Pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, it is ordered that:
Section 1. Policy and Purpose. More than 50 years after the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the federal government has not released all of its documents relating to those events. Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth. It is in the national interest to immediately make public all documents relating to these assassinations.
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 required that all documents related to the assassination of President Kennedy be made public in their entirety by October 26, 2017, unless the President certifies that: (i) a continued postponement is necessitated by an identifiable harm to military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement or the conduct of foreign relations; and (ii) the identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure. President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, section 5(g)(2)(D), Public Law 102-526, 106 Stat. 3443, 3448-49, codified in 44 USC 2107.
I previously accepted proposals to abolish executive departments and agencies (agencies) in 2017 and 2018, but have ordered the continued reevaluation of the remaining eliminations. See Temporary Certification of Certain Documents Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 82 Fed. Reg. 50 307-08 (October 31, 2017); Certification of Certain Documents Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 83 Fed. Reg. 19, 157-58 (April 26, 2018). In the Presidential Memorandum of April 26, 2018, I also directed the agencies to review each of these deletions over the next three years and to disclose information that no longer warrants continued retention in accordance with the standard set forth in the Section 5(g)(2). (D) President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992.
President Biden issued subsequent certifications regarding these records in 2021, 2022, and 2023, which gave agencies additional time to review the records and withhold the information from public disclosure. See Temporary Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Documents Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 86 Fed. Reg. 59,599 (October 22, 2021); Certifications Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Documents Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 87 Fed. Reg. 77,967 (December 15, 2022); Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Documents Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 88 Fed. Reg. 43,247 (June 30, 2023).
I have now determined that the continued suppression and withholding of information in the files relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not in the public interest and that the release of these documents is long overdue . And although no act of Congress directs the release of information relating to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have determined that the release of all documents in the possession of the Government federal government relating to each of these assassinations is also in the public interest.
Second. 2. Declassification and disclosure. (a) Within 15 days after the date of this order, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Advisor to the President, presents a plan to the President for the full and complete release of records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
(b) Within 45 days after the date of this order, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Advisor to the President, review records relating to to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and present a plan to the President for the full and complete release of these documents.
Second. 3. General provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed as impairing or otherwise affecting:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or to its head; Or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative or legislative proposals.
(b) This Order will be implemented in accordance with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies or entities, its officers, employees. , or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 23, 2025.
