President Donald Trump signed an executive order to declassify and release previously hidden files related to the infamous assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
“Everything will be revealed,” said Trump, 78, in the Oval Office as he finalized the order. The directive calls for the disclosure of these long-withheld records, which have fueled decades of speculation and conspiracy theories surrounding the deaths of the three prominent figures.
The executive order describes the release of these records as “overdue” and tasks the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence with swiftly organizing the disclosure process. Officials have been given 15 days to devise a plan for the full release of records pertaining to the JFK assassination and 45 days for the RFK and MLK cases.
President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas in November 1963, and Lee Harvey Oswald was identified as the primary suspect. However, Oswald was himself killed two days later by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, which only deepened suspicions of a larger conspiracy.
Oswald, a former Marine, defected to the Soviet Union four years before the assassination but later returned to the U.S. Weeks before Kennedy’s death, Oswald visited the Cuban Consulate and Soviet Embassy in Mexico City, reportedly to obtain travel visas. He later wrote to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, lamenting his inability to reach the Soviet Embassy in Havana, which he claimed would have resolved certain matters.
A CIA document released after a previous 2017 order by Trump suggests that Oswald might have been preparing for a quick escape after the assassination, though his initial plans appeared focused on relocating to the Soviet Union. Ruby’s documented ties to organized crime have further fueled conspiracy theories about the JFK assassination.
In June 1968, New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian Christian, shortly after winning the California Democratic primary. Sirhan’s legal defense at one point alleged he had been framed. Trump has since nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services, even giving him the pen used to sign the executive order.
Kennedy Jr. has voiced controversial views, claiming that the CIA was involved in the assassinations of both his father and uncle. He has also argued in favor of granting parole to Sirhan, a stance that contrasts with his siblings’ opinions.
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968 by James Earl Ray. The FBI, which had a contentious history with King, had reportedly attempted to discredit him during his lifetime, including sending an infamous 1964 letter urging him to take his own life.
According to an FBI analysis dated just weeks before King’s murder, Communist influences were allegedly present in his inner circle, with several of his former associates being linked to the Communist Party. The report also suggested that King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were ideal vehicles for advancing Communist objectives in the U.S.
“The document also said that in the early 1960s, the Communist Party was trying to get a black labor coalition to further its goals in the United States, and argued that King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference were “made to order” for the purpose” according to The New York Post.
Additionally, the report included criticisms of King’s personal behavior, accusing him of secretive misconduct and alleging inappropriate activities at a ministerial workshop he hosted in 1968. Despite these allegations, King remained a celebrated leader for his unwavering commitment to racial equality and justice.