President Donald Trump signed an executive order to declassify and release the remaining assassination records on President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert Kennedy, and civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Trump told reporters that “everything will be revealed” following the signing of the executive order, according to reporting by Associated Press. However, a large portion of the JFK-related documents have already been released, many with heavily redacted pages.
CNN reported that the RFK and MLK files would be released in 45 days.
Trump made a campaign promise to declassify the remaining documents, which he failed to do during his first term on recommendation from the CIA and FBI.
The King Center in Atlanta released a statement from the family via social media on the release of the documents.
“We hope to be provided the opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release,” the statement said in part.
President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 while visiting Dallas, TX. The mystery and conspiracy theories surrounding his murder continue to swirl after more than 60 years.
King was shot on a hotel balcony in Memphis, TN in April 1968 while in town to support striking sanitation workers. Sen. Kennedy was assassinated two months later during a campaign speech in a Los Angeles, CA hotel ballroom.
James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to assassination of King, but later though renounced his guilt. Conspiracy theories continue to circulate, especially after documents released since King’s murder show he was the target of FBI wiretapping, bugging, and collected information from informants.
