The National Archives has announced that all formerly classified documents pertaining to the assassination of the former US president are now accessible to the public.
The administration of President Donald Trump has released thousands of pages of documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas.
The National Archives has uploaded approximately 63,000 pages to its website in two stages on Tuesday, with more documents to be released after digitization.
“All records previously kept classified within the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection are now released,” the Archives stated.
Shortly after assuming office on January 20, Trump signed an executive order to declassify government documents related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960s.
The JFK assassination has spurred widespread speculation in the US about the possible involvement of rogue government elements.
A 2023 Gallup poll indicated that 65% of Americans doubted the official investigation’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former US Marine, acted alone in the assassination of the 35th US president. Among those polled, 20% suspected Oswald conspired with the US government, while 16% believed the CIA was involved.
Trump told reporters on Monday that the public had “waited decades” for the release of the JFK assassination files, adding that approximately 80,000 pages of previously classified documents would be made available.
“I promised to do it during the campaign, and I keep my promises,” the president stated.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in a statement on Tuesday that the release of the documents fulfills Trump’s pledge of “maximum transparency and a commitment to rebuild the trust of the American people in the Intelligence Community (IC) and federal agencies.”
Scholars, historians, and journalists are expected to spend months examining the records for new information regarding Kennedy’s assassination. The newly released files are identified only by record numbers and lack descriptions.
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