RFK Jr. petitions Biden to release final JFK assassination records

Longshot presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is petitioning President Biden to release the final government records about the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy on the 60th anniversary of his death.

“The 1992 Kennedy Records Assassination Act mandated the release of all records related to the JFK assassination by 2017. Trump refused to do it. Biden refused to do it. What is so embarrassing that they’re afraid to show the American public 60 years later?” a petition posted to the independent candidate’s website reads.

“Trust in government is at an all-time low. Releasing the full, unredacted historical records will help to restore that trust. In the spirit of transparency, in the spirit of democracy, we, the undersigned, call upon President Biden to obey the 1992 act and release the Kennedy assassination documents to the public.”

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is petitioning President Biden to release final records about the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy on the 60th anniversary of his death.AP
“What is so embarrassing that they’re afraid to show the American public 60 years later?” a petition posted to the independent candidate’s website reads.AP

The petition has received more than 20,000 signatures since Monday.

Kennedy — RFK Jr.’s uncle — was shot and killed on Nov. 22, 1963, as he rode in a motorcade through downtown Dallas alongside his wife, Jacqueline, then-Texas Gov. John Connally and Connally’s wife Nellie.

Prime suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed two days later by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, an event broadcast on live television.

The petition has received more than 20,000 signatures since Monday.Team Kennedy

The following year, the Warren Commission convened by President Lyndon Johnson concluded that Oswald had acted alone in killing Kennedy, a conclusion that has been subject to scrutiny and skepticism ever since.

A November Gallup poll found 65% of Americans believe JFK’s assassination had “others [who] were involved in a conspiracy” and was not the work of “one man.”

Former President Donald Trump pledged to release all of the JFK assassination files but made roughly 53,000 available before postponing the release of the remaining documents due to “identifiable national security, law enforcement, and foreign affairs concerns.”

Nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, two days later in the basement of a Dallas police station, a murder that was broadcast on live television.AP
On Nov. 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald fired on the presidential motorcade from the 6th floor of the Texas School Book depository in downtown Dallas, killing Kennedy.AP

Biden, 81, also delayed the public release of the records in the first few months of his administration, as the National Archives and Records Administration cited the need for additional research time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Archives eventually released more than 13,000 documents related to the shooting last year, including new information about Oswald’s communications with the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City weeks before Kennedy’s death and accusations by a KGB general that Ruby had acted with the prompting of “some US officials.”

The Archives estimates that 99% of the documents related to the assassination have been made public, and experts believe that the remainder would shed little light on the shooting itself.

Trump, 77, said in July he would release the remaining sensitive information about the tragic murder if he is elected president again.AP

Biden in June said his administration had complied with the 1992 Kennedy Records Assassination Act and made available “every single word that is appropriate for release” under it.

Other files have been withheld “to protect against identifiable harms to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, and the conduct of foreign relations that are of such gravity that they outweigh the public interest in disclosure,” the president added.

Trump, 77, said in July he would release the remaining sensitive information about the tragic murder if he is elected president again.

In Monday’s statement, RFK Jr., 69, said the assassination had “left an indelible scar upon the American psyche.”

On Monday, RFK Jr. released a statement days before the anniversary of his uncle’s assassination, saying the event “left an indelible scar upon the American psyche.”AP

“Of all the legacies that my uncle left for our country, there is one that has not yet been fulfilled. During his term in office, he upheld a vision of America as a nation of peace, a vision that was abandoned after his death,” he said.

“For the next 60 years, we maintained a military empire, squandering trillions of dollars as our economy hollowed out and our health and infrastructure decayed.”

“My promise to the American people is that I will put us back on the road to peace that JFK led us toward when, shortly before his death, he issued a national security order to withdraw American advisers from Vietnam,” the candidate added.

“We will instead take a path back toward peace and prosperity for our country.”

Kennedy Jr. is the son of former Attorney General and US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan following a speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles during his run for the 1968 Democratic nomination.

RFK Jr. has called for another investigation into that killing after reviewing an autopsy and police reports about his father’s death, which he said had not convinced him that Sirhan Sirhan fired the fatal shot.

The candidate has made multiple requests for Secret Service protection that have been denied, despite intruders being arrested for trespassing on his Los Angeles property.