Washington DC [US], March 19 (HBTV): The US government has released approximately 80,000 pages of previously classified records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, following an executive order by President Donald J. Trump. The records were made available on Tuesday without redactions, according to an official statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Trump had earlier emphasized the importance of transparency, stating that 'the continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of JFK is not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue.' His Executive Order 14176 directed that all remaining records be fully released, the statement added.

Following Trump's directive, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard instructed intelligence agencies to provide 'all unredacted records within the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for immediate release.'

The records are now accessible online at archives.gov/jfk and in person at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Some documents, currently available only for in-person viewing, are being digitized and will be uploaded in the coming days.

'DNI Gabbard will post updates on X (@DNIGabbard) and Truth Social (@DNITulsiGabbard) as the files are released,' the statement added. The White House website will also host the files.

The release includes the unredacted text of a June 1961 memo on the CIA, sent to President Kennedy by his aide Arthur Schlesinger Jr. The memo, which had previously contained heavy redactions, criticized the CIA's role in US foreign policy.

Additionally, 14 documents related to the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been declassified, totaling about 1,050 pages.

The release follows decades of secrecy. In 1992, Congress mandated that all JFK assassination records be declassified by 2017. However, both Trump and President Joe Biden delayed full disclosure due to national security concerns.

Tuesday's release is part of an effort to provide 'maximum transparency and a commitment to rebuild the trust of the American people in the Intelligence Community and federal agencies.' (ANI)