A Republican U.S. senator has been working behind the scenes to block the release of CIA files containing top-secret intelligence about the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, Tucker Carlson claimed on Monday.
Before name-dropping the incumbent, who is up for reelection in 2026, Carlson said the individual pressured colleagues on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to reject the nomination of another person by President Donald Trump to join his national intelligence team. They did so because the nominee previously pushed for a full, unredacted release of the JFK files, Carlson told podcast host and former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo during his show.
“You have a sitting member of the United States Senate whose main goal is to keep those files secret, and then you have to ask yourself, what is that?” Carlson said.
Both media men agreed that “no one is alive” who could be implicated in a conspiratorial coverup of Kennedy’s assassination at the hands of Lee Harvey Oswald, the lone gunman whom the CIA concluded shot and killed the 35th president in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. The 1975 Church Committee hearings already “discredited” the CIA, so there’s no sterling reputation left to protect, Carlson added before stating he knew who may have been attempting to do so: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) of Arkansas.
“If you’re telling me that, six weeks ago, a sitting senator was attempting to keep someone out of a job in order to keep these files secret to protect ‘the CIA,’ I don’t believe that for a second,” Carlson declared.
So why, Cuomo asked, has his guest not called up President Trump and asked what motivation Sen. Cotton may have for blocking his nominee?
“I haven’t. I haven’t asked,” Carlson said about speaking with Cotton. “I’d like to… I’m not sure he’ll sit down and do an interview with me.”
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Cotton, the chair of the Senate intelligence committee, quickly shot back that Carlson “knows how to reach me” and hasn’t followed to up to ask him about the secondhand story.
“This is false. I have no problem releasing the ‘JFK files.’ Had @tuckercarlson asked me, I would’ve told him,” Cotton wrote on X. “He has texted me multiple times in recent weeks, so he knows how to reach me.”
He continued: “I would’ve explained that I’ve never spoken to President Trump or his associates or administration officials about the files, never objected to the appointment of any person because of the files, and have complete faith that Tulsi Gabbard, John Ratcliffe, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and other officials will release the files as appropriate in accordance with President Trump’s directive.”
Despite Cotton’s assurances, he has previously objected to President Trump’s decision to revoke security details for several officials from his first administration: former national security advisor John Bolton, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, and his top aide Brian Hook, the AP reported. The Arkansas Republican said the president’s decision could have a chilling effect on who in the intelligence community agrees to work with him in his second administration.
“It’s also about the president being able to get good people and get good advice,” Cotton said. “They might hesitate to do so, or they might hesitate if they’re in office to give him the advice he needs to carry out the policies that he decides upon.”
