DNI Tulsi Gabbard Releases 230,000 MLK Files, Family Response Is Interesting

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard seems to be on a transparency tear.

She helped to fulfill another promised release on Monday: the release of the files on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Today, after nearly 60 years of questions surrounding the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are releasing 230,000 MLK assassination files, available now at https://t.co/71P3p5jBgK. The documents include details about the FBI’s investigation into the assassination… pic.twitter.com/l96t9tgYmn
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) July 21, 2025

Today, after nearly 60 years of questions surrounding the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are releasing 230,000 MLK assassination files, available now at http://archives.gov/mlk. 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.
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.

His niece, Dr. Alveda King, welcomed the action, saying in Gabbard's news release that it was a "historic step towards the truth that the American people deserve."

The response from other family members was different. Martin Luther King III, his son, and Dr. Bernice A. King, his daughter released a statement. After asking people who engage with the file to respect their grief, they cast doubt on what might be in the files because of COINTELPRO and efforts to smear MLK at the time in the 1960s.

The release of these files must be viewed within their full historical context. 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 (FBI). 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. These actions were not only invasions of privacy, but intentional assaults on the truth – undermining the dignity and freedoms of private citizens who fought for justice, designed to neutralize those who dared to challenge the status quo. [...]
While we support transparency and historical accountability, we object to any attacks on our father’s legacy or attempts to weaponize it to spread falsehoods. We strongly condemn any attempts to misuse these documents in ways intended to undermine our father’s legacy and the significant achievements of the movement. Those who promote the fruit of the FBI’s surveillance will unknowingly align themselves with an ongoing campaign to degrade our father and the Civil Rights Movement.

They also referred back to a wrongful death lawsuit in 1999, which they believe affirms that someone other than James Earl Ray was the shooter and that "Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame."

The government disagrees, based on the investigations they conducted.

We'll let you know if there are any interesting revelations in the release.

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