The Donald Trump administration on Friday announced that it has begun releasing a collection of previously classified records related to the 1968 assassination of former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
The initial release includes approximately 10,000 pages of documents, now available online for public access.
The move, ordered by Trump shortly after taking office, was supported by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the senator’s son.
Kennedy Jr. has long questioned the official account of his father’s death and believes the convicted assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, may not have been responsible.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the release was coordinated with the National Archives and other agencies as part of Trump’s broader pledge for government transparency.
“Nearly 60 years after Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s tragic assassination, the American people will finally have access to the government’s investigative records,” Gabbard said in a statement.
“We are honoured the President entrusted us to lead this historic declassification effort,” she added.
Gabbard noted that the documents will include only minor edits, mostly to protect sensitive personal information like Social Security numbers.
She also revealed that an additional 50,000 pages were discovered in Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) storage facilities and are currently being prepared for release.
It remains uncertain whether these newly released records will offer significant new insights into the case.
The Trump administration has also committed to releasing files related to the 1968 assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), as well as the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK)
While extensive records on the JFK case have already been declassified, it’s unclear how much new information exists regarding Robert F. Kennedy’s death.
Trump had, in January, issued the order to release records from all three high-profile assassinations. At a cabinet meeting on April 10, Gabbard said the RFK and MLK files would be made public within days, including many that had never been digitised or previously seen.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was 14 when his father was killed, expressed gratitude for the release. He has long expressed doubts about the official conclusion that Sirhan Sirhan acted alone.
In 2021, he supported Sirhan’s request for parole after meeting with him in prison—a stance different from many of his siblings.
Sirhan was arrested at the scene of the assassination at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and later convicted of murder.
He has offered different accounts of his actions, sometimes admitting guilt, while claiming memory loss or denying involvement at other times. He had cited Kennedy’s support for Israel as a possible motive for the assassination.
Although California’s parole board supported Sirhan’s 2021 bid for release, Governor Gavin Newsom ultimately denied the request, further stirring more public debate over the issue.
