CIA Confirms Agent Contacted Oswald Before JFK Assassination

Newly declassified CIA documents reveal that George Joannides, a CIA psychological warfare officer using the alias Howard Gebler, had contact with Lee Harvey Oswald months before President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Joannides, deputy chief of the CIA’s Miami branch, covertly funded and directed an anti-Castro group, the Cuban Student Directorate (DRE), which publicly confronted Oswald in 1963 and debated him on television, exposing his communist sympathies. The CIA had long denied any connection to the DRE or Joannides’ involvement, but the recent disclosures show the agency lied under oath, misdirected investigators, and concealed Joannides’ role. These revelations come as part of President Trump’s efforts to release JFK assassination files and shed new light on the agency’s covert operations prior to the assassination. While the documents do not challenge the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Oswald was the lone gunman, they underscore the CIA’s prior knowledge and hidden activities surrounding Oswald. Experts note this represents a significant shift in the CIA’s narrative about its involvement with Oswald and the anti-Castro student group.