Newly released secret records are full of intriguing details surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the release of 2,800 classified Kennedy assassination records but held back other “sensitive” documents under pressure from the CIA and FBI. That last-minute decision left many Kennedy historians frustrated — and provided more fuel for the thriving conspiracy industry around the shooting of the charismatic 46-year-old president in Dallas, Texas. While the records released on October 26, 2017 by the National Archives contain reams of new information it will be months before the rest of the files are seen — if ever.
Mr. Trump gave the CIA, FBI and other agencies six months — until April 26, 2018 — to make their case for why the remaining documents should not be made public. In a tweet on October 27, 2017, the President said that he would “be releasing ALL JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living”.
Cuban and Russian spies, false leads, strippers, bizarre CIA murder plots and a furious FBI director. Newly released secret records are full of intriguing details surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Photo shows Kennedy, First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally ride in a limousine moments before Kennedy was assassinated, in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
The public is getting a look at thousands of secret government files related to President John F. Kennedy's assassination, but hundreds of other documents will remain under wraps for now.
The Warren Commission, which investigated John F. Kennedy’s murder, determined that Lee Harvey Oswald — a former Marine Corps sharpshooter — acted alone but that conclusion has failed to quell years of speculation that others were involved. Photo shows Oswald, surrounded by detectives, talking to the media as he is led down a corridor of the Dallas police station for questioning in connection with the assassination of the President.
According to the new JFK assassination files released on October 26, 2017, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover expressed his anger with the “inexcusable” failure of Dallas Police to protect Lee Harvey Oswald despite repeated FBI warnings that his life was at risk. Photo shows Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby in the underground garage of the Dallas police headquarters on November 24, 1963.
Everyone has their theories, including even President Lyndon B. Johnson. According to one document released on October 26, 2017, Johnson believed John F. Kennedy was behind the assassination of the South Vietnamese President and that Kennedy’s murder was payback, the newly released documents say. Photo shows Vice-President Johnson taking oath of office as Kennedy's widow Jacqueline Kennedy stands at his side aboard Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas just two hours after Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
The former Soviet Union’s intelligence agency KGB allegedly claimed it had information tying Lyndon Johnson to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The allegation was contained in long-secret files released on October 26, 2017. This March 16, 1961 photo shows Kennedy in his office during a meeting with Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara and Vice-President Johnson at the White House.