Trump says he’ll allow release of JFK assassination files

Twitter post

By Sarah D. Wire

Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said Saturday that he plans to allow the release of classified files related to the November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Trump, in a Twitter post, didn’t specify whether the president intends to allow all, or just some, of the information to become public, and he stipulated that the decision is “subject to the receipt of further information.”

In an effort to control conspiracy theories, Congress passed the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act in 1992 to hold the files from public release for 25 years. Trump has until Thursday to block the files’ release. Otherwise they are scheduled to be made public by the National Archives.

Several media outlets had reported in recent days that White House officials expected the president to block the release of thousands of classified files as security agencies voiced concerns that sensitive documents could be included if the full trove of more than 3,000 files is released.