Summary: The release of some of the JFK Assassination files has been postponed for 180 days.
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in broad daylight in Dallas. Years later, Congress passed a law stating that in 25 years the investigation’s files would be released to the public.
Flash forward to today, which is the deadline for the file’s release, and so far, it appears that there is a delay. U.S. Intelligence officials told NBC News that President Donald Trump was supposed to sign off on what records would be released and redacted, but he has yet to be given a memo.
“There’s a mad scramble going on in the executive branch to get this done,” an official said to NBC News.
The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act mandated that all JFK-assassination records must be housed in one place and is to be released to the public in 2017. There are approximately 35,000 documents in the collection, and The National Archives needs Trump’s approval before it can release the material. Agencies such as the CIA were supposed to submit the notes on what should be redacted and released. According to CNN, the CIA has submitted its recommendation but other agencies are late.
On Thursday, the White House said they will release 2,800 documents, and the other records will be released in 180 days, according to CBS News. The delay was made after agencies who had yet to submit their recommendations asked for more time.
The release of the JFK files is highly anticipated for those who don’t believe the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald shot the president. The assassination has sparked five decades of conspiracy theories, and it inspired the Oliver Stone movie JFK, which led people to believe that the president was actually killed by multiple members of the government.
The National Archives said that what they are releasing is mostly already available to the public, thus seemingly squashing any new revelations.
Clint Hill, the Secret Service Agent who had used his body to shield JFK and his wife Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy after the shots were first fired, told MSNBC that he hoped the release of the records would help people piece together a motive.
“I’m hoping that within that material — and there’s lots of it — there will be some indication as to the motive, the reason why he did what he did,” Hill said.
The documents that were originally scheduled to be released on Thursday were approved by the Assassination Records Review Board, an organization that was formed two years ago and has already released the bulk of the paperwork.
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