Scholars and historians are likely to spend months sifting through records to answer the murder of a former US president.
President Donald Trump’s administration has released thousands of pages of government files on the assassination of John F. Kennedy (JFK) and set historians and internet detectives on a crazy dash, revealing new information about one of the most seismic moments in US history.
The National Archives said Tuesday that “all records previously withheld for classification” have been released and can be accessed online or in person.
The archive uploaded about 63,000 pages of documents to the website in two initial tranches, and as it was digitalized, more files have been posted online.
Director of National Intelligence, led by Tulsi Gabbard, said the release consists of a record of approximately 80,000 previously classified pages.
The release comes after Trump signed an executive order in January to release all remaining files regarding the assassination of the former president, along with the records of former US Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.
Scholars and historians could spend months sifting through documents for new clues about the circumstances of JFK’s death.
In a 2023 Gallup poll, 65% of Americans said they did not believe in the Warren Commission’s findings that former US Marine Lee Harvey Oswald acted simply by killing the president while visiting Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.
Of those surveyed, 20% said they believed Oswald had conspired with the US government, while 16% said they had cooperated with the CIA.
Scholars who reviewed Tuesday’s release did not report any deviations from the dominant narrative about Oswald in their initial assessment of the file.
During his first term, Trump pledged to release all the unresolved records, but ultimately withheld thousands of files after federal agencies, including the CIA and FBI, asked for additional time to check sensitive material.
Former US President Joe Biden’s administration released thousands more documents in 2022.
According to the National Archives, more than 99% of the 320,000 documents reviewed under the JFK Records Act were open to the public prior to their release on Tuesday.
The 1992 law required disclosure of all remaining records by October 26, 2017. “It outweighs the public interest in disclosure unless the president determines that release causes “identifiable harm” to national defense or other government functions.”
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