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President Trump has signed an executive order to declassify and release the remaining assassination files related to JFK, RFK, and MLK Jr. While this move is unlikely to satisfy conspiracy theorists, it could reveal troubling details about the failures of the CIA, Secret Service, and FBI.
Unsealing these records—spanning the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the 1968 assassination of his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and the killing of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.—may shed light on some of the most devastating moments in 20th-century American history.
JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, criticized Trump’s decision, accusing him of “using JFK as a political prop.” However, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offered praise, calling it “a great move because they need to have more transparency in our government, and he’s keeping his promise to have the government tell the truth to the American people about everything.”
Despite RFK Jr.’s long-standing suspicion that the CIA was involved in the murders of his father and uncle, the release may ultimately embarrass federal agencies like the FBI, CIA, or Secret Service rather than confirm conspiracy theories. Notably, the files could reveal the extent to which J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI used illegal surveillance of Dr. King to compile damaging personal information.
Understandably, the King family has requested the opportunity to review the files before their public release. This seems like a reasonable request that should be honored.
During his first term, Trump delayed the release of these files, citing national security concerns. However, it is hard to believe that information from over half a century ago could pose such risks today. Furthermore, most individuals directly involved—and even the Soviet Union, once implicated in JFK conspiracy theories—are long gone.
It may take weeks before Trump receives a plan for the files’ release, and months before the public can access them. But the time for secrecy has passed. More than 50 years is long enough.
