Overview
- Justice Department attorneys persuaded a judge to lift a court seal early, allowing the documents to be published online.
- The trove includes extensive COINTELPRO materials, investigative leads, interviews with associates of assassin James Earl Ray and foreign intelligence notes.
- DNI Tulsi Gabbard described the digital disclosure as unprecedented and highlighted that many records were digitized for the first time.
- King’s surviving children and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference deemed the timing insensitive and urged audiences to view the files with empathy and respect for the family’s ongoing grief.
- Scholars report no major new revelations; civil rights leaders such as Rev. Al Sharpton argue the release serves to divert attention from the Jeffrey Epstein records dispute.