Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 20 / Friday, January 31, 2025 / Presidential Documents 8641 

Executive Order 14176 of January 23, 2025 

Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of 

President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and 

the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: 

Section 1. Policy and Purpose. More than 50 years after the assassinations 

of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Federal Government has not released to 

the public all of its records related to those events. Their families and 

the American people deserve transparency and truth. It is in the national 

interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without 

delay. 

The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 

1992 required all records related to the assassination of President Kennedy 

to be publicly disclosed in full by October 26, 2017, unless the President 

certifies that: (i) continued postponement is made necessary by an identifiable 

harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or 

conduct of foreign relations; and (ii) the identifiable harm is of such gravity 

that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure. President John F. Kennedy 

Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, section 5(g)(2)(D), Public Law 

102–526, 106 Stat. 3443, 3448–49, codified at 44 U.S.C. 2107 note. 

I previously accepted proposed redactions from executive departments and 

agencies (agencies) in 2017 and 2018, but ordered the continued re-evaluation 

of those remaining redactions. See Temporary Certification for Certain 

Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 82 

FR 50,307–08 (Oct. 31, 2017); Certification for Certain Records Related to 

the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 83 FR 19, 157–58 (Apr. 

26, 2018). In the Presidential Memorandum of April 26, 2018, I also ordered 

agencies to re-review each of those redactions over the next 3 years and 

disclose information that no longer warrants continued withholding under 

the standard set forth in section 5(g)(2)(D) of the President John F. Kennedy 

Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. 

President Biden issued subsequent certifications with respect to these records 

in 2021, 2022, and 2023, which gave agencies additional time to review 

the records and withhold information from public disclosure. See Temporary 

Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related 

to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 86 FR 59,599 (Oct. 

22, 2021); Certifications Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain 

Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 87 

FR 77,967 (Dec. 15, 2022); Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information 

in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 

88 FR 43,247 (June 30, 2023). 

I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of 

information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John 

F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and the release of 

these records is long overdue. And although no Act of Congress directs 

the release of information pertaining to the assassinations of Senator Robert 

F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have determined 


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8642 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 20 / Friday, January 31, 2025 / Presidential Documents 

that the release of all records in the Federal Government’s possession pertaining to each of those assassinations is also in the public interest. 

Sec. 2. Declassification and Disclosure. (a) Within 15 days of the date 

of this order, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General 

shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security 

Affairs and the Counsel to the President, present a plan to the President 

for the full and complete release of records relating to the assassination 

of President John F. Kennedy. 

(b) Within 45 days of the date of this order, the Director of National 

Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the 

President, review records related to the assassinations of Senator Robert 

F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and present 

a plan to the President for the full and complete release of these records. 

Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed 

to impair or otherwise affect: 

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, 

or the head thereof; or 

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. 

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and 

subject to the availability of appropriations. 

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, 

substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party 

against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, 

employees, or agents, or any other person. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

January 23, 2025. 

[FR Doc. 2025–02116 

Filed 1–30–25; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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