Trump says he will release nearly all JFK assassination files
WASHINGTON - Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 28 he would release all documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy except those with the names and addresses of people who are still alive.
“After strict consultation with General Kelly, the CIA and other Agencies, I will be releasing ALL #JFKFiles other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets, referring to his chief of staff John Kelly.
“I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest,” he also said.
Trump on Oct. 26 ordered the unveiling of 2,800 documents related to the assassination of Kennedy but yielded to pressure from the FBI and CIA to block the release of other records to be reviewed further.
Congress had ordered in 1992 that all remaining sealed files pertaining to the investigation into Kennedy’s death should be fully opened to the public through the National Archives in 25 years, by Oct. 26, 2017, except for those the president authorized for further withholding.
More than 2,800 uncensored documents were posted immediately to the National Archives website - a staggering, disparate cache that news outlets began poring through seeking new insights into a tragedy that has been endlessly dissected for decades by investigators, scholars and conspiracy theorists.
The rest will be released “on a rolling basis,” with “redactions in only the rarest of circumstances,” by the end of the review on April 26, 2018, the White House said in a statement.
