Fact Check: Photo allegedly showing 1963 JFK letter about arresting Hillary Clinton is fake

Yahoo

20-03-2025

Claim:
A photo authentically shows a 1963 letter signed by former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in which he wrote, "I have information that will lead to the arrest of Hillary Clinton."
Rating:
Context:
The fake photo was a variant of an old internet joke referencing the long-running, evidence-free conspiracy theory that the Clintons quietly had dozens of people who possessed incriminating evidence about them murdered.
In March 2025, X users discussed a widely shared photo purportedly showing a 1963 letter signed by then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy in which he wrote: "I have information that will lead to the arrest of Hillary Clinton." The claim first appeared on March 18 — the same day President Donald Trump's administration made public thousands of unredacted files related to Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963.
For example, on March 18, an X user posted (archived) a purported picture of the letter, dated July 18, 1963. The user said of the photo, "BREAKING: First documents from the JFK Files have been released. All I have to say is… WOW."
Some users left comments indicating their uncertainty about the letter's authenticity, while others remarked about those users. For example, one person replied (archived) to the post, "I'm amazed at how many people have missed the satire. Unbelievable." Another user responded (archived) under that reply, "I agree, but the problem is there are some people who will believe it."
As those users indicated, the picture did not, in fact, show an authentic letter from Kennedy about Clinton. The X user — or an acquaintance — doctored the image to alter its contents, including adding the X user's handle in the round seal on the envelope (bottom-left corner) in a not-so-obvious manner.
On July 18, 1963 — the date displayed on the letter — Hillary Rodham was only 15 years old, and she did not change her last name until she married future President Bill Clinton in 1975.
The doctored photo of the letter simply existed as one variant of an internet joke referencing the long-running, evidence-free conspiracy theory that the Clintons quietly killed dozens of people who possessed incriminating evidence about them.
A Google search located the original, unaltered image of the original letter from which the fake one was constructed in an eBay listing (archived). The genuine letter depicted Kennedy expressing gratitude to a "Miss Perdunn" for her service in the U.S. Peace Corps.
A previous fact check examined a rumor pertaining to a remark in the 2023 movie "Oppenheimer," in which Kennedy, serving as a U.S. senator in 1959, voted against Lewis L. Strauss' nomination as commerce secretary.
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Stengle, Jamie. "Trump Administration Makes Public Thousands of Files Related to JFK Assassination." The Associated Press, 18 Mar. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-assassination-documents-release-trump-c56ed5075b38af809f36a6388797d4ca.
Wallenfeldt, Jeff. "Assassination of John F. Kennedy | Summary, Facts, Aftermath, & Conspiracy." Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/event/assassination-of-John-F-Kennedy.