The White House has released over 230,000 pages of once-classified files related to the assassination of United States civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The files largely reinforce the longstanding official conclusion that James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin, acted alone with no conclusive evidence of a broader conspiracy. However, the release comes amid intense scrutiny over Trump‘s decision to withhold documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, sparking accusations of selective transparency.
Critics argue that Trump’s choice to release the MLK files while withholding the Epstein documents undermines his claims of wanting to provide transparency and truth. This perceived inconsistency has fueled claims of hypocrisy, with many questioning Trump’s motivations and commitment to openness. The Trump administration’s decision to release the MLK files has been met with skepticism from some scholars, who argue that the release may be more about politics than a genuine desire for transparency.
The MLK files include internal memos, wiretap transcripts, informant reports, and correspondence from then-FBI Director J Edgar Hoover and senior officials. These documents reveal the FBI’s extensive surveillance campaign against King, including efforts to discredit and intimidate him in the years leading up to his assassination. The files also show that the FBI considered multiple suspects beyond Ray but dropped those leads.
The FBI’s operation against King was primarily conducted under the Counterintelligence Program, known as COINTELPRO, a covert initiative launched by the FBI under Hoover in 1956. COINTELPRO targeted various organizations, but its focus on King and the broader civil rights movement intensified in the early 1960s. The FBI labeled King a national security threat, suspecting communist influence within the civil rights movement, although no such ties were ever substantiated.
In a statement, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said, “The American people deserve answers decades after the horrific assassination of one of our nation’s great leaders.” Trump’s order for the files to be released said it was in the “national interest” to release the records. “Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth,” it said. However, the perceived inconsistency in Trump’s actions has raised questions about his commitment to transparency and honesty.