Thousands of pages of new JFK assassination files released, fulfilling Trump promise: ‘New era’
President Donald Trump commented that the files would be ‘very interesting’
President Trump says the JFK files will be released Tuesday
80,000 pages of previously-unseen files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy were released Tuesday after President Donald Trump made the long-awaited announcement just one day earlier.
“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,” Trump said during a visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington.
“You got a lot of reading. I don’t believe we’re going to redact anything. I said, ‘just don’t redact, you can’t redact.'”
As of Tuesday night, over 1,123 unredacted documents – totaling roughly 80,000 pages – are visible on the National Archive’s website. The files can be viewed by clicking this link.
Back in January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to declassify files on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. (Pool)
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard commended Trump’s move in an X post on Tuesday, writing that 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,” Gabbard wrote. “Promises made, promises kept.”
Gabbard also said that the previously-classified records were published “with no redactions.”
“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,” Gabbard said in a separate statement. “Grand juries from many years ago have already seen them, so most of this information is already out, but regardless of this, this information will be immediately released upon the direction of the Court.”
Some redactions will be made to documents released in the future, despite the President’s earlier statements, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News. Redactions will include personal information such as Social Security numbers of those cited in the documents and “live assets in Cuba,” the source said.
Fox News also was told that due to the large volume of documents it will take several days to release them all, with Tuesday being the first day.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963 while visiting Dallas. (Associated Press)
Back in January, Trump signed an executive order to declassify files on the assassinations of JFK, his brother Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) and civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK). The order requested that the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the attorney general submit a proposed plan for the JFK files release by February 7.
Both offices, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the President, had until the end of the day to submit their proposed plan.
DNI and other officials were expected to submit their proposed release plans for the RFK and MLK files on March 9.
The JFK files release comes just a few weeks after the Justice Department revealed a batch of Jeffrey Epstein files in late February. Many of the documents publicized then had already been released during the federal criminal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former lover and convicted accomplice.
The lack of new material prompted an outcry and criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files – and questions about what the RFK and MLK documents could hold upon their release.
A new batch of approximately 80,000 unredacted files on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is set to be released Tuesday after President Donald Trump made the long-awaited announcement just one day earlier. (Associated Press)
The FBI previously said in a February statement that it had conducted a new records search in light of Trump’s executive order, saying at the time, “The search resulted in approximately 2400 newly inventoried and digitized records that were previously unrecognized as related to the JFK assassination case file.”
FBI UNCOVERS THOUSANDS OF UNDISCLOSED RECORDS CONNECTED TO JFK’S ASSASSINATION
The promise of a JFK files release has been reiterated over the last several administrations, with Trump promising on the campaign trail to declassify the documents upon entering his second term.
“When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination-related documents. It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the truth,” he said at the time.
Former President Joe Biden also released batches of documents during his term. In 2021, he postponed the planned release of several JFK documents, citing the delay to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Trump had also promised to release the last batch of documents during his first term, but such efforts ultimately dissipated. Trump blocked the release of hundreds of records on the assassination following several CIA and FBI appeals.
Former President Joe Biden also released batches of documents during his term. In 2021, he postponed the planned release of several JFK documents, citing the delay to the coronavirus pandemic.
