OAN Staff Blake Wolf
1:08 PM – Tuesday, July 22, 2025
The Trump administration has released a massive trove of 230,000 files pertaining to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard first announced the coming release in April, during a cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump. Gabbard noted that her team of “hunters” were “actively” searching FBI and CIA files for any missing “truths.”
On Monday, Gabbard re-introduced the documents, stating: “After nearly 60 years of questions surrounding the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we are releasing 230,000 MLK assassination files.”
“The documents include details about the FBI’s investigation into the assassination of MLK, discussion of potential leads, internal FBI memos detailing the progress of the case, information about James Earl Ray’s former cellmate who stated he discussed with Ray an alleged assassination plot, and more,” Gabbard continued.
Ray was the individual convicted of fatally shooting King on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The ensuing manhunt led to Ray’s capture in London, eventually resulting in him pleading guilty to assassinating King. However, Ray later renounced the guilty plea and maintained his innocence until he passed away in 1998.
Meanwhile, Gabbard went on to say that the newly-released documents break down information about certain leads that the FBI pursued after the shooting, the CIA’s intelligence efforts during the manhunt for Ray, and information about James Earl Ray’s discussion with a former cellmate who claimed he spoke with him about an alleged assassination plot.
“Thanks to President @realDonaldTrump’s leadership, Executive Order 14176 resulted in three, unprecedented interagency efforts to identify, digitize, declassify and release files related to the federal government’s investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. King,” Gabbard continued.
A news release from Gabbard’s office stated that the files released “had never been digitized and sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades.”
“I am grateful to President Trump and DNI Gabbard for delivering on their pledge of transparency in the release of these documents on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.,” stated Dr. Alveda King. “My uncle lived boldly in pursuit of truth and justice, and his enduring legacy of faith continues to inspire Americans to this day. While we continue to mourn his death, the declassification and release of these documents are a historic step towards the truth that the American people deserve.”
A civil trial in Memphis state court was held in 1999 against Loyd Jowers, a man who allegedly knew about a conspiracy plot to assassinate King. During the trial, dozens of witnesses testified before a Memphis jury that unanimously found that Jowers, along with “others, including governmental agencies,” participated in a murder plot to kill King and frame Ray.
Ryan Jones, the director of history, interpretation and curatorial services at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, stated that the newly released documents showcase exactly what information the FBI was gathering during its investigation are critical.
“That’s critical given the fact the American public, at that time, was unaware that the FBI that is involved in the investigation, was leading a smear campaign to discredit the same man while he was alive,” Jones stated. “They were the same bureau who was receiving notices of assassination attempts against King and ignored them.”
Jones questioned why the documents have been “sealed on the basis of national security, if the assassin was in prison outside of Nashville?”
Meanwhile, Lerone A. Martin, the director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, stated that he does not believe the newly released documents will include a “smoking gun that will finally say, ‘See, this is 100% evidence that the FBI was involved in this assassination.’”
“We have to view these documents with an eye of suspicion because of the extent the FBI was willing to go to, to try to discredit him,” Martin added.
Additionally, following Monday’s announcement, King’s family released a statement in response.
“During our father’s lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the family statement read. “The intent of the government’s COINTELPRO campaign was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle, and destroy Dr. King’s reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement.”
COINTELPRO, which is short for “Counter Intelligence Program,” was a series of covert and illegal projects the FBI conducted between 1956 and 1971, which the agency claims to have since discontinued.
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