JFK documents released but Trump delays hundreds more

Last updated: October 27, 2017 at 10:06 am

The US National Archives has released a cache of records on the assassination of President John F Kennedy.

But President Donald Trumphas blocked the release of hundreds of others, bending to CIA and FBI appeals.

"I have no choice," Trump said in a memo, citing "potentially irreversible harm" to national security if he were to allow all records to come out now.

He placed those files under a six-month review while letting 2,800 others come out, racing a deadline to honour a law mandating their release.

The documents approved for release capture the frantic days after the assassination on 22 November 1983.

This period saw federal agents madly chase after tips, however thin, juggle rumours and sift through leads worldwide.

They include cables, notes and reports stamped "Secret" that reveal the suspicions of the era - around Cubans and Communists.

They cast a wide net over varied activities of the Kennedy administration, such as its covert efforts to upend Fidel Castro's government in Cuba.

Unprepared?

For historians, it's a chance to answer lingering questions, put some unfounded conspiracy theories to rest, perhaps give life to other theories.

Despite having months to prepare for disclosures that have been set on the calendar for 25 years, Trump's decision came down to a last-minute debate with intelligence agencies - a tussle the president then prolonged by calling for still more review.

The delay sparked a round of finger-pointing among agencies and complaints that Trump should have released all records.

Roger Stone, an occasional Trump adviser who wrote a book about his theories on the assassination, urged Trump to review personally any material that government agencies still want to withhold.

Trump should at least "spot check" any extensive redactions to make sure agencies are not "dabbling in acts of criminal insubordination," Stone said in a statement.

Among the files is a more than 400-page document that appeared to describe people being monitored as potential threats to Kennedy and his successor, Lyndon B Johnson.