More classified documents related to JFK assassination released

The Biden administration released a set of secret documents on Wednesday related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which it postponed earlier this year due to COVID. 

The trove of almost 1,500 pages is another small step in the prolonged battle between the public and the federal government for transparency into the tragic crime, with over 10,000 pages either partially redacted or withheld.  

Longtime researchers agree the small trove is unlikely to contain anything that will substantially change the public understanding of JFK’s assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald, the lone assassin according to the official conclusion of the Warren Commission, which investigated the incident. Polls have shown, however, that most Americans do not believe that only one person, acting alone, was responsible for the killing.

The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 mandated the collection of all government records relating to the JFK assassination and their release in full to the public by October 2017. The bill was passed in part due to the controversy around Oliver Stone’s film JFK, which portrayed the assassination as a conspiracy involving the FBI, CIA and U.S. military.

Tens of thousands of pages were released under then-President Donald Trump, but both he and President Biden have allowed multiple postponements on the advice of intelligence agencies.

Scholars, transparency advocates and lawmakers have been frustrated by this piecemeal approach. Larry Schnapf, a lawyer and assassination researcher, announced Tuesday night that he planned to sue the Biden administration for not releasing the records in full. 

However, there are concerns the withheld documents involve Cold War spy activities. Former CIA officer David Priess, the author of "The President's Book of Secrets," told CNN that it is possible a CIA source from that era is still alive, so the government had to balance the risk of disclosure against the historical and public interest.

Previously released documents have detailed government plots against Fidel Castro, including a heavily redacted file about a CIA plot to kill him and an “engineered provocation” by the Pentagon that could be used as a pretext to topple him.

Kennedy’s administration was marked by high tensions with communist countries during the Cold War, including the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

The final release of JFK documents is scheduled to be December 15, 2022, barring any postponements.