NE Valley Times

The original sponsors of the Justice for Kennedy (JFK) Act, Congressmen David Schweikert, Tim Burchett, and Steve Cohen, have responded to the Trump Administration's release of over 1,100 PDF files related to the JFK assassination. The release comes as part of ongoing efforts to provide transparency about the events surrounding President John F. Kennedy's death.

Congressman Schweikert remarked on the significance of this moment: “It’s been 61 years since the tragic murder of President John F. Kennedy. A truly functioning republic ensures Americans have access to information, and this moment symbolizes the long-awaited restoration of the people’s trust in the federal government.” He praised the Trump Administration for aligning with their act by ensuring that all assassination records are unclassified and unredacted.

Congressman Burchett expressed satisfaction that longstanding public questions might finally be addressed: “I am happy that after decades of questions from the public and government cover-ups that the American people finally may have answers to the JFK assassination. President Trump is once again showing his commitment to having the most transparent administration this country has ever seen.”

While Congressman Cohen acknowledged progress, he noted it was still early to determine what insights could be gleaned from these documents: “It’s too soon to know whether there’s much in the documents released today, but it is a good sign that some progress toward the goal of full disclosure is underway.”

Jeff Morley, a former Washington Post reporter and Co-founder & Editor of JFK Facts, highlighted ongoing issues with redactions: “Today’s release needs to include removing many unnecessary redactions in the JFK files currently held at the National Archives." He commended Congressman Schweikert for advocating transparency across different administrations.

The Justice for Kennedy Act was introduced earlier this year with an aim to mandate public disclosure of all relevant records concerning Kennedy's assassination. Prior estimates suggested thousands of documents were still withheld or partially undisclosed before today's release.

This initiative follows a historical context where federal mandates in the early 1990s required all related documents be centralized within a single collection at National Archives by 2017 unless exempted by presidential authority.