Trump Declassifies JFK, RFK, and MLK Jr. Files
In a major move, President Donald Trump has announced an executive order to release the remaining government files related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. The decision marks the fulfillment of a Trump campaign promise, giving the public access to all federal government knowledge about the murders.
Experts believe the new information may not fully clear the air surrounding the mysterious deaths, which have spawned decades of conspiracy theories. Tom Samoluk, who reviewed the secret JFK files in the 1990s, stated that the records will "put some puzzle pieces together, telling a more robust and rich story." However, he warned that there won’t be a "smoking gun" revealing a single, clear answer.
The process of releasing the documents began in 1992, when Congress passed a law requiring the release of the papers unless the president deemed it would undermine national interests. Initially, Trump ordered a six-month review of national security implications in 2017, but ultimately announced that some documents would remain classified due to concerns about national security, law enforcement, and foreign affairs.
The new executive order gives the director of national intelligence and the attorney general 15 days to present a plan for the full release of records related to the JFK assassination, with a similar review for the MLK and RFK files due within 45 days.
Conspiracy theories have flourished since the president’s murder, with many Americans believing that others were involved. The House of Representatives formed a committee to investigate the killings in 1976, concluding that Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy," but without identifying any conspirators. TimeSpan has seen numerous releases of documents, with over 70,000 JFK files made public since 2017.
Journalist Gerald Posner, who initially believed in a conspiracy but later became a lone gunman theory proponent, expects the new information to be more embarrassing than revelatory. He expressed skepticism that the lack of a smoking gun would fully quell theories about how and why Kennedy was killed.
The release of Robert F. Kennedy’s files is shrouded in mystery, with the Los Angeles Police Department having destroyed some evidence, and the CIA still holding onto classified documents. Sirhan Sirhan, Kennedy’s convicted assassin, remains in prison, but Robert F. King Jr., the senator’s son, has questioned his involvement and blamed a security guard.
The public will have to wait to see what the final documents reveal, with some speculating that it may not change the prevailing narratives about the events.