(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A federal judge ruled Friday that the Biden administration can continue to delay releasing records about the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.
District Judge Richard Seeborg’s decision pertained to a lawsuit filed by the non-profit research organization Mary Ferrell Foundation last October, after the Biden administration postponed the release of roughly 15,000 documents concerning the former president’s murder.
The Mary Ferrell Foundation had been seeking an order for the White House to either release all assassination records or review each individual record pursuant to the JFK Records Act, which initially set an October 2017 deadline to release all records. Donald Trump ordered a further review of the still-sequestered records in 2017 and Joe Biden has postponed a full release twice since taking office—prompting the Mary Ferrell Foundation’s lawsuit.
In his decision Friday, Judge Seeborg granted the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss most of the lawsuit.
“The JFK Act provides the President with significant discretion to determine that postponement is ‘made necessary’ by national security concerns,” the judge said.
While most of the Mary Farrell Foundation’s lawsuit was dismissed, some of its claims survived. Judge Seeborg said the organization can continue suing to have the National Archives and Records Administration release JFK congressional records, since those records aren’t controlled by the White House.
The Mary Ferrell Foundation released a statement Monday, painting the judge’s decision as a win for JFK assassination researchers.
“The judge’s decision gives the foundation, the sponsor of the largest online collection of JFK records, the right to: seek immediate release of all still-redacted assassination records created by Congressional investigations of the Senate’s Church Committee and the House Select Committee on Assassinations; investigate the destruction of JFK documents the course of three official investigations, and compel improvements in the usability of the National Archives’ JFK Collection,” the organization said.
“The Foundation’s attorneys are considering all options concerning this litigation,” it added.
Biden’s decision to postpone releasing all JFK assassination records has been criticized by numerous parties, including presidential candidate and JFK’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“The assassination was 60 years ago,” Kennedy wrote in response to Biden’s most recent order to delay records production. “What national security secrets could possibly be at risk? What are they hiding?”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
