Exclusive: RFK Jr.'s secret push to prove CIA killed uncle
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes the CIA had a role in assassinating his uncle, President John F. Kennedy — part of RFK Jr.'s motivation for pushing his daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, for deputy CIA director, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: President-elect Trump feels indebted to RFK Jr., his pick for secretary of Health and Human Services, for his help in the election, and is eager to please him. But there's real drama behind the scenes about whether Fox Kennedy is the right choice for the CIA's No. 2 job.
- RFK Jr. has been telling people that Fox Kennedy — his presidential campaign manager, who is married to his son Bobby Kennedy III — would help get to the bottom of the JFK assassination, two Republican sources told Axios.
- "RFK believes that and wants to get to the bottom of it," one of the sources said, referring to well-worn but unproven theories that the CIA was behind the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy.
Between the lines: If Fox Kennedy were named deputy to John Ratcliffe, Trump's pick for CIA director, she'd be in a position to dig into what the CIA knows about the assassination — and potentially could urge the release of documents. Podcaster Joe Rogan and others have been agitating for that.
- RFK Jr. has real influence. Trump has embraced the former Democrat — viewing him as a symbol of a broadening MAGA coalition and tapping him for his Cabinet.
The backstory: Kennedy has publicly embraced theories about the CIA being involved in the death of both his uncle and his father, Robert F. Kennedy.
- "The evidence is overwhelming that the CIA was involved in the murder and in the cover-up," Kennedy said about his uncle's death in a podcast in May of last year.
- He also said that there is "convincing" but "circumstantial" evidence that the CIA was involved in his father's death, as well.
Trump has promised to release the last of the JFK assassination files.
- In August, just after he was endorsed by RFK Jr., Trump said: "I will establish a new independent presidential commission on assassination attempts, and they will be tasked with releasing all of the remaining documents pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy."
The big picture: Fox Kennedy worked as an undercover agent for the CIA for nearly a decade, and wrote a detailed memoir about her experience.
- She reportedly submitted the memoir to the book publisher without getting sign-off from the CIA's Publication Review Board, stirring controversy within the agency.
What we're hearing: Concerns are already being stirred up over the possibility of Fox Kennedy getting the CIA gig.
- A 2016 clip of an Al Jazeera interview with Fox Kennedy started making the rounds and raising eyebrows over the past 24 hours, four Senate GOP sources told Axios.
- In the clip, Fox Kennedy cites her experience in the CIA and argues for more nuance in the conversation about ISIS. One of her conclusions: "The only real way to disarm your enemy is to listen to them."
- Axios has reached out to Fox Kennedy for comment.
