Satisfying those who have eagerly awaited the records’ disclosure, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, releasing additional government files associated with the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy (JFK), former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“That’s a big one,” Trump said while signing the order at the Oval Office. “A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades. And everything will be revealed.”
Trump promised at his pre-inauguration rally in Washington on Jan. 19 that he would release the remaining records on the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and King in the coming days.
The FBI accused Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union for a period after embracing Marxism, of assassinating JFK in 1963.
Nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as authorities were moving him from Dallas police headquarters to the county jail just two days after the assassination, stirring decades of speculation and conspiracy theories.
JFK’s assassination coincided with a period of increasing mistrust in the federal government, and many Americans still believe Oswald was part of a larger plot to kill the president.
Roughly 65 percent of U.S. adults reject the theory that a lone gunman killed JFK, according to Gallup’s most recent poll, conducted in October 2023.
Trump and former President Joe Biden previously released thousands of documents related to JFK’s death. Approximately 99 percent of the assassination files have been released as of 2023, according to the National Archives.
However, Biden had agreed to delay the disclosure of additional records, stating the necessity of protecting “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.”
A petition was launched in 2023 on the 60th anniversary of the assassination demanding the Biden administration release all remaining government records on his uncle’s murder. JFK’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), who Trump nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was the petition’s author.
RFK Jr. was just 9 years old when his uncle was assassinated in 1963, and was 14 when his father was assassinated during the 1968 Democratic presidential primary.
“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?” RFK Jr. wrote in a statement on his website in 2023.
“Trust in government is at an all-time low. Releasing the full, unredacted historical records will help to restore that trust,” he added.
Trump’s order not only calls for the release of the remaining JFK assassination records, but also those for RFK and King.
“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 order reads.
After Biden had moved to redact some of the last remaining JFK assassination files, Trump’s order states that the former president’s action is “not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue.”
The order calls for the Director of National Intelligence and Attorney General to present a plan to Trump within 15 days for the “full and complete release” of the remaining JFK assassination records and 45 days for the RFK and King records.
—Jacob Burg
CHICAGO BRACES FOR DEPORTATIONS
Residents of Little Village, a predominantly Mexican neighborhood on Chicago’s southwest side, are bracing for the possibility of mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
“Fear and worry are definitely disrupting normal activities, and it’s just keeping people basically on edge,” Jennifer Aguilar, executive director of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, told The Epoch Times.
Laura Gutierrez Ramos, owner of Nuevo Leon restaurant, told The Epoch Times: “People are scared. You can’t blame them.”
Tom Homan, the newly appointed border czar, said in a Jan. 21 interview with CNN that the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations—prioritizing but not limited to illegal immigrants with a criminal record—have already begun.
But if other illegal immigrants are found with the targeted deportee, they will also be detained, Homan said.
Aguilar said local leaders are conducting outreach to business owners and the public, offering tips on how to deal with ICE officials.
“The most that we can do is just letting them know to prepare so they’re not caught off guard,” Aguilar said. “Knowing your rights is very important.”
She also advised immigrants not to run from law enforcement, as that provides probable cause for detention, and for illegal immigrants to plan ahead for care of their children in the event they are detained.
Aguilar and Ramos said they believe a massive deportation effort would have a devastating economic effect on the country, as local businesses need people willing to work.
“Trump is a smart man. He’s a businessman,” Ramos said. “At the end of the day, I hope he won’t do something that would ruin the U.S. economy.”
Trump said on Jan. 20 that he is in favor of legal immigration and that the United States needs people.
“We are known here in Little Village for having the second largest commercial corridor after Michigan Avenue,” Aguilar said.
She said she hopes the effort will highlight the contribution of immigrants who have been farm laborers, meat packers, and service workers—and any negative effects their sudden removal would have on the economy.
“The best thing that could happen out of this is finding a solution that addresses the issue in a way where people are able to legalize their status,” Aguilar said of illegal immigrants.
Ramos said, “We stand with each other, by one another. God is good. We will persevere.”
—Lawrence Wilson
BOOKMARKS
John Ratcliffe has been successfully confirmed as CIA director by the Senate, after running the confirmation gauntlet. Ratcliffe was voted in with bipartisan support, 74–25, but some Democrats, including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) had sought to hold up his nomination on the grounds that he was too partisan.
Brent Bozell, founder of watchdog group Media Research Center, has been tapped by President Donald Trump to be CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The organization is the parent company of federally-owned outlets Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, whose mission is to “inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy.”
Trump may use the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act of 1798 in his plan to break up criminal illegal immigrant enterprises, like drug cartels. To do so, however, he will need to prove that these groups constitute an invasion of the United States, and that they are acting with state support from other governments.
Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard will come before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence next week, as part of her confirmation to be the Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard, a former Democrat, joined the GOP in 2024 to support Trump in his bid for the presidency.
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour has blocked Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship. The argument over the executive order will revolve around interpretation of the 14th amendment, which confers citizenship “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
Trump on Jan. 22 asked attendees of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to cease discriminatory banking practices against conservatives. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, whose representatives were at the forum, recently faced allegations that they had canceled accounts and services to organizations and businesses for political reasons.
The website for the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention went down on Trump’s second day in office, fueling speculation that it has been axed. The fate of the office, signed into existence by an executive order of then-President Joe Biden, has not been confirmed by the White House.
—Stacy Robinson