An intelligence agent who performed special assignments for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) claimed that the agency was “responsible” for the death of President John F. Kennedy.
A memo released by President Donald Trump—most of which had been previously released by former President Joe Biden in 2021—states that the day after Kennedy’s death, Gary Underhill traveled from Washington, D.C., to New Jersey to confide in his friends that he believed a “small clique within the CIA was responsible for the assassination.”
Underhill told his friends he feared for his life. Six months later, he was found dead in what was ruled a suicide. None of Underhill’s accusations have been proven, and he has become the subject of many conspiracies over the years.
In 1964, the Warren Commission determined that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and that Oswald acted alone.
President John F. Kennedy at the White House on April 30, 1963. President John F. Kennedy at the White House on April 30, 1963. William J. Smith, File/AP Photo
Who Was Gary Underhill?
Gary Underhill, full name John Garrett Underhill, worked in military intelligence during World War II before becoming one of the Central Intelligence Agency’s “un-people,” meaning he performed, per the released memo, “special assignments” for the agency.
He also worked as a photojournalist for Life magazine between 1938 and 1942.
Underhill was found dead on May 8, 1964, with a bullet to the left side of his head. He was found by a writing collaborator at the New Republic, Asher Brynes, who said he found it suspicious, as Underhill was right-handed.
Why It Matters
Underhill’s accusations have been explored in books and papers for years. Although some JFK researchers hoped this new trove of documents would lead them closer to understanding whether the late president was killed by someone other than Lee Harvey Oswald, Underhill’s accusations, which are already well known, are in the spotlight again.
This memo differs from Biden’s release in that it includes more information on Samuel George Cummings, who operated the weapons company Interarms, which Underhill believed to be associated with the murder.
This memo states that the CIA owned Interarms before Cummings officially bought it in 1958.
What To Know
Part of a file from April 5, 1964, detailing efforts to trace Lee Harvey Oswald’s travel from Mexico City back to the United States. Part of a file from April 5, 1964, detailing efforts to trace Lee Harvey Oswald’s travel from Mexico City back to the United States. Jon Elswick, File/AP Photo
The memo states that Underhill was “on intimate terms with a number of high-ranking CIA officials” and that he attributed Kennedy’s death to a “CIA clique which was carrying on a lucrative racket in gun-running, narcotics, and other contraband and manipulating political intrigue to serve its own ends.”
Underhill’s claim outlined in the memo was that Kennedy uncovered this plot and was murdered before he could “blow the whistle on it.”
According to the friends that Underhill met with a day after Kennedy was shot, he was “sober but badly shook.” They said they’d always understood Underhill to be a “perfectly rational and objective person” but that they did not take his account seriously at first because they “couldn’t believe that the CIA could contain a corrupt element every bit as ruthless – and more efficient – as the mafia.”
One link made between Underhill and the CIA was that he had been previously friends with Cummings. The memo states that Cummings sold arms to the CIA and to “Klein’s Sporting Goods of Chicago, from whence the mail order Carcano [rifle] allegedly was purchased by Oswald.”
This is also noted in the 2021 memo.
The documents differ between the 2021 and the 2025 versions in that this new memo goes further into detail about Cummings’ life and business.
Cummings is already well known for owning the International Armament Corporation “Interarms” and Interamco, arms dealerships that supplied weapons to the CIA.
However, this memo points out something new: Interarms and Interarmco were initially owned by the CIA, which hired Cummings as a chief agent before he took over the companies.
This memo states, “On 17 August 1954 Cummings became the principal agent of the CIA-owned companies known as International Armament Corporation and Interarmco Lt…in 1958 Cummings assumed sole ownership of International Armament Corp, of and Interarmco.”
This appears to be new information as Cummings’s obituary states that he left the CIA in 1953 to found Interarms. This new memo, which has information compiled from Cummings’ 201 file and the Office of Security, alleges that is not the case.
President John F. Kennedy’s family leaving the U.S. Capitol on November 24, 1963. (L-R) Caroline Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr. (2nd row) Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy Lawford (hidden) Jean… President John F. Kennedy’s family leaving the U.S. Capitol on November 24, 1963. (L-R) Caroline Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr. (2nd row) Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy Lawford (hidden) Jean Kennedy Smith (3rd Row) Peter Lawford. JFK Library via CNP /MediaPunch /IPX
What People Are Saying
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, on X, formerly Twitter: “President Trump is ushering in a new era of maximum transparency. Today, per his direction, previously redacted JFK Assassination Files are being released to the public with no redactions. Promises made, promises kept.”
What Happens Next
This release may renew conspiracy theories around Kennedy’s assassination, but so far, it has not definitively answered any questions raised by people who do not believe Oswald acted alone.
