New York Times (March 18, 2025), Ratcliffe guided the final declassification, insisting some documents—developed post-assassination—were unrelated to JFK [Web ID: 3]. His role was administrative, not operational, but critical: he decided what the public sees now, under Trump’s January 2025 order.

Ratcliffe’s involvement ties the historical figures to today’s disclosure, reflecting the CIA’s ongoing control over its narrative. His stewardship ensures these files—however revealing—still bear the agency’s careful curation.

Surprises and Shadows

The files surprise with details like Karlow’s Vienna operation—a hidden chapter of CIA mischief—and Schlesinger’s unredacted jab at Dulles and McCone’s fractured oversight. Angleton’s lurking presence, amplified by X buzz, adds intrigue: did he know more about Oswald than he let on? These nuggets don’t rewrite the lone gunman story but deepen the CIA’s complex backdrop.

Echoes in Dallas

The Warren Commission pinned JFK’s death on Oswald alone, and these files don’t disprove that. Yet, Harvey’s Cuban ties, Angleton’s Oswald watch, and the Dulles-McCone autonomy rift suggest the CIA wasn’t a bystander. Did these figures’ actions—or inactions—create a stage where Oswald’s path converged with agency interests? The files hint but don’t prove, leaving room for doubt about the official tale.

The Faces Behind the Files

From Harvey’s covert crusades to Ratcliffe’s 2025 gatekeeping, these CIA figures—William K. Harvey, Serge Peter Karlow, John A. McCone, James Jesus Angleton, Allen Dulles, and John Ratcliffe—emerge as the main players interacting with the JFK files. They span the Cold War’s shadowy operators, Kennedy’s conflicted overseers, and today’s revealers. As of March 22, 2025, their stories remind us: the CIA’s past is a puzzle, and these files are just pieces—vital, vexing, and still begging for answers.