FBI uncovers thousands of undisclosed records connected to JFK’s assassination
The FBI has uncovered thousands of records connected to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy as a result of President Donald Trump’s executive order to release the files.
Axios first reported that the FBI released 2,400 records tied to the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of Kennedy, which were not provided to the board that reviewed and disclosed the files.
When the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) submitted its plan to release the JFK files, it reportedly disclosed the existence of the records.
Fox News has confirmed with a person familiar with the records that the files were uncovered during the review.
DEADLINE LOOMS FOR RELEASE OF JFK ASSASSINATION FILES
Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at declassifying government documents on the assassinations of President JFK, his brother and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. (Associated Press)
“In 2020, the FBI opened the Central Records Complex and began a multi-year effort to first ship and then electronically inventory and store closed case files from FBI field offices across the country,” the FBI told Fox News. “The resulting, more comprehensive records inventory, coupled with the technologic advances in automating the FBI’s record keeping processes, allows us to more quickly search and locate records.
“The FBI conducted a new records search pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order issued on January 23, 2025, regarding the declassification of the assassination files of JFK, RFK, and MLK. The search resulted in approximately 2400 newly inventoried and digitized records that were previously unrecognized as related to the JFK assassination case file,” the agency added. “The FBI has made the appropriate notifications of the newly discovered documents and is working to transfer them to the National Archives and Records Administration for inclusion in the ongoing declassification process.”
Last month, Trump signed an executive order to declassify files on the assassinations of Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr.
TRUMP SIGNS ORDER TO DECLASSIFY FILES ON JFK, RFK AND MLK ASSASSINATIONS
President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy and their motorcade in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Minutes later, the president was assassinated as his car passed through Dealey Plaza. (Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images)
“Everything will be revealed,” Trump told reporters as he signed the order in the Oval Office.
The executive order came after Trump had previously promised on the campaign trail to declassify the documents upon entering his second term, saying at the time, “When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination-related documents. It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the truth.”
Trump had initially promised to release the last batch of documents during his first term, but such efforts ultimately dissipated. Trump then blocked the release of hundreds of records on the assassination following several CIA and FBI appeals.
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“I have no choice,” Trump said in a memo, where he cited “potentially irreversible harm” to national security if he allowed the records to be released. Trump said at the time the potential harm to U.S. national security, law enforcement or foreign affairs is “of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure.”
Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
