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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On Monday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a left-leaning government watchdog group, announced that as a result of its recent lawsuit, the government will have to turn over logs and records of individuals who visited Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s Florida residence.

CREW filed the lawsuit alongside the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the National Security Archive under the Freedom of Information Act. The group has been working to reveal visitor logs for the White House, Mar-a-Lago, and Trump Tower in New York City.

Currently, the Department of Homeland Security says it has no records of people visiting Trump Tower. The lawsuit regarding the White House records is ongoing.

“The public deserves to know who is coming to meet with the president and his staff,” CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement. “We are glad as a result of this case, this information will become public for meetings at his personal residences–but it needs to be public for meetings at the White House as well.”

District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla wrote in her ruling: “The Secret Service will complete its search for and processing of responsive ‘records of presidential visitors at Mar-a-Lago,’ and produce any non-exempt responsive records, by September 8, 2017.” CREW says it plans to share the information publicly once it’s released.

Amidst promises to “drain the swamp” and allegations of collusion with foreign officials, Trump’s poorly-disclosed private dealings have been at the heart of public debate in recent months.

The public has essentially been prevented from knowing which lobbyists, political donors, and others the president is meeting with behind closed doors, making it difficult to fully comprehend Trump’s allegiances and stances on issues.

The Mar-a-Lago visitor logs may prove to be revelatory because of the unique role the estate has played since Trump took office. In a sense, Mar-a-Lago, which the president affectionately refers to as the “Southern White House,” best represents Trump: a mix of his gold-plated private life, his business ties, and now, his executive power.

The venue has controversially served as the backdrop for high-profile diplomatic visits with foreign leaders as well as numerous costly golf weekends for the president.

This lawsuit is not CREW’s first attempt to compel transparency from the White House. The group also sued the Obama Administration, which agreed to release White House visitor logs as part of a settlement. That effort began during the Bush Administration before it was settled with President Obama. Since 2009, about 6 million visitor records were made public.

In April, the Trump Administration announced it would end this practice, citing “grave national security risks.” Currently, the website where the logs were previously published is blank and reads: “Thank you for your interest in this subject. Stay tuned as we continue to update whitehouse.gov.”

Celia Heudebourg

Celia Heudebourg is an editorial intern for Law Street Media. She is from Paris, France and is entering her senior year at Macalester College in Minnesota where she studies international relations and political science. When she’s not reading or watching the news, she can be found planning a trip abroad or binge-watching a good Netflix show. Contact Celia at Staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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