Biden orders release of once-classified Kennedy assassination files
Katherine Doyle
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President Joe Biden ordered the release of a new batch of classified records related to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.
Biden on Thursday said he had authorized the National Archives to release more than 70% of records previously withheld from the public nearly 60 years after the event.
The president’s executive order authorizes the full release of more than 11,000 documents while keeping some of the most sensitive files from public view.
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“Pursuant to my direction, agencies have undertaken a comprehensive effort to review the full set of almost 16,000 records that had previously been released in redacted form and determined that more than 70 percent of those records may now be released in full,” Biden wrote in the order. “This significant disclosure reflects my Administration’s commitment to transparency and will provide the American public with greater insight and understanding of the Government’s investigation into this tragic event in American history.”
The president said some government agencies “[had] identified a limited number of records containing information for continued postponement of public disclosure,” necessitating redactions or further withholding.
Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. An investigation concluded that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, had acted alone. But historians have long questioned the inquiry and hoped the documents could reveal more about Oswald’s actions.
The 1992 President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act required the government to release all files related to the Kennedy assassination by late 2017, with the exception of documents that could harm national security.
The Biden administration was sued in October over accusations that it had failed to abide by the 2017 deadline.
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Biden released a cache of files in October 2021 but withheld some until this year that he said required further review.