President Trump declassifies JFK, RFK, MLK files

JFK, RFK and MLK files

The president on Thursday signed an executive order to declassify files related to the series of high-profile assassinations of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

“Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth. It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay,” the citation states.

Trump has long promised to release the JFK files. During his first administration, he ordered the release of some, but not all, of them. Trump said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that his then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked that some of the files not be made public.

Many of the files related to the JFK assassination have already been disclosed, including a tranche of 13,000 documents released during the Biden administration. Many, however, have been redacted.

The records will not be released immediately.

“Within 15 days of the date of this order, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the President, present a plan to the President for the full and complete release of records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,” it states, adding that a plan should be presented to the president for the records’ release in 45 days.

After signing the order, Trump asked that the pen he used be given to Robert F. Kennedy’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is the president’s pick for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

This story has been updated Thursday with additional developments.

CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis, Betsy Klein, Rene Marsh, Alayna Treene, Tami Luhby, Kevin Liptak, Marshall Cohen, David Goldman, Alejandra Jaramillo and Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.

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