Audio By Carbonatix
The White House has ordered the release of thousands of documents on the murder of US President John F Kennedy in full for the first time.
With the publication of some 13,173 files online, the White House said more than 97% of records in the collection were now publicly available.
No huge revelations are expected from the papers, but historians hope to learn more about the alleged assassin.
Kennedy was shot during a visit to Dallas, Texas, on 22 November 1963.
A 1992 law required the government to release all documents on the assassination by October 2017.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden issued an executive order authorising the latest disclosure.
But he said some files would be kept under wraps until June 2023 to protect against possible "identifiable harm".
The US National Archives said that 515 documents would remain withheld in full, and another 2,545 documents would be partly withheld.
A 1964 US inquiry, the Warren Commission, found that Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, a US citizen who had previously lived in the Soviet Union, and that he acted alone. He was killed in the basement of the Dallas police headquarters two days after his arrest.
JFK's death spawned decades of conspiracy theories, but on Thursday the CIA said the US spy agency had "never engaged" Oswald, and did not withhold information about him from US investigators.
Long-time JFK academics and theorists have hoped the latest release would reveal more information about Oswald's activities in Mexico City, where he met a Soviet KGB officer in October 1963.
In its latest statement, the CIA said that all information held by the agency relating to his trip to Mexico City had previously been released, adding: "There is no new information on this topic in the 2022 release."
But researchers with the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a non-profit that sued to the government to release the files, said the CIA was withholding information about Oswald's time in Mexico.
The foundation said some CIA records were never submitted to the archives and therefore were not part of the batch just released.
One newly revealed document shows the president of Mexico helped the US place a wiretap on the Soviet embassy in Mexico without the knowledge of other officials in the Mexican government.
This nugget of information was hidden by redactions in a previously released version of the file, reports the BBC's US partner CBS News.
The White House said the release of the files would provide the public with greater understanding of the investigation into the assassination.
President Biden wrote in his order that "agencies have undertaken a comprehensive effort to review the full set of almost 16,000 records that had previously been released in redacted form and determined that more than 70 percent of those records may now be released in full".
The Trump administration released thousands of pages over the course of his presidency, but withheld others on the basis of national security, despite the 1992 law forcing the release all the information by 2017.
In October 2021, Mr Biden released around 1,500 documents, but said he was keeping the others sealed.
Latest Stories
-
Ghana must close gaps that allow drug trafficking – Dr Pelpuo
7 minutes -
Emmanuel Osei: President Mahama, dissolve GFA and save our soul
20 minutes -
Uganda Airlines to launch direct Accra-Entebbe flights from October 27
22 minutes -
Ghana records surge in 2025 tourism receipts as Ahafo Region honors top industry players
24 minutes -
I don’t have an official car, I use my own – Pelpuo
35 minutes -
Maiden Black Star Fashion Week to highlight Ghana’s national fashion platform
35 minutes -
GPRTU has entrusted vehicle inspection responsibility to station masters – GPRTU member
35 minutes -
President Mahama to open housing finance conference in Accra on October 7
43 minutes -
Cocaine probe: Speaker is right in dismissing Minority’s motion of parliamentary inquiry – Dr Pelpuo
43 minutes -
Academic City presents cybersecurity white paper to Communications Minister
44 minutes -
Pelpuo calls for independent commission to oversee Ghana’s public sector remuneration
45 minutes -
Bekwai MP to engage Assembly over traders displaced by market redevelopment
46 minutes -
Accra-Abidjan flight relaunch will boost trade, investment and regional integration – Ambassador Alhassan Abu
48 minutes -
Mahama tasked me to identify initiatives that fit Reset Agenda – Pelpuo
48 minutes -
Makola and Abossey Okai named in crime index as fake goods trade grows
51 minutes