Newly uncovered documents are reigniting debate over one of America’s most haunting mysteries: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Could Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, and future President Richard Nixon have played pivotal roles in the tragic events of November 22, 1963?

The release of declassified Warren Commission files has brought fresh scrutiny to long-standing theories about the assassination. Among the revelations is an FBI memo from 1947 linking Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who killed alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, to Nixon’s payroll during his time as a California senator.

Historians are divided on what these connections mean.

“LBJ was 99.5% behind this,” claimed Gary Fannin, a noted JFK assassination expert. “While Nixon may not have been aware of the plan in advance, he was unquestionably part of the cover-up afterward.”

Others disagree. One unnamed historian told The American Patriot News:

“This was a devil’s bargain. Johnson would assume the presidency and step aside after one term, paving the way for Nixon’s rise to power. It was a chilling pact—inked in blood.”

The newly surfaced FBI memo describes Jack Ruby (referred to as “Jack Rubenstein of Chicago”) as having performed “information functions” for Nixon’s team. Ruby later claimed he acted alone in killing Oswald, but his ties to Washington now raise fresh questions.

Even more startling is a smuggled prison letter Ruby allegedly penned, naming Johnson as the mastermind behind Kennedy’s murder. He claimed Johnson had exclusive knowledge of the president’s motorcade route that day—knowledge Ruby said was critical to the assassination plot.

Ruby’s only interview with a reporter, Dorothy Kilgallen, ended in tragedy. Kilgallen was found dead in her New York apartment after what was ruled an accidental overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills. Conspiracy theorists argue her death was no accident, suggesting she was silenced for what she knew.

Further fueling suspicion is a May 1972 recording of President Nixon. Speaking with aides, Nixon referred to the Warren Commission’s findings as “the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetrated.” The commission, established by Johnson, concluded Oswald acted alone—despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

Complicating matters further are still-classified documents linked to Kennedy’s clashes with the CIA. Some theorists suggest rogue agents, angered by the president’s refusal to back the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, may have conspired with Oswald to eliminate him.

Jefferson Morley, another JFK historian, believes the full truth lies in the government’s remaining 3,000 unreleased documents:

“There’s a smoking gun in there. The American people deserve to know what really happened.”

Decades later, the JFK assassination remains a lightning rod for controversy. With many documents still withheld from public view, the truth may continue to elude us. Yet, these new revelations challenge Americans to reexamine a pivotal moment in history.

Was it a rogue CIA plot? A Nixon-Johnson conspiracy? Or something even darker?

What we know for certain is that this story is far from over.