3 MONTHS BEFORE JFK'S DEATH THEY KNEW ABOUT HIS AND MLK'S ASSASSINATION

Eager historians and researchers trawled through the trove of files – many of which blurry and poorly organized – seeking any sign of new or shocking. However, many of the records had already in the public domain.

Key Points
Trump releases 63,000 pages of JFK assassination files

Lee Harvey Oswald was a 'poor shot,' KGB agent says

Files shine a light on John F. Kennedy assassin's connection to Soviet Union

Trump praised for ushering in 'new era of maximum transparency'

Timeline: All the JFK documents released since 1992 details about Lee Harvey Oswald’s connections to the Soviet Union were revealed in a tranche of declassified documents released by the Trump administration concerning the 1963 assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.

About 2,200 files – consisting of approximately 63,000 pages – were posted in two batches by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration on Tuesday evening. It came after President Donald Trump teased the release on Monday while visiting the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and asserted that the government would not redact “anything” – stating about 80,000 pages would be made public.

A 1991 CIA memo revealed that Oswald, JFK’s assassin, was watched “closely and constantly” by the KGB after defecting to the Soviet Union in 1959. Despite determining Oswald was not a member of the now-defunct Soviet secret police, one agent noted that he was a “poor shot.”

It was, according to Naftali, to protect classified details about CIA intelligence-gathering – including their methods and sources.

Naftali said he found details in the newly released documents that had previously been omitted.

It includes details about the U.S. intercepting communications in Egypt, an ally.