President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to declassify documents related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert Kennedy, and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Past attempts to release the Kennedy records, including the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, have been stymied by internal reviews and redactions, including during Trump’s first administration.
But this go-around, it seems Trump may declassify significantly more ― if not all ― of the documents related to the shooting of the 35th president.
“The continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue,” a copy of the order reads. The order adds that releasing all of the federal records regarding the other two assassinations “is also in the public interest.”
Under the order, the director of national intelligence and the attorney general will have 45 days to review the records and present a plan to Trump for their “full and complete release.”
According to a White House pool report, during the signing ceremony, Trump mentioned “giving” it to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who he’s nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The HHS nominee was nine years old when John F. Kennedy, his uncle, was assassinated in 1963, and 14 when his father, Robert, was assassinated while running for president in 1968.