The Trump/Napolitano/Carlson Connection on JFK
Tucker Carlson is an American political commentator and writer who hosted the nightly political show Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. Tucker Carlson Tonight was the third-highest-rated cable news show as of March 2018. After the inauguration of Joe Biden, the show remained the most-watched news-related cable show as of mid-2021. On April 24, 2023, Fox News dismissed Carlson and the executive producer of Tucker Carlson Tonight. Fox did not provide a reason for Carlson’s termination. The rest is speculation.
What we do know is that Carlson appeared on a Fox News Report on December 15, 2022—a bit over 4 months before he was terminated-- to discuss the JFK assassination. The timing was no coincidence. On that same day, Biden issued an “Executive Memorandum” which was the worst Presidential decision to date regarding the JFK records. This is the memo in which Biden introduced his “Transparency Plans” permitting agencies to prepare a “plan” for the “eventual release” of information to ensure that information would continue to be disclosed “over time” as the “identified harm associated with release of the information dissipates.”
Biden ordered the relevant agencies and NARA to jointly review the remaining withheld records and redactions with a view to “maximizing transparceny” and disclosing all information in records concerning the assassination, “except when the strongest possible reasons counsel otherwise.” As discussed in great detail in Chapter 10 of The JFK Assassination Chokeholds, these new “standards” imposed by Biden are not found anywhere in the JFK Records Act of 1992. Biden effectively empowered the agencies (namely the CIA and FBI) to run the show. NARA is nothing more than a custodian of records under the JFK Records Act and does not have the legal authority that Biden suddenly created. Essentially, Biden’s “executive memorandum” was a green light for agencies to authorize declassification of the remaining JFK assassination records at their discretion.
Back to December 15, 2022. Tucker Carlson on Tucker Carlson Tonight took an opportunity to make powerful statements about the JFK Assassination. After all, the President once again stalled the release of the remaining assassination records without legal authority. Carlson called it as it was and is. He pointed out that the CIA eventually admitted that it withheld critical information (from the Warren Commission) on its relationship with Oswald. Carlson then talked about the CIA’s withholding of critical information from the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the late 1970’s. This pointed to the obvious inference: that the CIA was involved on some level in the assassination and was making every possible effort since late 1963 to hide its involvement.
Carlson then moved toward 2017 and discussed “intense pressure” applied by CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Trump regarding the final release of all assassination records. It’s well documented that Trump announced his intention to release all of the records before changing course on the eve of the October 26, 2017 deadline. Carlson then went into how Biden did the same thing. So 60 years later, and after the death of virtually every single person who could have been involved in a plot to kill JFK, or the possible existence of some other archaic intelligence operation that still “warranted secrecy”, two presidents were still being paralyzed by the intel community.
Carlson then went right to the heart of the matter. He said that his team talked to a source who had access to remaining withheld CIA records and who was deeply familiar with what those documents contained. Tucker’s team asked this source: did the CIA have a hand in the assassination of President Kennedy? The reply from the source: “The answer is yes. I believe they were involved. It’s a whole different country from what we thought it was. It’s all fake. Yes, I believe the CIA was involved in the Kennedy assassination.”
Carlson then turned his focus to Mike Pompeo, who served as CIA Director in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2018. Pompeo then served as Secretary of State under Trump from 2018 to 2021. Carlson’s team asked Pompeo to appear on the show and comment on this information regarding the CIA’s involvement in the assassination. At that time, Pompeo declined to appear or make any comment.
The next day (after his December 15, 2022 show), Carlson got a call from Mike Pompeo’s lawyer. He discussed this in an April 20, 2024 appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience. Pompeo’s lawyer reminded Carlson that anyone who reveals the contents of classified documents has committed a crime. Carlson felt that this was an absolute threat, directly from Pompeo’s lawyer. It was obvious to Carlson that Mike Pompeo was the one who pressed Trump to keep the remaining JFK assassination records secret, and he said as much on Rogan’s show. As CIA Director in 2017, at the time of Trump’s critical decision under the JFK Records Act, nobody was in a better position to intimidate Trump. And if Trump can be intimidated, then any President can be. And we saw the same pattern, and even worse, from Joe Biden. Trump delayed the release, without question for a period of three and a half years. Biden then essentially re-wrote the JFK Records Act with his Presidential pen, and to date there have been zero consequences or any response to either man from Congress.
Trump Discussion with Judge Napolitano
Judge Andrew Napolitano is a former judge from New Jersey and syndicated columnist. Beginning in 1997, he became an analyst for Fox News. He often spoke with and consulted with President Trump. On March 15, 2024, Judge Napolitano appeared on the Judging Freedom podcast with Professor Jeffrey Sachs. Napolitano detailed his last conversation with Trump while he was in office, only a week or two before Biden’s inauguration. Trump wanted Napolitano’s opinion on the list of people he was going to pardon while still in office. The conversation went “big picture” into things left unfinished during the Trump presidency, and Napolitano reminded Trump of his 2017 promise to release the remaining withheld JFK assassination records. As we know, Trump made this promise publicly through Twitter, and also privately to Napolitano in their frequent conversations.
This is a record of the conversation according to Judge Napolitano: "I told Trump, 'you promised you would release the records of the JFK assassination.' He (Trump) said to me 'If they showed you what they showed me, you wouldn't have released it either.' I said 'Who's they? What did they show you?' Trump said "Judge, someday when we're not on the phone and (raising his voice) there aren't 15 people listening to the call, I'll tell you.'"
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs replied: "It has been said that after the Kennedy assassination, there has been no president. They have only been factotums of the system since then."
Professor Sachs sums it up pretty well. Even a brazen president like Trump could be intimidated to stop in his tracks and follow the direction of agencies and more powerful interests.
