Washington [US], January 24: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to declassify records of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
The White House on January 23 announced President Trump 's executive order to declassify and release records related to the assassinations of three famous figures: President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
In the decree, President Trump said that more than 50 years after the assassinations , the government has not released all related records, and the families of the above figures and the American people deserve to know the truth and transparency.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated during a visit to Dallas on November 22, 1963. His brother, former Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was shot on June 5, 1968, while campaigning for president. He died the following day.
Also in 1968, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was shot at a hotel in Memphis.
After signing the order to declassify the documents, President Trump handed the pen used to sign the order to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the late Senator Kennedy, according to CNN. Mr. Kennedy Jr. was chosen by President Trump to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Many files related to the assassination of President Kennedy have been released, including 13,000 documents released during the Joe Biden presidency. However, many of the documents have been redacted.
Within 15 days of the order being signed, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security and the Counsel to the President, develop a plan for declassification. The deadline for releasing the files on the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King is 45 days.
In 2023, the National Archives completed its review of classified documents related to the Kennedy assassination, with 99% of the files released. Biden later announced that the archivists had completed their review and confirmed that the remaining files that were approved for declassification had been fully released before the deadline.
During his first term, Mr. Trump agreed not to release the entire dossier on President Kennedy's assassination at the request of national security agencies. However, during the 2024 election campaign, he said he would release the rest.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
