President John F. Kennedy presents the Congressional Gold Medal to Robert Frost. (Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.) Public Domain
Posted on 01/31/2025 5:14:06 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. Attorney General have until Feb. 7 to present a full disclosure plan for the records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, according to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 23.
President John F. Kennedy presents the Congressional Gold Medal to Robert Frost. (Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.) Public Domain
“I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest, and the release of these records is long overdue,” Trump wrote in the order.
Since Kennedy was shot in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, some have speculated about what the government knows, and the slow release of documents has only heightened suspicions, according to those calling for declassification.
According to the National Archives, more than 5 million documents, photographs, and other artifacts related to the assassination are in the government’s possession.
Approximately 99 percent of the records are available for the public to review, although around 5,000 documents remain sealed or redacted.
Some have additionally questioned the official narratives regarding the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.. The order also calls for King’s records to be released—with the plans due by early March.
“Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth,” Trump’s order states. “It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.”
While signing the executive order, Trump said, “People are waiting for this for years, for decades, and everything will be revealed.”
He instructed his staff to hand the pen he used to sign the order to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—the nephew of the deceased president and the son of the slain former senator.
RFK Jr. has long criticized the government for concealing documents and has suggested the Central Intelligence Agency may have played a role in his uncle’s death.
He quoted the 35th president in a Jan. 24. post on social media platform X.
He said JFK warned that ‘The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society, and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secrecy … We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it.’”
He suggested the lack of transparency has eroded the public’s trust in government.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr,, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies before the Senate Committee on Finance on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 29, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
RFK Jr., who has been nominated by Trump as Health and Human Services Secretary, said the government owes Americans the truth and thanked the president for working to release the documents.
“A nation that does not trust its people is a nation that is afraid of its people,” he wrote. “A government that withholds information is inherently fearful of its citizens’ ability to make informed decisions and participate actively in democracy.”
A law passed by Congress, the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, ordered all government records related to the incident to be released to the public in full by Oct. 26, 2017.
Exceptions were made for items deemed harmful to intelligence operations, foreign relations, military defense, or law enforcement and that such harm outweighed the public’s right to know.
When the deadline approached during Trump’s first term, he acknowledged in his order accepting redactions proposed by certain unnamed agencies and executive departments.
He subsequently directed the agencies to reconsider the redactions within three years and further disclose information.
The deadline was extended three times during President Joe Biden’s term in office.
Trump said on an episode of the “All-In” podcast in June 2024 that the CIA was “probably behind” the pressure to delay the release of all the documents during his first administration.
He said people have been waiting a long time for the information to be declassified, and they deserve transparency from their government.
“Whatever it is, it will be very interesting for people to see,” Trump said. “And we’re going to have to learn from it.”
President Kennedy was killed at approximately 12:30 p.m. while riding in a convertible limousine through downtown Dallas, Texas.
He suffered a head wound and was pronounced dead at 1 p.m.
Soon after, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested by Dallas police officers and charged at 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 23 with the president’s murder.
The next day, Oswald was shot and killed on live television by Jack Ruby during a prisoner transfer.
One week after the assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Warren Commission to study the incident.
Chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the group—which included CIA director Allen Dulles—concluded that Oswald was solely responsible for the crime.
Lee Harvey Oswald, accused of assassinating former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, is pictured with Dallas police Sgt. Warren (R) and a fellow officer in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963. Dallas Police Department/Dallas Municipal Archives/University of North Texas via Reuters
The 888-page report produced by the commission has generated questions from researchers since its release in September 1964.
Other investigations followed, including one from the Rockefeller Commission in 1975.
Commissioners studied the CIA’s domestic activities and determined the agency was not involved in the assassination and that the president was not hit by a shot from in front of the vehicle—a claim some have made because Kennedy’s head is seen moving backward in the widely distributed Zapruder film.
Over the course of 1975 and 1976, the Senate’s Church Committee investigated intelligence agencies’ actions.
Initial findings led the committee to call for another look at the assassination.
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives established a Select Committee on Assassinations in 1976.
The group concluded that the president was likely murdered because of a conspiracy that could have included elements of organized crime.
However, the committee agreed with the Warren Commission’s findings that Oswald fired the fatal shot and the one that struck the president and then-Texas Gov. John Connally.
Questions have surrounded the bullet the commission alleges struck both individuals, with the so-called “single bullet theory” a main premise of the Oliver Stone film “JFK” released in 1991
The new order was one of the president’s promises to voters.
“When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination-related documents,” Trump said repeatedly on the campaign trail last year. “It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the truth.”
In a 1998 report, the Assassination Records Review Board suggested that releasing documents could help restore trust in the government.
“The suspicions created by government secrecy eroded confidence in the truthfulness of federal agencies in general and damaged their credibility,” lawmakers wrote.
No real reason to keep them secret after November 30, 2018.
Moscow.
What’s interesting is that within a year they also got rid of Khrushchev.
As were LBJ and Richard Nixon.
Leslie Lynch King became the country's first appointed president as a reward for his role in the Warren Commission cover up but wasn't in Dallas for the action. Clinton had met with Kennedy four months before the shooting.
Union boss Ronald Reagan had stepped down from his position after leading a successful strike against the capitalist movie studios. Not sure where he was that day.
Connect the dots.
Spectre does not tolerate failure.
Not sure why I wrote that LOL! Nothing to drink but water. I am very tired though.
Hope the files are complete enough to make a convincing determination.
*
Release the hounds.
As to any side affects, “I don’t really care, Margaret.”
*
*
From what I understand they still looking to redact some of the information and that is the reason for the delay.
I used to think that but no longer do.
Kennedy was threatening powerful interests and they had him removed and covered it up.
6 months ago they attempted to do the same to Trump.
What do we know about the shooter and his family. Less than nothing.
the national archives, I am sure they have lots of JFK docs
Exactly, ‘its like we said from the beginning since 1963’ but lets keep the details a secret until the next century, oh and kill anyone that may actually know some more of those pesky minor details, like say Dorothy Kilgallen and a hundred others.
Bobby was in a position to know more about what happened and he didn’t believe the official story. Neither did Nixon and they shut him down for even mentioning the CIA in the same breath.
Gerald Ford was given the Presidency for playing along with the official narrative.
The Mob hated JFK and Bobby because they felt betrayed after helping them get elected. Giancana also shared a girlfriend with Kennedy, Judith Exner. Then somehow known mobster Jack Ruby forgets to hate the Kennedy’s and becomes so distraught as to kill lone gunman perp Oswald. Sure, nothing to see here folks.
This narrative we have today that the communists ad the Soviets were the good guys is totally wrong.
Anyone who followed he 9/11 facts knows that there was a breakdown in communications between government agencies, where the public safety was secondary to agency knowledge.
In my MBA we studied management styles (good and bad). One style was managing by being the only one with all (or the best) information. When that happens, one (or an agency) becomes the leader.
Yes, the money funneled from Saudi Arabia to the 9/11 terrorists was a trail that could not be erased. Furthermore the buying of visas for some of the 9/11 terrorists to enter the USA is another scandal that was quietly covered up.
I would not be surprised on the JFK assassination if the CIA worked with either organized crime or a foreign power to plan the assassination. The files on the connections of Oswald to the CIA, his Russian wife, and his trip to Mexico just before the assassination I am certain contain lots of information that the US Intelligence community does not want released to the public.
I won’t hold my breath. We will never see those files.
Castro
True but since he was on Moscow's leash, Moscow had to green light it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.