More than 60 years later, the assassination of U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy continues to fuel conspiracy theories.
The arrival of his nephew, Robert Kennedy Jr, as a minister under Donald Trump could now bring these theories as far as the White House.
For a time, he was a candidate in November’s presidential election, but “RFK Jr” ultimately rallied behind the Republican billionaire in the final months of the campaign.
This former environmental law attorney, who has already spread anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, was rewarded with the Health portfolio—a nomination still pending Senate confirmation.
According to several U.S. media outlets, Robert Kennedy Jr is now pushing for the president-elect Donald Trump’s team to name his daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox, as Deputy Director of the CIA.
The goal? To obtain evidence supporting his deep conviction that the main U.S. intelligence agency played a role in his uncle’s assassination in 1963.
In a 2023 interview, Robert Kennedy Jr claimed that there was “overwhelming evidence” of the CIA’s involvement in JFK’s death—evidence that, according to him, puts the matter “beyond reasonable doubt” now.
He had also maintained that there were “very compelling” indications of the agency’s involvement in the 1968 assassination of his own father, Robert F. Kennedy—JFK’s former attorney general and the presidential frontrunner at the time of his death.
His stance on the Democratic president’s assassination is far removed from the official conclusions.
– Pariah –
The official Warren Commission of inquiry determined a few months after the assassination that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine sharpshooter, acted alone.
Today, “RFK Jr” is almost synonymous with “pariah” within much of the Kennedy family, which had slammed his candidacy for the November election and then his endorsement of Donald Trump.
This week, Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s only grandson, accused Robert Kennedy Jr on X (formerly Twitter) of being “obviously a Russian spy.”
Embracing conspiracy theories has never been a deal-breaker for Donald Trump. The Republican has welcomed “RFK Jr” with open arms into his new administration.
Since the November 5 victory, the two men have notably been photographed aboard the billionaire’s private jet, alongside Elon Musk. On Thursday, he was with the president-elect again when Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
In an interview with Time published the same day, Donald Trump said he would have “a big discussion” with Robert Kennedy Jr when asked if he would support ending children’s vaccination programs in the United States, as his potential future Health Minister desires.
“I’m going to listen to Bobby, who I really get along with,” said the president-elect, using the diminutive for Robert.
– “A Kennedy at the CIA” –
At the end of November, Donald Trump reiterated his campaign promise to release the last top-secret files stored in the National Archives about JFK’s assassination.
According to several U.S. media outlets, the president-elect is indeed considering naming Amaryllis Fox as Deputy Director of the CIA. The Washington Post wrote that she had already met in Washington this week with John Ratcliffe, chosen by the future Republican president to lead the intelligence agency.
Beyond her father-in-law’s positions, the nomination of this 44-year-old author would not be free of controversy either.
In 2019, she published her memoirs detailing her activities as a CIA agent, without requesting the agency’s prior authorization, thereby violating the confidentiality agreement signed by all agents.
Several former CIA agents also expressed doubts about the veracity of her accounts, NBC News reported at the time.
Facing reports that several lawmakers and intelligence officials oppose her appointment, Amaryllis Fox fired back Thursday.
“A Kennedy at the CIA: They’re panicking,” she wrote on X.
“These same ‘worried’ officials oversaw the greatest deterioration of our human intelligence capabilities in the CIA’s history,” she added, not hesitating to describe herself as a “Trump loyalist.”
With Dany Kemp (AFP)
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