Fact Check: No, JFK Jr. did not call Biden a 'traitor' in newly released JFK assassination files
Claim:
A JFK assassination file declassified in March 2025 contained a letter in which John F. Kennedy Jr. called then-U.S. Sen. Joe Biden a "traitor."
Rating:
On March 18, 2025, the U.S. government released a significant collection of documents related to former President John F. Kennedy's assassination, following a Jan. 23 executive order by President Donald Trump. Shortly after the release, social media users claimed one of the newly declassified records included a letter in which the former president's son John F. Kennedy Jr. — who died in a plane crash in 1999 — once called former President Joe Biden a "traitor."
"Did JFK Jr. warn us that Joe Biden was a traitor to America before he was killed!?" read one post (archived) on X with nearly 10 million views.
The screenshot of a document also circulated on other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Threads, YouTube, iFunny and 9GAG.
However, there was no evidence that John F. Kennedy Jr. authored a letter calling Biden a traitor. While the FBI did investigate a threatening letter sent to Biden — then a U.S. senator — signed "John F. Kennedy, Jr.," the agency did not identify the actual author, nor did it indicate that Kennedy wrote it.
Furthermore, contrary to claims made in viral posts, the document in question was actually released in 2000, decades before the March 2025 release of JFK assassination files. We found no evidence or indication that it was included in that 2025 release.
The letter originated from an FBI file The Associated Press obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in 2000.
A June 20, 2000, Associated Press article, available through the Los Angeles Times archives, reported that the FBI records showed John F. Kennedy Jr. faced at least three kidnapping threats, with two plots investigated in 1985 and 1995. One FBI report focused on a letter postmarked Aug. 26, 1994, that was sent to Biden. According to the article, "The handwriting was analyzed. Fingerprints were lifted from the letter. But no suspects were identified, and the case was closed at the end of 1994."
The topic was also covered at the time by CBS News.
The letter was part of a file (from Page 153) shared on The Vault, the FBI's electronic FOIA library, which provides public access to a vast collection of declassified FBI documents.
https://media.snopes.com/2025/03/jfkjr1.pdf
Specifically, the letter was featured on Page 155:
(FBI's electronic FOIA Library)
It included a reference line that read: "UNSUB; AKA JOHN F. KENNEDY, JR.; SENATOR JOSEPH BIDEN – VICTIM; WORCESTER, MA; AUGUST 26, 1994." The use of "UNSUB," meaning unknown subject, and "aka John F. Kennedy, Jr." indicated that the sender's identity was not confirmed, and the name was likely used as an alias.
(FBI's electronic FOIA Library)
The document also noted that the letter bore a handwritten or hand-printed address reading: "Sen. Joseph Biden, (D.-Delaware) U.S. Capitol Building U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20515." The letter itself was dated Aug. 26, 1994, began with the line "Dear Sen. Biden: You are a traitor …," and was signed "John F. Kennedy Jr."
In the "Remarks" section on Page 162, the document said the envelope and letter were "searched in the appropriate sections of the Anonymous Letter File without effecting an identification," indicating that investigators were unable to determine who had sent it.
(FBI's electronic FOIA Library)
Moreover, on Page 179, the document noted that "although four latent fingerprints were developed by the laboratory, there are no suspects at this time wherein latent comparisons can be made," indicating that investigators had no identified suspect to compare the prints against.
(FBI's electronic FOIA Library)
Other fact-checking organizations, including LeadStories, Agence France-Presse and PolitiFact, also have debunked this claim in the past.
Steven Gillon, a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma and the author of a biography of John F. Kennedy Jr., told AFP in March 2025 that it "absolutely it is a hoax," adding: "John never wrote that letter. But that does not stop the conspiracy nuts from waving it around to undermine Biden's credibility."
Similarly, in 2020, Gillon told PolitiFact that "the FBI dismissed [the letter] as a hoax" and "they did not believe that John wrote it."
We've investigated other claims regarding John F. Kennedy Jr., including a rumor that he wrote in 1999 that Donald Trump "would be an unstoppable force for ultimate justice" and that he was a front-runner for a U.S. Senate seat from New York shortly before his death.
Czopek, Madison. "JFK Jr. Didn't Write That Joe Biden Was 'a Traitor.'" @politifact, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/mar/20/facebook-posts/no-jfk-jr-didnt-write-a-letter-saying-that-former/. Accessed 27 Mar. 2025.
"Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." The White House, 23 Jan. 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declassification-of-records-concerning-the-assassinations-of-president-john-f-kennedy/.
Definition of UNSUB. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unsub. Accessed 27 Mar. 2025.
Evon, Dan. "Did JFK Jr. Write in 1999 That Trump 'Would Be an Unstoppable Force for Ultimate Justice'?" Snopes, 23 July 2018, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/jfk-jr-trump-unstoppable/.
Fact Check: FBI File Does NOT Suggest 1994 Threat Letter To Joe Biden Was Written By JFK Jr. | Lead Stories. 23 Dec. 2022, https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2022/12/fact-check-fbi-file-does-not-suggest-1994-threat-letter-to-joe-biden-was-written-by-jfk-jr.html.
FBI Reveals 3 Kidnap Threats on JFK Jr. | The Seattle Times. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20000620/4027718/fbi-reveals-3-kidnap-threats-on-jfk-jr. Accessed 27 Mar. 2025.
"JFK Assassination Records - 2025 Documents Release." National Archives, 17 Mar. 2025, https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/release-2025.
"Joe Biden Named in JFK Files: What to Know." Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025, https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-named-jfk-files-2047145.
McCarthy, Bill. "No Proof Biden Plotted Kidnapping of JFK Jr." @politifact, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/apr/27/facebook-posts/biden-plotted-kidnap-john-f-kennedy-jr-another-uns/. Accessed 27 Mar. 2025.
Palma, Bethania. "FACT CHECK: Was JFK Jr. a U.S. Senate Frontrunner Before His 'Suspicious' Plane Crash?" Snopes, 29 Aug. 2016, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/jfk-senate-frontrunner/.
staff, CBSNews com staff CBSNews com. FBI: Kidnap Plots Were Set For JFK Jr. - CBS News. 20 June 2000, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-kidnap-plots-were-set-for-jfk-jr/.
---. FBI: Kidnap Plots Were Set For JFK Jr. - CBS News. 20 June 2000, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-kidnap-plots-were-set-for-jfk-jr/.
---. FBI: Kidnap Plots Were Set For JFK Jr. - CBS News. 20 June 2000, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-kidnap-plots-were-set-for-jfk-jr/.
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