Secrets hidden for 180 days as Trump bungles
WHITE House bungling led to hundreds of JFK assassination documents being delayed for 180 days before they can be released.
Donald Trump had boasted about their release, appearing to take credit for them being made public.
The US National Archives department needed the official approval of the President to begin releasing the 35,000 documents.
They were bound by a deadline set by Congress 25 years ago in the John F Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act.
But memos detailing which material the CIA, State Department and other agencies wanted to be kept secret had not made it to the Oval Office for Trump’s signature.
These documents are now subject to the six-month review in order to determine whether they should be released or held back in the interest of national security.
According to the Mirror’s White House sources, the delay was due to a failure in the Oval Office to understand the President’s full responsibilities and a failure to get copies of the intelligence agencies’ requests for postponement.
The delay caused a huge backlash among scholars and researchers, while President Trump insisted: “I had no choice.”
But Trump’s administration was attacked over the mistake.
Virginia University historian Larry Sabato said: “Government has had 25 years – with a known end-date – to prepare JFK files for release. Deadline is here. Chaos.”