WASHINGTON — The first tranche of records about the investigation into the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy has been released by the Trump administration.
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said Friday about 10,000 pages of previously classified documents, which had been “sitting in storage” at the National Archives, have been made available to the public.
Kennedy was fatally shot on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where he had been celebrating his victory in the state’s Democratic presidential primary. Sirhan Sirhan, now 81, was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving a sentence of life in prison. He is currently being held at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in California and was denied parole in 2023.
The files released Friday included photographs of notes handwritten by Sirhan, including one dated May 18, 1968, in which he wrote, “My determination to eliminate R.F.K. is becoming more of an unshakable obsession."
In another document, Sirhan advocated for “the overthrow of the current president.”
Gabbard said that additional records would be posted on a rolling basis on a webpage dedicated to Robert F. Kennedy's assassination and would include “minimal redactions for privacy reasons,” such as Social Security and tax identification numbers.
“My team is honored that the President entrusted us to lead the declassification efforts and to shine a long-overdue light on the truth," Gabbard said in a statement. "I extend my deepest thanks for Bobby Kennedy and his families’ support."
In an executive order signed on one of his first days in office, President Donald Trump directed Gabbard and the attorney general to review and release remaining classified documents related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr..
More than 2,000 files in the investigation into John F. Kennedy’s, Jr.’s assassination were posted last month.
At a Cabinet meeting on April 10, Gabbard said more than 100 people were working “around the clock” to scan paperwork related to Robert F. Kennedy’s and King’s killings, which she promised would be released “within the next few days.”
King was fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee, about two months before Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination. The King family said in a statement in January that they “hope to be provided the opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release.”
Friday’s publication included more than 200 documents of various page lengths.
Gabbard also said that an additional 50,000 pages of material related to Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination were found in searches of FBI and CIA warehouses.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, she said these newly discovered records would comprise a second set to be released publicly.
“There are alot of different questions,” Gabbard said of the files released Friday. “In my view, these documents provide the background to more questions than answers. We’ll see what the next 50,000 pages bring forward.”
Gabbard noted that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is the son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of John F. Kennedy, had the opportunity to review the records before they were posted Friday.
“Lifting the veil on the RFK papers is a necessary step toward restoring trust in American government,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a statement.
Gabbard plans to post updates on her X and Truth Social accounts each time more documents are released.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
