Historic Revelations:
- A Two-Tiered Release Plan:
- Within15 days of the Executive Order (February 7, 2025), a plan must be presented for releasing JFK-related
- Within45 days of the Executive Order (March 9, 2025), a similar plan must be presented for releasing RFK and MLK documents.
- The Legal Backbone—JFK Records Act of 1992:
Under the law, assassination-related records had to be released by October 26, 2017, unless the President certified a “demonstrable harm” to national security, defense, or foreign relations. Successive administrations used these exemptions to keep files sealed—until now. - Persistent Concern Over Redactions:
While the Order proclaims full disclosure is “long overdue,”past redactions from 2017 and 2018 remain, and the new review period may allow additional redactions to creep in—again, subject to presidential approval.
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 explicitly states that all records “shall be publicly disclosed in full” unless the President certifies that continued postponement is necessary for national security or foreign relations.
“The identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure.”
— President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, Section 5(g)(2)(D)
From 2017 to 2018, President Trump accepted proposed redactions from agencies, but he also directed a continued re-evaluation of those redactions. Then, President Biden issued subsequent certifications in 2021, 2022, and 2023, effectively allowing more time for agencies to keep certain information sealed. With the January 23, 2025 Executive Order, Trump now claims that withholding these documents is “not consistent with the public interest” and that “the release of these records is long overdue.”
Despite that strong language, the Executive Order also greenlights a 15-day and 45-day review cycle, which some worry could result in agencies seeking additional redactions. After all, the White House has historically yielded to agencies’ national security arguments, demonstrating that “full disclosure” can become a game of push-and-pull between public transparency and bureaucratic caution.
This is where the story grows more complex—and, for many, more controversial. Over the years, an array of theories have circulated as to why the government would keep these documents hidden. Some of the more provocative ones include:
