The sudden release of thousands of documents tied to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy caught many off guard. This move was announced by a former president during a visit to the Kennedy Center, leaving national security teams scrambling to prepare. The decision to make these files public was not new; it had been in the works since January, but the timing and execution surprised many.

    The files, totaling around 80, 000 pages, were supposed to be released with a 24-hour notice. By the next evening, about 64, 000 files were made available, which was less than initially stated. This rush job put national security officials under immense pressure to review the documents quickly. The director of the Central Intelligence Agency had been warning about the contents of these files, emphasizing that some had nothing to do with Kennedy and were created much later.

    The National Security Council had to quickly figure out which documents still needed to be unredacted. This process involved coordinating with the National Archives and Records Administration. Concerns were raised about the potential risks of releasing sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers of living individuals. The number of files had grown over the years as new investigations added more documents, some of which were unrelated to Kennedy.

    The release of these files was seen as a fulfillment of a promise made by the former president. He had previously released some documents but gave intelligence agencies more time to review and redact sensitive information. The push to release all the files came from various sources, including a former Fox News personality and a long-time political adviser. The assassination of Kennedy has long been a topic of conspiracy theories, and the release of these files was seen as a way to address some of those theories.

    The former president had initially shown little interest in the files but later changed his stance, possibly due to political pressure. He had even made allegations related to the Kennedy assassination during his presidential campaign. The release of these files was also seen as a tribute to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , whose father was also assassinated. The former president had promised to set up an independent commission to study assassination attempts, including one on himself.

Unveiling the Past: A Rush to Release JFK Files

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