In a recent interview with the Messenger, former President Donald Trump made a bold promise that if elected to a second term, he would release the remaining classified files pertaining to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Donald Trump Announces He Will Release ALL of the JFK Assassination Files if Re-Elected President https://t.co/tQnkHsNVxX
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 15, 2023
Trump acknowledged he had held back approximately 2,800 records in 2017, citing concerns expressed by the intelligence community as the reason behind this decision.
He expressed his agreement with the recommendation made by the Archivist that certain withholdings were necessary to safeguard national security, law enforcement, and foreign affairs.
As per Trump’s directive, agencies were expected to disclose any information that no longer warranted continued withholding by the end of the review period. The 1992 Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act had initially set 2017 as the deadline for the release of all classified material related to the assassination.
However, provisions were made for delays if the government had concerns that potential harm to the intelligence or military communities outweighed the public’s interest in disclosure.
During the interview, Trump emphasized that he had already released a significant amount of material and pledged to unveil the remaining portion early in his second term.
The former president’s decision to withhold certain documents had found support from former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Pompeo defended the Trump administration’s stance, noting that the relevance of the material extended beyond events that occurred six decades ago.
Pompeo, in an interview earlier this year with John Stossel, stated, “If Congress holds a hearing tomorrow on the Kennedy assassinations, the documents generated tomorrow will be part of those files.”
President Joe Biden’s administration has made efforts to release additional documents, with over 12,000 being made available to the public in 2021 and 2022. Nevertheless, estimations suggest that there may still be thousands of files awaiting disclosure.
As the issue of the remaining JFK files continues to captivate public attention, the promise made by former President Trump to release them in a potential second term raises intriguing possibilities. Finding a balance between national security concerns and the public’s right to information persists, leaving many eager to witness the outcome of this ongoing saga.
