Today the FBI released over 2,000 pages of material on the late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. The files -- which span nearly 30 years of the senator's political and personal history -- can be downloaded
here.
I'll be reading the whole pile, with an keen eye for interesting political and historical nuggets. If you think there's something I'm overlooking, you can e-mail me at byrontau@aol.com.
Up first: Robert Kennedy's assassin
Sirhan Sirhan was not a fan of the Kennedy family and may have tried to get a fellow prisoner to try to assassinate Ted as well. According to a
short entry in the file, while at Soledad Prison in California, Sirhan offered a soon-to-be-released prisoner "one million dollars and a car" in exchange for killing Senator Kennedy. If the other prisoner accepted the offer, he was to contact Sirhan's mother for payment.
The FBI's Phoenix office interviewed Sirhan's would-be accomplice on an unrelated matter, who said he declined the million-dollar contract killing. Senator Kennedy's office was then made aware of the potential threats via the FBI's Washington Bureau.
You can follow the rest of the Surge Desk's updates on the Kennedy FBI files
here.