U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to declassify any remaining files from the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy (JFK), his brother Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), Xinhua reported.
"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 said in the executive order.
"And although no Act of Congress directs the release of information pertaining to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have determined that the release of all records in the Federal government's possession pertaining to each of those assassinations is also in the public interest," Trump said.
In the executive order, Trump instructed the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General to present a plan to him for the "full and complete" release of records relating to the assassination of JFK within 15 days. The Senate has confirmed neither of the nominations.
Trump also directed that they have 45 days to present a plan to release all the RFK and MLK files.
JFK, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a motorcade. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder, yet numerous conspiracy theories about the circumstances of Oswald's dramatic death two days after the assassination remain prevalent even today.
In 1992, Congress required that all documents related to the assassinations be made available to the public within 25 years, by October 26, 2017.
In his first term that started in January 2017, Trump accepted proposed redactions from executive departments and agencies, but ordered the continued re-evaluation of those remaining redactions.
Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump, issued subsequent certifications concerning these records in 2021, 2022, and 2023, which gave agencies additional time to review the documents and withhold information from public disclosure, according to the order.
Biden's press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said on June 30, 2023 that 99 percent of records associated with JFK's assassination were available for public consumption through the National Archives and Records Administration.
RFK, another prominent figure from the Kennedy family, was well-known for his roles as a U.S. senator and attorney general. He was assassinated in 1968 during his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Trump's nominee for secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a son of RFK senior.
MLK stands as one of the most prominent figures in the American civil rights movement. He is widely celebrated for his commitment to nonviolent campaign against racial segregation and inequality, as well as his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
