Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Published

January 31, 2025

Signed

January 23, 2025

Issuing agencies

Executive Office of the President

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 20 (Friday, January 31, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 20 (Friday, January 31, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 8641-8642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02116]

Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 20 / Friday, January 31, 2025 /
Presidential Documents

[[Page 8641]]

Executive Order 14176 of January 23, 2025

Declassification of Records Concerning the
Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator
Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Policy and Purpose. More than 50 years after
the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy,
Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., the Federal Government has not
released to the public all of its records related to
those events. Their families and the American people
deserve transparency and truth. It is in the national
interest to finally release all records related to
these assassinations without delay.

The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records
Collection Act of 1992 required all records related to
the assassination of President Kennedy to be publicly
disclosed in full by October 26, 2017, unless the
President certifies that: (i) continued postponement is
made necessary by an identifiable harm to the military
defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or
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 at 44 U.S.C. 2107 note.

I previously accepted proposed redactions from
executive departments and agencies (agencies) in 2017
and 2018, but ordered the continued re-evaluation of
those remaining redactions. See Temporary Certification
for Certain Records Related to the Assassination of
President John F. Kennedy, 82 FR 50,307-08 (Oct. 31,
2017); Certification for Certain Records Related to the
Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 83 FR 19,
157-58 (Apr. 26, 2018). In the Presidential Memorandum
of April 26, 2018, I also ordered agencies to re-review
each of those redactions over the next 3 years and
disclose information that no longer warrants continued
withholding under the standard set forth in section
5(g)(2)(D) of the President John F. Kennedy
Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992.

President Biden issued subsequent certifications with
respect to these records in 2021, 2022, and 2023, which
gave agencies additional time to review the records and
withhold information from public disclosure. See
Temporary Certification Regarding Disclosure of
Information in Certain Records Related to the
Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 86 FR
59,599 (Oct. 22, 2021); Certifications Regarding
Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to
the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 87 FR
77,967 (Dec. 15, 2022); Certification Regarding
Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to
the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 88 FR
43,247 (June 30, 2023).

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. And although no Act of
Congress directs the release of information pertaining
to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and
the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have
determined

[[Page 8642]]

that the release of all records in the Federal
Government's possession pertaining to each of those
assassinations is also in the public interest.

Sec. 2. Declassification and Disclosure. (a) Within 15
days of 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 Counsel to the
President, present 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 of 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
Counsel to the President, review records related to the
assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and present a
plan to the President for the full and complete release
of these records.

Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent 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.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>

(Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

January 23, 2025.

[FR Doc. 2025-02116
Filed 1-30-25; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P

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