What could be in the long-secret JFK documents?
BOSTON — For decades, the existence of secret government files linked to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination has helped fuel conspiracy theories that others besides Lee Harvey Oswald were involved in his murder. Now the public is going to get a deeper look at the collection.
The government is required by Thursday to release the final batch of files related to Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, Tex., on Nov. 22, 1963. Experts say the publication of the last trove of evidence could help allay suspicions of a conspiracy — at least for some.
“As long as the government is withholding documents like these, it’s going to fuel suspicion that there is a smoking gun out there about the Kennedy assassination,” said Patrick Maney, a presidential historian at Boston College.
Here’s a look at what to expect from the files:
HOW MANY FILES ARE THERE AND HOW CAN I SEE THEM? The collection includes more than 3,100 documents — comprising hundreds of thousands of pages — that have never been seen by the public. About 30,000 documents were released previously with redactions. The National Archives is planning to post the files on its website.
WILL ALL OF THEM BE RELEASED? It’s unclear exactly how many files will be released. President Donald Trump is the only person who can stop any of the documents from becoming public. Trump pledged in a tweet on Saturday that — “subject to the receipt of further information” — he will allow the “long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened.”
WHY ARE THEY BECOMING PUBLIC NOW? President George H.W. Bush signed a law on Oct. 26, 1992, requiring that all documents related to the assassination be released within 25 years, unless the president says doing so would harm intelligence, law enforcement, military operations or foreign relations.
WILL THERE BE ANY BOMBSHELLS? The chances are slim, according to the judge who led the independent board that reviewed and released thousands of the assassination documents in the 1990s. The files that were withheld in full were those the Assassination Records Review Board deemed “not believed relevant,” Judge John Tunheim of Minnesota told The Associated Press. But Tunheim said it’s possible the files contain information the board didn’t realize was important two decades ago.
WHAT WILL THE FILES SHOW? Some of the documents are related to Oswald’s mysterious six-day trip to Mexico City right before the assassination, scholars say. Oswald said he was visiting the Cuban and Soviet Union embassies there to get visas, but much about his time there remains unknown.
The to-be-released documents contain details about the arrangements the U.S. entered into with the Mexican government that allowed it to have close surveillance of those and other embassies, Tunheim said.