Thousands of unedited government JFK assassination files released

The White House has ordered the release of documents on the murder of US President John F Kennedy, but said some files will stay sealed.

Some 12,879 documents were posted online on Thursday after President Joe Biden issued an executive order authorising their disclosure.

A 1992 law required the government to release all documents on the 1963 assassination by October 2017.

The death of the US president spawned decades of conspiracy theories.

Kennedy was shot during a visit to Dallas, Texas.

A US inquiry in 1964 found that Kennedy was killed by American Lee Harvey Oswald, who had previously lived in the Soviet Union, and that he acted alone.

"Pursuant to my direction, 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," President Biden wrote in his order.

"This significant disclosure reflects my Administration's commitment to transparency and will provide the American public with greater insight and understanding of the Government's investigation into this tragic event in American history."

A Biden spokeswoman told reporters that Thursday's release amounts to around 97% of all of the information the government has in its archives.

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 others under wraps to "protect against identifiable harm to the military defence, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations".

In the latest release, Mr Biden said that federal agencies "have identified a limited number of records containing information for continued postponement of public disclosure".

The 1964 Warren Commission inquiry concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. He was killed in the basement of the Dallas police headquarters two days after his arrest, fuelling conspiracies about his prior activities.

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 with a Soviet KGB officer in October 1963.