Trump releases JFK assassination documents

One document released from January 1962 reveals details of a top secret project called “Operation Mongoose”, or “the Cuban Project,” which was a CIA-led campaign of covert operations and sabotage against Cuba authorised by Kennedy in 1961 and aimed at removing the Castro regime.

Trump signed an order shortly after taking office related to the release of the documents, prompting the FBI to find thousands of new documents related to Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas.

In the scramble to comply with Trump’s order, the justice department ordered some of its lawyers who handle sensitive national security matters to urgently review records from the assassination, according to a Monday night email seen by Reuters.

“President Trump is ushering in a new era of maximum transparency,” director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a post on X.

Alice L George, a historian whose books including The Assassination of John F Kennedy explore modern America, said American’s curiosity about assassinations and questions about government transparency add “to a sense there must be important evidence hidden away in the files”.

However, she said government records were unlikely to resolve questions people continue to have.

“I think there may be more record releases,” she said.

“I seriously doubt any will include great revelations. The Warren Commission report was done well, but it was done when many key players were alive. It’s much harder to find the truth when most people involved are dead.”

Kennedy’s murder has been attributed to a sole gunman, Oswald. The justice department and other federal government bodies have reaffirmed that conclusion in the intervening decades. However, polls show many Americans continue to believe his death was the result of a conspiracy.

Trump has also promised to release documents on the assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jnr and senator Robert Kennedy in 1968.

Trump has allowed more time to come up with a plan for the releases.

Reuters