Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has announced the public release of previously classified records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy (JFK), Senator Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), fulfilling a longstanding campaign promise by President Donald Trump to maximise transparency regarding these historic events.

The release is part of a broader initiative, formalised through Executive Order 14176, aimed at rebuilding public trust in the Intelligence Community and federal agencies by making available all records in the government’s possession concerning these assassinations.

On April 18, 2025, Gabbard’s office released over 10,000 pages of files specifically related to the RFK assassination, with additional files on MLK and further JFK materials scheduled for release in the coming weeks.

The newly available RFK files, which had been stored at the National Archives for decades, were digitised and published online with minimal redactions, limited to sensitive personal information such as Social Security and Tax Identification numbers.

This marks the first time the public has had access to the federal government’s full investigative records on RFK’s assassination, which occurred on June 5, 1968, during his presidential campaign.

The declassification effort is being led by the Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG), a task force established by Gabbard to oversee the scanning, digitisation, and review of tens of thousands of pages from FBI and CIA files.

More than 100 staff members have been working intensively to process these documents, which had previously never been scanned or made public. Gabbard has indicated that while the newly released files do not contain definitive evidence supporting conspiracy theories, they do raise further questions and provide a more comprehensive picture of the events and investigations surrounding the assassinations.

The release of JFK records is also significant, with approximately 80,000 pages of previously classified documents now available to the public, many without redactions.

These records detail the events of November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, and the subsequent investigation into Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. The National Archives has made these documents accessible both online and in person, as part of the administration’s commitment to transparency.

In her statement, Gabbard emphasised that this unprecedented release of assassination records is intended to fulfil President Trump’s promise of maximum transparency and to allow the American people to independently review the historical record.

The initiative has been welcomed by members of the Kennedy family and is seen as a major step toward resolving longstanding public questions about these pivotal moments in American history.

ANI