On Monday, the National Archives released 3,810 documents pertaining to the John F. Kennedy assassination to the public.

According to the administration’s press release, the records originate from the FBI and CIA investigations into the assassination–441 documents previously withheld in full and 3,369 documents previously released with portions redacted.

Notably, the release includes 17 audio interviews with Yuri Nosenko, an ex-KGB officer who had information on Lee Harvey Oswald’s time in the Soviet Union. The release also contains records relating to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, which took place five years after Kennedy was killed.

The National Archives is unsealing the documents as a result of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. The legislation passed in response to the 1991 film “JFK,” which painted the assassination as a governmental conspiracy. Under the act, the National Archives was ordered to put all Kennedy assassination records in one collection that would be fully accessible within 25 years.

The entire collection consists of approximately five million records, 88 percent of which have been available to the public since the late ’90s. However, thousands of documents remain totally under seal, along with tens of thousands of pages that have been only partially unsealed.

Many of the documents released this week were deemed too dangerous to unseal back in the ’90s, as the classified information could have compromised American spies and confidential informants. Now, most of those agents have presumably passed away.

The 25-year deadline for releasing the full collection is on Oct. 26, 2017. Under the terms of the Records Collection Act, only one person can block the release: the sitting president, and only if he presents proof in writing that the records would threaten national security.

President Trump, who previously accused Senator Ted Cruz’s father of being in league with Oswald, has roughly three months to decide if he will block the remaining records or not. In April, an anonymous White House staffer told Politico that the administration “is familiar with the requirements” and is working to “enable a smooth process in anticipation of the October deadline.”

The newly-released materials are currently only available online, and access to the complete unsealed paper collection will be available at an unspecified later date. Once released, the National Archives will store all the Kennedy assassination documents onsite in College Park, Maryland, where the collection will be open to the public for viewing.

Delaney Cruickshank

Delaney Cruickshank is a Staff Writer at Law Street Media and a Maryland native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in History with minors in Creative Writing and British Studies from the College of Charleston. Contact Delaney at DCruickshank@LawStreetMedia.com.

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South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Monday that the February 13 assassination of Kim Jong-nam was ordered by his half-brother and leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. The plot was reportedly carried out by agents of North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Security, a secret police force that Kim often calls on to carry out arrests and executions of people he deems disloyal.

“The assassination of Kim Jong Nam was an act of systematic terror ordered by Kim Jong Un,” said Kim Byung-kee, a South Korean lawmaker, in a televised address on Monday. “The operation was conducted with two assassination groups and one supporting group.”

Agents from the two ministries, South Korea’s spy agency said, recruited the two women who ultimately did the dirty work of actually killing Kim Jong-nam. The women–Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam and Siti Aishah of Indonesia–are in police custody in Kuala Lumpur. Two other suspects involved in the plot worked for Air Koryo, North Korea’s state-run airline, and Singwang Economics and Trading General Corporation.

It all began on February 13. Kim Jong-nam, who has previously been targeted by his half-brother, was traveling from Kuala Lumpur to the Chinese territory of Macau, where he lives. While he was waiting at his gate, two women–believed to be Huong and Aishah–approached him from behind, and smeared his face with VX, a toxic nerve agent. Kim felt dizzy, and went to the assistance counter for help. He died less than an hour later, in an ambulance en route to the hospital.

Aishah, 25, told Malaysian authorities that she thought she was taking part in a televised prank skit. She was “not aware it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents,” she said. Mohammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, Aishah’s boyfriend, was also arrested and taken into custody to “assist” with the investigation. Most of the North Koreans who helped plan and execute the assassination have returned to the North; one is still believed to be in Malaysia, another has been arrested.

Kim Jong-un also ordered the executions of five members of the national security service, South Korea’a Yonhap news agency said on Monday. They reportedly “enraged” Kim with false reports–apparently not connected with the assassination plot–and were killed by anti-aircraft guns.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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An Indonesian woman, her Malaysian boyfriend, and a woman traveling with a Vietnamese passport have been arrested in Malaysia in connection with the apparent assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half brother, Kim Jong-nam. According to Indonesia’s national police chief Tito Karnavian, Indonesian Siti Aisyah believed she was taking part in a TV prank. Talking to reporters, Karnavian described how Aisyah and the other woman were paid to spray water in men’s faces, which they were told was part of a TV comedy sketch:

Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong-nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer. She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents.

Suspect in Kim Jong Nam killing says she thought it was harmless practical joke, Malaysian media reports. More here: https://t.co/I2odpNUbtu pic.twitter.com/Bcp6uxW4G1

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 17, 2017

Aisyah’s boyfriend, 26-year-old Malaysian Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, was taken into custody to assist with the investigation. The second female suspect was captured on security footage wearing a sweater with the text “LOL” and was carrying Vietnamese identification with the name Doan Thi Huong. Her behavior seems more suspicious, as she stayed at a cheap hotel near the airport before the attack, and had a big stack of cash on her. She then switched to a second hotel where she borrowed a pair of scissors from the front desk to cut her hair. The next day, which was the day of the attack, she went out for most of the day, and then checked out and switched to a third hotel.

Although Doan also claimed she thought she was part of a TV prank, it appears that at least some investigators didn’t quite buy it. One Malaysian investigator who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity said: “If you ask me, do her movements indicate that she was an intelligence operative, then I would say yes,” he said.

Vietnamese woman with ‘LOL’ shirt stayed in cheap hotels, carried wad of cash and cut her hair a day before attack,https://t.co/Eh1ZvbvkDm

— Eddie Du (@Edourdoo) February 17, 2017

Kim was on his way to take a flight from Malaysia to Macau, where his family lives, when he was attacked on Monday. The details surrounding his death are still very unclear and at first reports claimed he was attacked with poison needles. Malaysian authorities have conducted an autopsy but have not released any information. The authorities say that they will not release his body to North Korea unless they get a DNA sample from a next of kin so they can make a positive identification. North Korea has so far refused to comply with that request, and North Korean officials have said that they will not accept the autopsy results because they had no witnesses present. And so far, no one from Kim’s family has claimed his body.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Folks, this Friday marks the 50^th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

How is that possible?

That same year, the term “Beatlemania” was coined, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, and the Berlin Wall was opened for the first time. My mom was about 10 years old when all of these things happened. My dad was five or six. That was HALF A CENTURY ago.

This is completely insane!

I know I’m not the only one who has absolutely no concept of time. So let’s all just take a moment and be mind-boggled by its passage, mmkay?

Moving right along! This week, to commemorate JFK’s tragic death, the History channel has essentially been live Tweeting the final days of his life, half a century later. It’s like they’re making up for the fact that Twitter didn’t exist back then.

Kennedy is meeting with members of the Inter-American Committee Symposium, including representatives from Mexico, Argentina and Chile #JFK50

— HISTORY (@HISTORY) November 20, 2013

Aside from being slightly weird, this JFK-centric Twitter feed is a really interesting way to commemorate the late president. The History channel is really making sure that he’s at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Well, everyone who’s on Twitter at least, which is basically everyone, right?

Anyway! While we’ve all spent this past week following JFK’s every move on Twitter, fretting about the details of his presidency, his personal life, and the many conspiracy theories surrounding his death, there’s one very important detail we’ve collectively forgotten.

Jackie.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy—later Jackie Kennedy Onassis, when she remarried—was arguably the most iconic First Lady in history. She was blue-blooded, young, and stylish. She was absolutely gorgeous. And she was incredibly smart, fluent in four languages. She also lived through a horribly traumatic experience, and went on to not just survive, but flourish. Jackie Kennedy was super inspirational, and she’s getting shafted a little bit, with all of this JFK memorialization. So let’s take a few moments and focus on her, shall we?

Courtesy of Sacheverelle via Flickr.

Let’s start with her tenure as First Lady. A huge lover of art and history, Jackie was underwhelmed when she first moved into the White House. Claiming that there was nothing of historical relevance in the house, she immediately made it her mission to restore the presidential palace.

So basically, the presidential grandeur we all see when we get inside photos of the White House? That sense that each piece of furniture, each painting, each plate in the china cabinet, was touched by the presidents of America past? That’s all thanks to Jackie. She turned the White House into a veritable museum.

But her time in the White House wasn’t simply an interior designer’s dream. It was also something of a nightmare. Being married to JFK was famously challenging—he was quite the playboy, and he suffered from a ton of physical ailments. Basically, this was a guy who couldn’t keep it in his pants, but also couldn’t always take those pants off by himself. Jackie wasn’t just a woman scorned, a wife disrespected by a philandering husband. She was also his primary caretaker. And that’s a hard job for anyone. But caring for someone who very often treats you like crap? That’s a whole ton harder.

Things only got worse when the couple entered the White House. The stress of the job exacerbated JFK’s ailments, and he slept around more to blow off the extra steam. He took a shit ton of drugs while he was in office, just to function like a semi-healthy human being, and he fucked  A LOT of women. Like, a lot. Like, this guy couldn’t remember how many or what all of their names were.

Meanwhile, here’s Jackie, cultivating a public image of Presidential perfection and familial bliss. Given the circumstances, that is a HARD job. Let’s give her some extra credit.

Then, the unthinkable happened. Literally, the unthinkable. Because who imagines, ever in their wildest dreams, that they’ll be sitting next to their significant other in a car while he/she/ze gets gunned down? If that’s not traumatic, I don’t know what is.

And even in the face of this awful event, Jackie was still on. She never for a second sunk down into grief. She didn’t fall into a crumpled heap, wailing because of her loss. She didn’t get hysterical or catatonic. Either of those reactions—and the spectrum that runs between them—would have been acceptable behavior for a person who had just lost her partner in such a violent, terrifying way.

But no. Instead of drowning in emotion like a regular human being, Jackie remained poised. Graceful. Calculated. She wasted no time in arranging every detail of JFK’s funeral, which was modeled after Lincoln’s. She carefully planned every move to set him up as a legend.

She stood beside Lyndon B. Johnson, as he was sworn into the presidency, while still wearing that blood-spattered pink suit. She led JFK’s funeral procession, instructing her young son to salute his father good-bye at just the right moment. She literally wrote JFK’s entry in the history books, giving an interview where she referred to his tenure in the White House as Camelot, editing the piece herself as it was phoned into LIFE Magazine.

If any of you watch Scandal, Jackie was Mellie to JFK’s Fitz. She was the political genius behind the whole administration, propping up her flawed, frail husband throughout his entire presidency. She is the PR powerhouse who shaped his legacy.

She is the reason that JFK is memorialized the way he is. Can you name the anniversary of Pres. James Garfield’s assassination? Pres. William McKinley’s?

No. I bet you can’t. Because they weren’t married to Jackie.

So this year, as we commemorate the loss of a man cut down in his prime, or a President whose potential was cut short—let’s be sure to remember his wife.

Because she’s the only reason any of us care to memorialize him at all.

—

Featured image courtesy of [Gerard Stolk via Flickr]

Hannah R. Winsten

Hannah R. Winsten is a freelance copywriter, marketing consultant, and blogger living in New York’s sixth borough. She hates tweeting but does it anyway. She aspires to be the next Rachel Maddow. Contact Hannah at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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