Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Here’s how to view the JFK assassination files

Their release been in the works for 25 years.

President John F. Kennedy gave a televised speech on Feb. 11, 1962.
President John F. Kennedy gave a televised speech on Feb. 11, 1962.
Getty Images

Today the U.S. government is scheduled to release highly anticipated documents related to the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Update, Oct. 27: The JFK files are now live. You can view them on the National Archives website here.

The documents, which have been scheduled for release on this day since 1992, were “previously identified as assassination records, but withheld in full or withheld in part,” according to the National Archives’ website. The organization is planning to post all of the documents online for public viewing.

Update: President Trump has delayed the release of some of the JFK assassination documents pending further review, according to the Associated Press. He has given the go-ahead to release 2,800 documents.

The assassination of JFK has been the source of endless conspiracy theories. Was there a second shooter? Was it the Mob? Was it a larger plot by a foreign government? The KGB? The federal government decided decades ago that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole person responsible for Kennedy’s death. But that hasn’t stopped the conspiracy theorists from speculating.

Four American presidents have been assassinated — Abraham Lincoln (1865), James Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901) and John F. Kennedy (1963) — and all four were shot with guns.

Currently, the National Archives says that its collection of public JFK documents “consists of more than 5 million pages of assassination-related records, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings and artifacts (approximately 2,000 cubic feet of records).”

President Trump tweeted last week that he wouldn’t delay or hold back the publishing of the files.

And on Wednesday, the president even tweeted his excitement about their release.

So stay tuned and refresh that National Archives website to see the documents.

It looks like it could be soon.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh