The 2017–2023 records releases

The JFK Act required all records to be disclosed in full by 26 October 2017, unless the president certified that continued postponement was necessary because of an identifiable harm to military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement or foreign relations, and that the harm outweighed the public interest. [1][2]

The National Archives says 88 percent of the collection had been open in full since the late 1990s. What remained were documents released with redactions or withheld entirely. [3]

Between July 2017 and April 2018 the Archives released documents in seven batches: 3,810 in July; 2,891 on the deadline day; then 676, 13,213, 10,744, 3,539 and, on 26 April 2018, 18,731. Trump accepted agency redactions in October 2017 and again in April 2018, and ordered a re-review over the next three years. [3][1]

President Biden issued certifications in October 2021, December 2022 and June 2023 allowing agencies more time and continued withholding. Records were released on 15 December 2021 and 15 December 2022. [1][2][3]

In 2023 the Archives and agencies jointly reviewed the remaining redactions in 3,648 documents and posted 2,672 documents with newly released information between April and June, plus 21 in August. Biden’s 30 June 2023 memorandum called it his “final certification” and “the last required under the Act.” Agencies’ continued withholding was governed by “transparency plans” listing the events that would trigger release. [4][5][6]