The Trump administration released a huge batch of previously classified documents regarding Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on Monday as Americans clamor for the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) was publishing 230,000 pages worth of documents relating to the civil rights leader’s April 1968 assassination.
The release was in accordance with Donald Trump‘s executive order earlier this year mandating the release of files on former President John F. Kennedy, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and MLK.
The files in the release had never been digitized ‘and sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades,’ according to an ODNI press release.
Their declassification and publication comes as the Trump administration has been dealing with a growing contingent of discontented MAGA devotees who are determined to see additional files on the deceased sex offender.
‘If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of the people,’ Republican firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X.
‘If not. The base will turn and there’s no going back. Dangling bits of red meat no longer satisfies. They want the whole steak dinner and will accept nothing else.’
The administration has sought to downplay the disappointment of the missing Epstein files in recent days.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. walks across the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, April 3, 1968
Social media users were quick to point out how the MLK files were released while documents regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and death remain sealed
And the timing of the MLK files immediately raised suspicions online.
‘This is nothing but a distraction from the lack of the release of the Epstein files!’ commentator Ed Krassenstein posted on X.
‘How do we get the MLK files before Epstein!’ pundit Luke Rudkowsi similarly wrote.
Despite the outcry for additional Epstein files, multiple Trump administration officials touted the release of the new documents as an act of transparency. The files were reportedly under a court-imposed seal since 1977.
The freshly released files include documents on the FBI’s investigation into MLK’s assassination, internal FBI memos about the probe’s progress and pages detailing prison testimony about the plot.
‘The American people have waited nearly sixty years to see the full scope of the federal government’s investigation into Dr. King’s assassination,’ Gabbard said in a statement.
‘Under President Trump’s leadership, we are ensuring that no stone is left unturned in our mission to deliver complete transparency on this pivotal and tragic event in our nation’s history,’ she continued. ‘I extend my deepest appreciation to the King family for their support.’
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the effort delivers ‘maximum transparency to the American people.’
Dr. Alveda King, the niece of MLK, celebrated the release.
‘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,’ she said in a statement.
DNI Tulsi Gabbard announced the release of the MLK files on Monday
The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, right, and Bishop Julian Smith, left, flank Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during a civil rights march in Memphis, Tenn., March 28, 1968
‘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.’
However, MKL’s two living children, Martin III and Bernice, seemed less enthusiastic in a statement released on Monday.
‘As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief – a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met – an absence our family has endured for over 57 years,’ they wrote.
‘We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief.’
MLK’s family also repeated again that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of King’s assassination, was not solely responsible for the plot. The family has instead claimed that they believe Ray was a scapegoat.
