Executive Order-23 Jan 2025
On Thursday, former President Trump signed an executive order mandating the declassification of the remaining files tied to the investigation of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. This follows a partial release of documents in 2022, which revealed that 97% of the approximately 5 million pages in the National Archives and Records Administration’s collection on the JFK assassination are already public.
Mr. Trump said,
That’s a big one, huh? A lot of people are waiting for this for a long — for years, for decades.
The president directed his aide to pass the pen he used to sign the order to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the late Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy Jr. is Mr. Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Robert F. Kennedy, the elder Kennedy, served as U.S. attorney general, New York senator, and was a Democratic presidential candidate when he was tragically assassinated in 1968.
Opening the Vault: Trump’s Push to Declassify
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Under the order, the yet-to-be-confirmed director of national intelligence and attorney general have 15 days to devise a plan for the release of the remaining JFK files.
Mr. Trump’s executive order also extends to the declassification of additional records related to the 1968 assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and former Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The directive gives the director of national intelligence and the attorney general 45 days to develop plans for releasing the RFK and MLK files, further expanding public access to these historical investigations. The FBI further stated that the order
Also requires designated agencies to submit a plan to the White House for ‘the full and complete release of these records.
The FBI is in the process of identifying relevant records and will collaborate with the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Following a partial release of JFK files in 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration announced that 97% of the approximately 5 million pages related to the assassination are now public.
During his first term in 2017, the president had pledged to release the remaining JFK files, including about 3,000 documents that had never been disclosed and 30,000 previously released with redactions. However, not all files were made public during that time. In 1992, Congress passed a law mandating that all assassination-related documents be released within 25 years.
Shadows of History: The Assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK”
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Here’s a breakdown of how and when the three prominent assassinations occurred:
President John F. Kennedy (JFK)
President Kennedy was shot while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas.
He was struck by two bullets, one in the upper back and one in the head, fired from a nearby Texas textbook depot. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination, but questions and conspiracy theories about the circumstances of the shooting continue to persist.
- Date of Assassination: November 22, 1963
- Location: Dallas, Texas, USA
Senator Robert F. Kennedy (RFK)
RFK was shot in the kitchen pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles shortly after giving a victory speech following his win in the California primary for the 1968 presidential election.
Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian, was arrested at the scene and later convicted of the murder. Sirhan claimed he was angered by RFK’s pro-Israel stance.
- Date of Assassination: June 5, 1968
- Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK)
Dr. King was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where he had been staying during a campaign for sanitation workers’ rights.
James Earl Ray, a fugitive, was arrested and convicted of the crime. Ray later recanted his confession, fueling ongoing debates about whether others were involved in the assassination.
- Date of Assassination: April 4, 1968
- Location: Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Each of these tragic events had a profound impact on American history, and the ongoing declassification of documents may shed new light on these pivotal moments.
Which JFK Assassination Files Will Trump Release?
White House officials have not yet disclosed the specific JFK assassination files that will be released or how many will be made public. In late 2022, the National Archives released 13,173 documents related to the assassination after President Biden issued an executive order for their disclosure. However, thousands of other sensitive records were kept classified during his administration.
Trump’s Move to Unveil JFK Assassination Secrets: What’s Behind the Decision?
At a rally in Washington, D.C., on the eve of his inauguration, Trump pledged to release the files as part of his commitment to restoring “transparency and accountability to government.” He emphasized that his administration would “reverse the overclassification of government documents,” and that, in the coming days, remaining records related to the JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, along with other matters of public interest, would be disclosed.
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 mandated the release of all assassination-related documents by October 2017 unless doing so would compromise national security, intelligence sources, or privacy protections. While Trump released thousands of documents during his first term, others were withheld for national security reasons.
In October 2021, Biden released nearly 1,500 more documents but delayed the release of other sensitive records until December 15, 2022. He cited the need for further review to “protect against identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations.“
When Will the JFK Assassination Files Be Released?
The exact timing of the release of these files has not yet been announced.
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