In another sweeping push for historical transparency, the Trump administration on Monday released more than 230,000 previously classified files related to the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The publication follows an executive order signed by President Trump earlier this year directing the National Archives to digitize and release long-suppressed records tied to the assassinations of King, President John F. Kennedy, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
The newly unveiled documents, made public through the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, include FBI reports, internal memos, and investigative leads tied to King’s murder, according to reports. Among the more sensitive disclosures are records of conversations allegedly held between James Earl Ray—the man convicted of the assassination—and a former cellmate regarding a purported plot. While the files stop short of offering definitive answers, they reopen questions that have long been buried under layers of secrecy and speculation.
Reaction from the King family was measured. Martin Luther King III and Bernice King released a joint statement welcoming transparency but cautioning against selective readings or politically motivated reinterpretations. They emphasized that their father was not merely a civil rights leader but also the target of “targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi called the release a necessary reckoning with the past. “The American people deserve answers,” Bondi said, framing the disclosures as part of a broader commitment to historical accountability under the Trump administration.
The move comes just months after the administration released a similar cache of JFK assassination files in March, marking a pattern of aggressive declassification under President Trump’s second term. Calls are now growing louder from Trump allies to extend this effort to other unresolved public controversies, including the death of Jeffrey Epstein.
