National Archives
Thousands of files related to JFK’s assassination were sealed by the National Archives and scheduled to be released within six months. President Donald Trump had an opportunity to block the release, Politico reported, but it looks like he didn’t. In fact, the National Archives has started releasing those documents today.
According to the National Archives’ JFK page, the following has been released:
This release consists of 3,810 documents, including 441 formerly withheld-in-full documents and 3,369 documents formerly released with portions redacted. The documents originate from FBI and CIA series identified by the Assassination Records Review Board as assassination records. More releases will follow.
This isn’t everything that needs to be released, but more will be coming at an undisclosed time. The National Archives also states:
The National Archives and Records Administration is releasing documents previously withheld in accordance with the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act. The vast majority of the Collection (88%) has been open in full and released to the public since the late 1990s. The records at issue are documents previously identified as assassination records, but withheld in full or withheld in part.
To view the files, visit the National Archives here. The documents released so far are labeled “July 2017 Release — Formerly Withheld in Full” and are Parts 9 of 9. To view them, you’ll need decompression software, software to read PDF files, software to listen to WAV files, and software to view spreadsheets.
3,370 PDF documents were “formerly released in part.” The next nine parts are “formerly withheld” documents.
Note: The National Archives’ servers appear slammed right now, so if you’re noticing that downloads are taking a long time, that’s normal.
This is a developing story.