President Donald Trump has announced his plans to allow the opening of a trove of long-classified files on the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.
In a Twitter post, he said he would allow the release “subject to receipt of further information”.
The files are scheduled to be opened by the US National Archives on October 26, but the president is entitled to extend their classified status.
JFK was shot dead by a sniper on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.
The National Archives has already released most documents related to the assassination but a final batch remains under lock and key.
President Trump tweeted: “Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened.”
Congress ruled in 1992 that all JFK documents should be released within 25 years, unless the president decided the release would harm national security.
The archive contains more than 3,000 previously unreleased documents, and more than 30,000 that have been released before but with redactions.
It is unclear whether President Trump intends to allow the release in full or with redactions.
According to a Washington Post report, JFK assassination experts do not think the last batch of papers contains any bombshells.
However, the files may shed more light on Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities in Mexico City just months before the assassination.
Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested in Dallas on the day of the shooting and charged with the president’s murder. He denied the charges, claiming he was a “just a patsy”.
He was gunned down by nightclub owner Jack Ruby while in police custody two days later, and the plot to kill JFK became the most powerful conspiracy theory in American history.
Ted Cruz has warned that America would “plunge into an abyss” if it elected Donald Trump.
The Texas senator spoke after Donald Trump suggested his father was connected to the man who killed President John F. Kennedy.
Donald Trump is poised to deliver a crushing blow to Ted Cruz as Indiana votes in the latest primary.
Ted Cruz’s advisers had targeted Indiana as the senator’s best hope of halting Donald Trump’s march to the nomination.
However, polls show Donald Trump with a sizeable lead in the mid-western state.
Ted Cruz attacked Donald Trump on May 3, calling the New York billionaire “totally amoral,” “a pathological liar” and “a serial philanderer”.
Responding, Donald Trump said “Ted Cruz is a desperate candidate trying to save his failing campaign.
Photo AP
“It is no surprise he has resorted to his usual tactics of over-the-top rhetoric that nobody believes.”
Ted Cruz and fellow candidate John Kasich are hoping to force a contested convention where party officials, not voters, choose the nominee.
If Donald Trump wins Indiana, he will likely reach the required 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination and avoid such a scenario.
Meanwhile in the Democratic battle, polls show Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders locked in a tight race in Indiana.
However, a Bernie Sanders win in Indiana would do little to erase Hillary Clinton’s commanding lead.
The Clinton campaign has shifted its focus to other states, opting not to actively campaign or spend money in Indiana.
Donald Trump told supporters on May 3 that he is eager turn his attention to the general election.
“You know if we win it’s over, and then I can focus,” he said at a campaign rally in the state.
Ted Cruz cannot get enough delegates to win the nomination outright, but hopes he can still deprive Donald Trump of a majority.
The third Republican candidate, John Kasich, is no longer campaigning in Indiana.
John Kasich and Ted Cruz reached a deal last month to coordinate their strategies against Donald Trump, a move which prompted Trump to label them “desperate”.
The license plates from the car that drove President John F. Kennedy when he was killed in November 1963 have sold at auction for $100,000.
The plates had been discarded when the limousine was sent for upgrades after JFK was shot dead in Dallas.
The company’s owner retrieved them and passed them on to his daughter.
The plates, bearing number GG-300, had been expected to achieve close to $40,000 at the auction in Dallas.
The license plates were almost relegated to the garbage bin. The plates were the property of Jane Walker, and were stored in a junk drawer.
She inherited the family heirloom from her father, Willard C. Hess. He was the co-founder of Hess & Eisenhardt, the company that converted the President’s Lincoln into a limousine.
“I was aware of their significance,” Jane Walker said.
“On occasion, I would take them out and show to friends.”
The auction company said the plates were bought by a “high-end Kennedy collector” who wanted to remain anonymous.
Also sold was a menu from the last dinner served on the Titanic before it sank. The menu fetched $118,750.
Some diners on the Titanic were served oysters, roast duckling and peaches in chartreuse jelly.
The official account of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination has pointed to evidence many conspiracy theorists believe shows that he was shot twice, from different directions.
New documentary JFK: The Smoking Gun has come up with a new twist on the conspiracy theory, claiming that a Secret Service agent was the man who fired that shot by accident.
JFK: The Smoking Gun claims that George Hickey, a Secret Service man riding in the car behind JFK, accidentally fired his weapon on November 22, 1963.
It alleges that a cover-up was then carried out to save the blushes of the agency whose main role is to protect serving and former U.S. leaders – leaving the many loose ends that have long raised suspicions.
It is said that as much as 75% of the American public do not believe the official account of JFK’s assassination.
The new documentary is based on the work of Colin McLaren, a veteran Australian police detective, who has undertaken a four-year investigation into the killing.
Colin McLaren’s theories are based on the work of Howard Donahue, who himself has spent two decades probing the assassination and had his findings documented in Bonar Menninger’s book Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK. Bonar Menninger and Colin McLaren spoke yesterday about the film at the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles, California.
Central to their case is the claim that Agent George Hickey and his Secret Service colleagues had been out partying the night before Kennedy’s motorcade drove through Dallas.
New documentary claims that Secret Service Agent George Hickey riding in the car behind JFK, accidentally fired his weapon on November 22, 1963
To compound the problems the hungover agent faced, Colin McLaren says he has found evidence that George Hickey had not been properly trained to use the AR-15 gun he was carrying that morning.
“It was his first time in the follow car, his first time holding the assault weapon he was using,” the Huffington Post reported Colin McLaren as saying.
The theory is that as the assassin opened fire, George Hickey grabbed his own gun. But when the whole motorcade shunted to a halt, the agent was jolted by the sudden stop and accidentally pulled the trigger – firing a bullet straight at the back of JFK’s head.
Colin McLaren said he believes George Hickey’s AR-15 was loaded with different from the ammunition used by Lee Harvey Oswald, who the Warren Commission declared in 1964 to be the lone gunman in the assassination. That, he claims, explains what they believe are the different ballistic profiles of the two bullets that struck Kennedy.
Lee Harvey Oswald was himself assassinated before he could stand trial over the killing.
Bonar Menninger insisted that they do not believe that George Hickey intentionally fired at JFK. Rather, the Huffington Post reported him as saying: “This was a tragic accident in the heat of the moment.”
Both of them do allege that the government moved swiftly, with the help of JFK’s brother Robert Kennedy, to cover up the Secret Service’s involvement and save the agency from embarrassment.
JFK: The Smoking Gun will be broadcast on the Reelz Channel on November 3. A spokesman for the network said: “What makes McLaren’s investigation different than those that came before it is the fact that he had all the evidence, facts and eyewitness testimony from fifty years ago as well as modern forensic technology.
“McLaren’s findings are a far cry from the fanciful conspiracy theories that usually surround this assassination.
“His case is methodically constructed from simple logic and available evidence using time-tested investigative techniques to solve the crime; including key archival photographic evidence, medical reports and bullet science.”
Ginnifer Goodwin was picked to play America’s most famous First Lady Jackie Kennedy in Killing Kennedy – a new TV movie about JFK’s assassination.
With her hair back-combed and with the same make-up style Ginnifer Goodwin, 35, is the mirror image of Jackie “O”.
Ginnifer Goodwin – whose credits include Big Love – will play the part alongside Rob Lowe as J.F.K in Killing Kennedy about the ill fated 35th United States President.
The National Geographic Channel’s film adaptation is from Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard’s book Killing Kennedy: The End Of Camelot and will have its small screen release in November.
It is a dream role for Ginnifer Goodwin – who is currently dating her Once Upon A Time co-star Josh Dallas – while Michelle Trachtenberg has been chosen to play Lee Harvey Oswald’s wife Marina Oswald.
The make-up and wardrobe specialists on the project have obviously pulled-out all the stops to make both Ginnifer Goodwin and Rob Lowe look just like the iconic couple for the new movie.
Rob Lowe, 49, too bears an uncanny resemblance to the late former president and strikes a mirror image pose of JFK in his promotional shot for Killing Kennedy.
With the same posture, and president’s classic comb-over, Rob Lowe somehow manages to evoke the image of JFK, who was assassinated in 1963.
Ginnifer Goodwin was picked to play America’s most famous First Lady Jackie Kennedy in Killing Kennedy
Rob Lowe started filming the movie earlier this week, and the National Geographic Channel will be hoping that it proves to be ratings gold with viewers.
The actor of course previously played Sam Seaborne in The West Wing from 1999 to 2003 so he knows all about the workings of The White House albeit from a different era from his new project.
Chronicling the final years of JFK and his assassin Lee Harvey Oswald before their deaths in 1963, the subject of the film seems to have had an effect on Rob Lowe.
He tweeted: “Just saw Ginnifer Goodwin as Jackie Kennedy in the sad and awful blood-stained dress. Extremely emotional.”
Rob Lowe also said the show will be to mark the 50th anniversary of the president’s death, adding: “We were never the same.”
He isn’t the only actor to be playing JFK this year, as James Marsden will also portray the late president in the film The Butler.
The film by director Lee Daniels also stars Oprah Winfrey and Mariah Carey, and is scheduled for release on August 16.
Rob Lowe recently confessed to having a ball getting a makeover as plastic surgeon Jack Startz in Behind the Candelabra.
He told EW: “I’ve taken great glee in showing pictures that I have on my iPhone of Dr. Startz to people.
“People, honestly, fall over. They are so repelled and engaged, which is sort of what I was going for. I wanted him to be at once repellant and engaging, if that’s possible.”
Rob Lowe also plays the hyperactive character Chris Traeger on Parks and Recreation and Ulysses S. Grant in the upcoming American Civil War drama To Appomattox.
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with EU GDPR 2016/679. Please read this to review the updates about which personal data we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated policy. AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.