Trump orders release of JFK, RFK and MLK assassination records

President Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified governmental documents about the 1963 assassination of President John F Kennedy which has fuelled conspiracy theories for decades The executive order Trump signed Thursday also aims to declassify the remaining federal records relating to the assassinations of Sen Robert F Kennedy and the Rev Martin Luther King Jr The order is among a flurry of executive actions Trump has quickly taken the first week of his second termSpeaking to reporters Trump said everything will be revealed Trump had promised during his reelection campaign to make public the last batches of stillclassified documents surrounding President Kennedys assassination in Dallas which has transfixed people for decades He made a similar pledge during his first term but ultimately bended to appeals from the CIA and FBI to keep some documents withheldTrump has nominated Kennedys nephew Robert F Kennedy Jr to be the health secretary in his new administration Kennedy whose father Robert F Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 while running for president and has said he isnt convinced that a lone gunman was solely responsible for the assassination of his uncle President Kennedy in 1963The order directs the director of national intelligence and the attorney general to develop a plan within 15 days to declassify the remaining John F Kennedy records and within 45 days for the other two cases It was not clear when the records would actually be released Trump handed the pen used to sign the order to an aide and directed it to be given to Robert F Kennedy JrOnly a few thousand of the millions of governmental records related to the assassination of President Kennedy have yet to be fully declassified And while many who have studied whats been released so far say the public shouldnt anticipate any earthshattering revelations there is still an intense interest in details related to the assassination and the events surrounding itTheres always the possibility that something would slip through that would be the tiny tip of a much larger iceberg that would be revealing said Larry J Sabato director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of The Kennedy HalfCentury Thats what researchers look for Now odds are you wont find that but it is possible that its thereKennedy was fatally shot in downtown Dallas on Nov 22 1963 as his motorcade passed in front of the Texas School Book Depository building where 24yearold assassin Lee Harvey Oswald had positioned himself from a snipers perch on the sixth floor Two days after Kennedy was killed nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transferIn the early 1990s the federal government mandated that all assassinationrelated documents be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration The collection of over 5 million records was required to be opened by 2017 barring any exemptions designated by the presidentDuring his first term Trump boasted that hed allow the release of all of the remaining records on the presidents assassination but ended up holding some back because of what he called the potential harm to national security And while files have continued to be released under President Joe Biden some still remain unseenSabato who trains student researchers to comb through the documents said that most researchers agree that roughly 3000 records have not yet been released either in whole or in part and many of those originated with the CIAThe documents released over the last several years offer details on the way intelligence services operated at the time and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination The former Marine had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to TexasThere are still some documents in the collection though that researchers dont believe the president would be able to release Around 500 documents including tax returns werent subject to the 2017 disclosure requirement And researchers note documents have also been destroyed over the decadesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever