Donald Trump orders release of last Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr assassination files
President Trump ordered the declassification of secret files on JFK's assassination, along with documents related to Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the declassification of the remaining secret files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a case that continues to spark conspiracy theories over 60 years later. As reported by AFP, Trump signed an executive order that will also make public documents concerning the 1960s assassinations of JFK's brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
"That's big one, huh? A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades," Trump told reporters as he signed the order in the Oval Office of the White House.
“Everything will be revealed.”
After signing the order, Trump handed the pen he used to an aide, saying, "Give that to RFK Jr.," referring to JFK's nephew and the current nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The order mandates the "full and complete release" of the JFK files, without the redactions Trump had previously allowed in 2017 when most of the documents were made public.
"It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay," the order said.
Trump had previously promised to release the last of the files, most recently at his inauguration on Monday.
‘Overwhelming evidence’
In recent years, the US National Archives has released tens of thousands of documents related to the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, but has withheld thousands more, citing national security concerns. When it made the latest large-scale release in December 2022, the Archives stated that 97 per cent of the Kennedy records, which amount to five million pages, had now been made public.
The Warren Commission that investigated the shooting of the charismatic 46-year-old president determined that it was carried out by a former Marine sharpshooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone.
But that formal conclusion has done little to quell speculation that a more sinister plot was behind Kennedy's murder in Dallas, Texas, and the slow release of the government files has added fuel to various conspiracy theories.
Trump's move is partly a gesture to one of the most prominent backers of those conspiracies -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. himself.
RFK Jr. said in 2023, there was “overwhelming evidence the CIA was involved” in his uncle JFK's murder and "very convincing" evidence the agency was also behind the 1968 assassination of his own father, Robert F. Kennedy.
The former attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian-born Jordanian, was convicted of the murder, AFP reported.
The report said that anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr. received the health secretary nomination in Trump’s cabinet after ending his independent presidential campaign and supporting the Republican. However, he faces a challenging nomination process ahead.
Conspiracy theories
Thousands of Kennedy assassination-related documents from the National Archives were released during Trump's first term in office, but he also held some back on national security grounds.
Then-president Joe Biden said at the time of the December 2022 documents release that a “limited” number of files would continue to be held back at the request of unspecified "agencies."
Previous requests to withhold documents have come from the CIA and FBI.
Kennedy scholars have said the documents still held by the archives are unlikely to contain any bombshell revelations or put to rest the rampant conspiracy theories about the assassination of the 35th US president.
Oswald, who had at one point defected to the Soviet Union, was shot to death two days after killing Kennedy by a nightclub owner, Jack Ruby, as he was being transferred from the city jail.
Hundreds of books and movies such as the 1991 Oliver Stone film "JFK" have fueled the conspiracy industry, pointing the finger at Cold War rivals Russia or Cuba, the Mafia and even Kennedy's vice president, Lyndon Johnson.
It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.
Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.
James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder and died in prison in 1998 but King's children have expressed doubts in the past that Ray was the assassin.
(With inputs from AFP)
Key Takeaways
- The declassification may provide insights into historical events that have fueled conspiracy theories for decades.
- Trump’s decision reflects a political gesture toward Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been vocal about the CIA’s involvement in these assassinations.
- Despite the release, experts suggest that the remaining documents are unlikely to contain new revelations that would settle conspiracy theories.
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Business NewsNewsWorldDonald Trump orders release of last Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr assassination files
First Published:24 Jan 2025, 06:42 AM IST
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