CIA Denies Prior Knowledge Of Sirhan Sirhan In Newly Declassified RFK Assassination Files

The CIA claims it had no knowledge of Sirhan Sirhan before the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, according to newly declassified files released Thursday.
The documents—part of a tranche ordered released by President Donald Trump, upon resuming office in January—include an internal 'blind memo' dated October 31, 1975. The memo states that 'Sirhan Sirhan's security file reflects that he had never been of interest to the Agency prior to the assassination of Robert Kennedy.'
Kennedy was gunned down shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in the kitchen pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, moments after delivering a victory speech in the California Democratic primary. Sirhan, then 24, was arrested at the scene and later convicted of murder. But the newly released CIA files shed light on the agency's role in the aftermath—and raise fresh questions about what they knew and when.
According to the memo, on the day of the shooting, various organs within the CIA were tasked with collecting information on Sirhan. The memo says this information—largely background material obtained through U.S. visa records and foreign CIA stations—was quietly funneled to the LAPD via the agency's Los Angeles Field Office. The LAPD reportedly agreed that all such material would remain confidential and unattributed to the CIA.
By June 11, 1968, LAPD Chief Thomas Reddin had created a 23-person task force to handle the Kennedy investigation. The CIA's Los Angeles chief, William Curtin, liaised directly with the LAPD's Captain Hugh Brown, sharing intelligence, including information on Sirhan's family and possible associates. According to the memo, the CIA also performed traces on names linked to Sirhan but found nothing indicating ties to terrorist groups.
The CIA asserts in the memo that Sirhan's file does not reflect that the agency had any prior interest in him and that its assistance to the LAPD 'was [never] surfaced in any way.'
If true, this disclosure eliminates one long-held theory about CIA foreknowledge or involvement in Kennedy's assassination. However, it leaves untouched broader doubts surrounding the case—many of which continue to divide even the Kennedy family.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now Secretary of Health and Human Services, has long maintained that Sirhan did not fire the fatal shot. 'Sirhan is not my father's killer,' Kennedy Jr. wrote in a 2021 op-ed, pointing instead to private security guard Thane Eugene Cesar, who was positioned behind Kennedy and was never charged.
Kennedy Jr.'s views have been sharply contested by most of his siblings, including his late mother, Ethel Kennedy, who said in 2021 that Sirhan should 'not have the opportunity to terrorize again.' Ethel Kennedy died in October 2024 at age 96.
The release of today's files—part of a broader declassification effort involving the assassinations of both Kennedys and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—also revives the voice of labor leader Paul Schrade, a confidant of RFK, who was wounded during the shooting. Schrade, who died in 2022, spent decades arguing for a new investigation, citing forensic evidence that suggested 13 shots were fired—more than the eight bullets in Sirhan's revolver.
Kennedy Jr. pointed out that Sirhan fired the 8 shots while standing in front of his target. The first hit Schrade. The second missed Kennedy's father and was later extracted by LAPD from a nearby door jam. The other six shots came after Sirhan was tackled and hit bystanders.
However, Kennedy's father was shot four times from behind. He believes these bullets came from Cesar, a new security guard who Kennedy says had extensive ties to America's largest defense contractors.
Author and Researcher Lisa Pease has repeatedly stated that she obtained records that indicate Cesar was a CIA contractor.
In a 2012 letter to then-Attorney General Eric Holder, Kennedy Jr. echoed Schrade's concerns and called for a reinvestigation. 'After years of careful investigation, I arrived at the conviction that the story of my father's murder was not as cut and dried as portrayed at trial,' he wrote.
Some documents previously declassified also include photos of handwritten notes allegedly found in Sirhan's bedroom. One line reads: 'My determination to remove RFK is becoming more and more of an unshakeable obsession.'
Despite those notes, Sirhan, now 81, continues to maintain that he has no memory of the shooting. His claims, coupled with lingering doubts about ballistics, autopsy evidence, and witness testimony, have kept skeptics' theories alive for more than half a century.

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'If you read the statute very literally, you can see how someone could interpret that to say that what they're doing by getting on the ad, talking about police-related issues and then, having a banner that says these are real Buffalo police officers, but they're not in uniform, you could see how it could be interpreted to be an A misdemeanor, a violation of election law,' said legal analyst Barry Covert. Covert says officers in campaign ads could still be protected under the First Amendment for free speech. 'First Amendment political speech is the most protected in the broad array of what the First Amendment protects by way of speech,' Covert said. Scanlon's chief of staff and deputy mayor Brian Gould told News 4 in an email: '[…] any Buffalo police officer, male or female, that appears in a television ad for the mayor's candidacy is doing so as a volunteer, is not in a BPD uniform, is not representing themselves as a BPD officer or representing the department itself.' 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Asked if he was using real Buffalo police officers in his ads, potentially in violation of Election law, Scanlon said: 'I don't think that's the case at all, but I would say because the senator has a history, a track record of supporting legislation that impacts public safety in the City of Buffalo.' Now to Senator Sean Ryan's attack ad against Chris Scanlon. 'He's been Carl Paladino's pick,' one ad says. It's true when the acting mayor was a political newcomer over a decade ago, Carl Paladino supported him. Paladino, a local businessman, has been around politics for years — he once ran for governor and for Congress, and served on the Buffalo School Board. 'Paladino's made racist comments about Michelle Obama,' the ad says. Paladino has faced accusations of racism in the past, while serving on the Buffalo school board for comments he made in an Artvoice survey nearly a decade ago. 'The Paladino's are even bankrolling Scanlon's campaign,' the ad continues. Campaign contributions from the Paladino family to Scanlon came up during News 4's Mayoral Debate. 'Chris Scanlon has received tens of thousands of dollars from Carl Paladino and Carl Paladino has received tens of millions of dollars from the City of Buffalo. That ratio Chris, you're a cheap date on this one,' Ryan said. WIVB News 4 looked up New York State Campaign Finance records and found that since Chris Scanlon became acting mayor and then announced he was running for the office, nine campaign contributions can be linked to Carl's son William Paladino, or companies in the Paladino family ranging from $150 to $5,200. Donations from William Paladino, Paladino Development, Ellicott Construction, Joseph Hannon, the president of Ellicott Development, the 4628 Group, and an LLC called 727 Elmwood Avenue — totaling $19,100 in campaign contributions. 'William Paladino is the owner and CEO of Ellicott Development and a personal friend; William Paladino has donated to my campaign,' Scanlon said. 'As far as the assertion that Carl Paladino is funding my campaign and fueling my campaign, I have not received one dollar in this campaign from Carl Paladino.' We couldn't find any record of Carl Paladino directly giving campaign donations to Chris Scanlon. But Carl Paladino is still listed on Ellicott Development's website as the chairman of the board. 'It was me who was donating to the campaign, yes,' William Paladino said earlier this month. James Gardner endorsed by Republicans for Buffalo mayor We asked political strategist Carl Calabrese about Ryan's approach against Scanlon. 'Ryan on the other hand, it appears to me that his polling is telling him attack big money donors, attack Trump, attack MAGA Republicans and tie Chris Scanlon into those things. He's probably looking at how those messages play to the core Democrat voter, what's called the prime voter,' Calabrese said. What's not in Ryan's campaign ad is the $500 he received in 2014 from William Paladino when Ryan was in the state Assembly. We asked Senator Ryan about this. 'So, 10 years ago or so a donation slipped through my campaign, which I didn't find out about until a long time thereafter and we had a screen on the campaign for Ellicott Development and Carl Paladino, I never thought another Paladino would send a check in,' Ryan said. Ryan says that $500 check was then donated to a group in Albany. 'We took that donation of $500 and made a $1,000 contribution to the Alliance for Quality of Education, a group that supports high quality public education,' Ryan said. Senator Ryan says that policy not to take any money from Ellicott Development and Carl Paladino was then updated to include all Paladinos and their companies. We did reach out to Carl Paladino to get his reaction on being brought into the campaign as a talking point. Carl Paladino says he has no comment right now on the ad and asked that we contact him after the primary. Early voting in the Primary Election is already underway. The primary is just days away on June 24. Since Scanlon became acting mayor Date Name Amount To 1/10/2025 William Paladino $5,200 Friends Of Christopher P Scanlon 1/10/2025 Paladino Development Group Inc $5,000 Friends Of Christopher P Scanlon 12/6/2024 William Paladino $2,500 Friends Of Christopher P Scanlon 1/10/2025 Ellicott Construction Company II $2,500 Friends Of Christopher P Scanlon 1/10/2025 4628 Group, Inc $2,500 Friends Of Christopher P Scanlon 5/19/2025 727 Elmwood Ave LLC $500 Friends Of Christopher P Scanlon 4/8/2025 Joseph Hannon $500 Friends Of Christopher P Scanlon 1/7/2025 727 Elmwood Ave LLC $250 Friends Of Christopher P Scanlon 1/7/2025 Joseph Hannon $150 Friends Of Christopher P Scanlon Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.