Donald Trump signed an executive order today to release more records related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, as well as those related to the killings of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
The assassination of JFK has long been the subject of conspiracy theories, with longstanding calls for the government to release remaining records that remain classified.
The executive order gives the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Counsel to the President, 15 days to submit a plan for the full release of the records. They will have 45 days to submit a plan to release recordings of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
“I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of information from records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest, and that the release of these records is long overdue,” Trump said in the executive order. “Although there is no law of Congress mandating the release of information relating to the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have determined that all records in the possession of the federal government relating to the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shall be made public.” And every one of these assassinations is also in the public interest.
The law required the JFK records to be released by 2017, but Trump approved the redactions on national security grounds. More records have been released during Joe Biden's presidency, but there is still a treasure trove of remaining records that remain classified. Larry Sabato, a Kennedy scholar and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told the AP that he estimates about 3,000 records have not yet been made public.
Robert Kennedy Jr., Trump's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, has long called for the records to be released. He made the claim that the CIA was involved in his uncle's assassination.
John F. Kennedy's grandson, Jack Schlossberg, posted a message on social media, saying: “JFK conspiracy theories – the truth is sadder than the myth – a tragedy that did not need to happen. Not part of some grand, inevitable plan.
He added: “Declassification is using JFK as a political prop when he's not here to fight back. There's nothing heroic about it.”
The Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 requires records to be publicly disclosed within 25 years, unless there are continuing concerns about national defense, law enforcement, or foreign policy harms that outweigh public disclosure. The law was passed in part because of concerns that Oliver Stone JFK It raised doubts about the confidentiality of previous investigations.
