Thursday 26 October 2017

Donald Trump releases some JFK assassination files, blocks others

Donald Trump

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the unveiling of 2,800 documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy but yielded to pressure from the FBI and CIA to block the release of some information to be reviewed further.

Congress had ordered in 1992 that all records relating to the investigation into Kennedy’s death should be open to the public, and set a final deadline of Oct. 26, 2017, for the entire set to be made public.

Trump had confirmed on Saturday that he would allow for the opening of the documents, “subject to the receipt of further information.”

Administration officials told reporters on a conference call that Trump ordered government agencies to study the redactions in withheld documents over the next 180 days to determine whether they needed to remain hidden from the public. After the review, Trump expected such withholdings to be rare.

The White House said remaining records with redactions would be released “on a rolling basis” in the coming weeks.

In a memo to government agency heads, Trump said the American people deserved as much access as possible to the records.

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