Recently, United States President Donald Trump tweeted that he will not be barring the release of the JFK files to the public. The secret files are set to be released on October 26, and only the President of the United States stands between the truth about Kennedy’s assassination and the public.
So far, the JFK files have been barred from release by the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act, which Congress passed in 1992, according to Politico . The law was enacted due to the reactions of critics, politicians, and historians to Oliver Stone’s 1991 film, JFK . The movie covered President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and showed a controversial perspective on who killed the former head of state.
According to Rolling Stone , JFK depicted that Lee Harvey Oswald, who was charged with the assassination of JFK, did not work alone . Many politicians and historians vigorously disagreed with the Stone’s interpretation of the president’s assassination, stated Variety .
“I didn’t realize it would hit the central nerve core of the establishment… And it did take its toll. I think it’s changed the perception of me forever. Many now dismiss me as a filmmaker who is political and only into conspiracy theories. It labeled me, and I was staggered. I wish, in a way, it had just died off.”
The U.S. government seemed to try to quell the negative reactions to Stone’s movie by passing The JFK Assassination Records Collection Act. The law allowed some private documents about Kennedy’s assassination available to the general public and promised to release the whole file later. All the documents will be released to the public on October 26, 2017, 25 years after the law was originally passed.
https://twitter.com/TrumpTrain45Pac/status/921740414444453888
The National Archive is ready to release the JFK files on the set date. The only person standing in its way is Trump who—as President of the United States—has the power to block the files’ release as stipulated by the law.
Trump tweeted that he does plan to release the files, as long as no new information leads him to believe that the JFK files should be blocked. According to CNN , Trump has the power to bar the JFK files from being released if the information in the documents is deemed harmful to national security and relations with other countries.
Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2017
So far, some government agencies have tried to convince the President to block the release of the documents , according to an official from the National Security Council, reported the Washington Post . The NSC official declined to state which agencies were pushing to keep the JFK files out of the public’s hands and wished to remain anonymous.
“There will be a request made to the President to withhold documents, absolutely no question about that. There are definitely files related to sources and methods that agencies are asking to withhold,” said the NSC official, according to the Post .
However, Trump seems adamant about releasing the documents to the public, and the truth about Kennedy’s assassination may be found in the midst of all the new information.
[Featured Image by Associated Press/AP Images]
