Thousands of New Top Secret Files Released on the Assassination of JFK

The Biden administration released thousands of classified documents related to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination nearly 60 years ago.

The release of 13,173 documents is the government’s largest disclosure of records about the Kennedy assassination since 2018.

The records, posted online by the National Archives and Records Administration, add to tens of thousands of others released over the years. The National Archives said more than 97% of the records in its collection are now publicly accessible.

Investigators amassed five million pages of records related to the murder. Federal authorities have concealed a portion of them for decades over concerns they contained sensitive information.

JFK Assassination Records Released

Mr. Kennedy’s assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas in 1963 remains one of the most scrutinized moments in presidential history. For nearly six decades, conspiracy theorists have spun rumors that Oswald had accomplices even though federal investigators reported he had acted alone. Historians have wondered what happened in the moments leading up to the assassination— and many hoped the still-concealed documents could help unravel some of the mystery.

Congress passed a law in 1992 requiring the government to release all records related to the assassination within 25 years, unless the president determines the information would undermine intelligence, law enforcement, military operations or foreign policy.

The Biden administration said last year it wouldn’t release all remaining records as planned due to delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The White House said the agencies needed more time to determine what redacted information they could release.

Since then, they examined nearly 16,000 records that had previously been released with redactions. The Biden administration said in a memorandum Thursday that about 70% of those records could be released in their entirety.

The president blocked the release of some records until June 30, 2023, citing potential harm to national security.

A CIA spokesman said the little information that remains redacted in agency records within the collection consists of intelligence sources and methods—including some from as late as the 1990s.

Thanks to Jennifer Calfas and Suryatapa Bhattacharya