Trump administration releases thousands of files on JFK assassination

The release of thousands of pages of government documents about the death of John F. Kennedy (JFK) has led historians and internet sleuths on a mad dash to uncover fresh information about one of the most seismic moments in US history.

The National Archives announced on Tuesday that “every record that had previously been withheld for classification” had been made public and accessible online or in person.

The archives initially posted roughly 63 000 pages of documents online, with more to follow as they get digitized, on its website.

The release, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, contained approximately 80 000 pages of previously classified documents under the direction of Tulsi Gabbard.

Following Trump’s executive order in January, the release comes after the former president’s assassination, as well as documents pertaining to the killings of former US Senator Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

For more than six decades, popular intrigue and conspiracy theories have been at the forefront of the public’s attention as scholars and historians look through the documents for fresh insights into the circumstances surrounding JFK’s death.

According to a 2023 Gallup poll, 65% of Americans disapproved of the findings of the Warren Commission, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former US Marine, was the one who killed the president on November 22, 1963, on his own accord.

20% of those surveyed said they thought Oswald had conspired with the US government, and 16% said they had worked with the CIA.

Scholars who examined Tuesday’s release found no deviation from the files’ initial assessment of Oswald’s dominant narrative.

After federal agencies, including the CIA and FBI, requested additional time to review sensitive documents, Trump pledged to release all outstanding records during his first term. However, he ultimately withheld thousands of files.

In 2022, Joe Biden’s administration will release thousands more documents.

The National Archives claims that more than 99 percent of the 320, 000 documents released to the public before Tuesday’s release, in accordance with the JFK Records Act.

If the president decided their release would “inflict such a significant harm” to national defense or other government functions of such gravity that it “outweighs the public interest in disclosure,” the 1992 law mandated that all remaining records be made public by October 26, 2017.