U.S. gov't releases new group of JFK assassination documents

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government released on Thursday a new group of records related to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy (JFK).

The National Archives posted more than 13,000 documents containing newly released information subject to legislation passed by Congress in 1992.

With Thursday's release, over 97 percent of documents in the JFK Assassination Records Collection are available, according to the federal agency.

U.S. President Joe Biden said in a memo on Thursday that all information in records concerning the assassination should be disclosed "except when the strongest possible reasons counsel otherwise."

"The profound national tragedy of President Kennedy's assassination continues to resonate in American history and in the memories of so many Americans who were alive on that terrible day," the memo read.

The Biden administration postponed the release of the trove of documents last year, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, while traveling in an open-top convertible through downtown Dallas, Texas.