WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump blocked the release of hundreds of records on the John F. Kennedy assassination Thursday night, bending to CIA and FBI appeals, while the National Archives moved to turn over some 2,800 other records.
“I have no choice,” Trump said in a memo, citing “potentially irreversible harm” to national security if he were to allow all records out now. He was placing those files under a six-month review while letting the 2,800 others come out Thursday evening, racing a deadline to honor a law mandating their release.
Officials say Trump will impress upon federal agencies that “only in the rarest cases” should JFK files stay secret after the six-month review.
Despite having months to prepare for disclosures that have been set on the calendar for 25 years, Trump’s decision came down to a last-minute debate with intelligence agencies – a tussle the president then prolonged by calling for still more review.
Much of Thursday passed with nothing from the White House or National Archives except silence, leaving unclear how the government would comply with a law requiring the records to come out by the end of the day – unless Trump had been persuaded by intelligence agencies to hold some back.