Oct. 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump signaled Saturday that he would allow the release of the last remaining classified documents surrounding the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Former President George H.W. Bush signed a law in 1992 that disclosed classified records relating to the assassination, except those “where the strongest possible reasons counsel otherwise.” Trump said Saturday he would approve the release of those top secret documents. He said the release would be subject “to the receipt of further information.”
Bush’s 1992 law set Oct. 26, 2017 as the date by which the National Archives must release all records in full, unless a future president blocks their release. The archives said 1 percent of roughly 5 million pages of assassination-related documents are still undisclosed, while another 11 percent of the released documents have had “sensitive portions” redacted.
After Kennedy was shot to death during a Dallas, Texas, parade on Nov. 22, 1963, a commission led by Chief Justice Earl Warren was formed to look into assassination. The group concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, shooting from a nearby book depository building, was the lone assassin involved in the plot.
That conclusion, however, has not satisfied many conspiracy theorists. Two Republican lawmakers introduced legislation on Capitol Hill this fall to prod Trump into releasing the last remaining records related to the assassination.
“To me, the tragedy that took place in Dallas continues to raise many questions that go unanswered,” Rep. Walter Jones said in a statement earlier this month. “After 54 years, there is no reason, for the sake of honesty and integrity in America, that the facts of the JFK assassination should not be made public.”
Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened.
