In a historic move, President Donald Trump announced the release of 80,000 pages relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This substantial disclosure occurred on the National Archives website on Tuesday, following Trump's promise of transparency.
Backed by an executive order, these files provide perhaps the most comprehensive public access to the event that shook America in 1963.
Fox News reported that the documents, previously unseen by the public, include various reports and communications from 1963, shedding new light on the assassination.
President Trump heralded this release as a pivotal moment for public transparency and historical clarification.
An executive order by President Trump in January set the stage for this release, focusing on the declassification of materials concerning the JFK, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations. By February 7, a proposed plan for the JFK documents was due, followed by plans for other files by March 9.
The actual release was swift and without redactions, fulfilling a commitment to unfiltered access. The FBI contributed by searching their archives, adding 2,400 newly inventoried and digitized documents to the collection.
This move followed a previously criticized release of Jeffrey Epstein files, which were deemed uninformative by many. However, the JFK files release aims to correct that narrative with a more substantial disclosure.
President Trump stressed the importance of these documents to the American people, insisting on maximum transparency.
"So, people have been waiting for decades for this, and I’ve instructed my people... lots of different people, [director of national intelligence] Tulsi Gabbard, that they must be released tomorrow," he said.
Trump emphasized that nothing should be redacted from these files, a directive that was observed. Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, reiterated Trump's resolve, stating, "The president is ushering in a new era of maximum transparency."
"Today, per his direction, previously redacted JFK Assassination Files are being released to the public with no redactions. Promises made, promises kept," Gabbard added, confirming the full release of the documents.
The transparency drive is not without its challenges. Some documents related to JFK still need further processing, such as those withheld under court seal or those protected for grand jury secrecy.
The Department of Justice and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) are coordinating closely to address these issues.
Gabbard noted that even though most of the grand jury information is historical, its release must be approved by the courts.
"Additional documents withheld under court seal or for grand jury secrecy, and records subject to section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, must be unsealed before release. NARA is working with the Department of Justice to expedite the unsealing of these records," said Gabbard.
While some documents may still need to be redacted for personal protection or ongoing asset security, the bulk of the JFK assassination files are now completely available to the public, inviting scholars, conspiracy theorists, and history enthusiasts alike to re-examine the evidence and narratives surrounding the tragic event of November 1963.