President Trump ordered the nation’s security agencies on Thursday to develop plans to release all government records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. Trump made a similar vow to disclose remaining documents related to the killing of President Kennedy during his first term, but he ultimately agreed to some redactions at the behest of intelligence agencies to protect sensitive information like the names of C.I.A. assets, intelligence gathering methods and partnerships.
Since returning to office, Mr. Trump has said he no longer considers such redactions to be valid and wants everything related to the president’s assassination to be released. He also ordered agencies to develop plans to release papers related to the killings of Senator Kennedy and Dr. King, which were not covered by a previous disclosure law focused on President Kennedy.
“I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue,” Mr. Trump said in an executive order. He added that “I have determined that the release of all records” related to the deaths of Senator Kennedy and Dr. King “is also in the public interest.”
Mr. Trump has long indulged in conspiracy theories about the killing of President Kennedy in November 1963, even alleging that the father of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, one of his Republican primary rivals in 2016, had associated with the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Testimony at Mr. Trump’s hush money trial last year revealed how the National Enquirer, which was helping Mr. Trump at the time, had manufactured that allegation using doctored photos to smear Mr. Cruz.
Mr. Trump now has an adviser in Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who likewise subscribes to conspiracy theories about the killing of the president, his uncle, in Dallas. Mr. Kennedy, who endorsed Mr. Trump last year and has now been nominated for health secretary, has said that “there’s overwhelming evidence that the C.I.A. was involved in his murder” and “it’s beyond a reasonable doubt at this point.”
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