Trump Administration Releases FBI Records on MLK Jr.
The release includes more than 230,000 pages of records detailing the FBI's investigation into King's assassination, including internal bureau memos, foreign intelligence cables, and previously unpublished material related to James Earl Ray, the man who pleaded guilty to King's assassination before recanting.
It was not immediately clear if the documents would reveal any new information about King's murder or his life.
King's family released a statement on Monday urging the public to view the files 'within their full historical context,' noting the personal nature of the matter. They also reiterated their belief that Ray was not solely responsible for King's death.
'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 in a statement reviewed by The Associated Press. '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.'
In a statement, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard described the release as a 'historic step' that fulfills President Donald Trump's Executive Order issued in January that directed agencies to declassify and publish assassination records related to King, President John F. Kennedy, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
'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. '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. I extend my deepest appreciation to the King family for their support.'
The files were originally not scheduled for public release until 2027, 50 years after they were put under court-ordered seal.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while visiting Memphis. In the lead-up to his death, he had increasingly turned his focus toward economic justice and opposition to the Vietnam War, drawing heightened scrutiny from political leaders and law enforcement. Then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover authorized an aggressive campaign of wiretaps, hotel room bugs, and disinformation intended to discredit King and undermine the civil rights movement.
Though Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination, he later tried to withdraw the plea and insisted he was not involved. Members of King's family have long expressed doubts about Ray's role, with Coretta Scott King and others publicly calling for a broader investigation into possible government involvement. A Justice Department inquiry concluded in 2000 that there was no evidence to support those assertions.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King co-founded in 1957, opposed the release, arguing that the FBI illegally surveilled King and other civil rights figures.
The timing of the MLK files' release has raised questions, as the Trump Administration is currently facing pressure over its refusal to release additional files related to the federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who died in custody in 2019. Trump last week ordered the release of limited grand jury testimony but declined to unseal the full case file, prompting frustration among his supporters.
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CNN
21 minutes ago
- CNN
Analysis: Trump bludgeoned the EU on trade. Good luck doing the same to China
President Donald Trump isn't going to bulldoze China on trade like he did Europe. Two days after the EU agreed to a framework trade deal with the White House that some of the bloc's national leaders regard as a capitulation, Trump's negotiators left talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping's team in Sweden with no breakthrough. Following a flurry of trade deal announcements celebrated by the administration, China and the US are expected to carry on talking. But the lack of significant progress was a blunt reminder of China's power, the stakes it sees in standing up to Trump and how efforts to remake global trade will be incomplete without a deal with Beijing. Instead of another win, Trump's negotiators on Wednesday will present him with a proposal to extend a pause on historic mutual tariff hikes, which would otherwise hit on August 12. The president has a choice: either approve more time for more talks, which would suit Beijing, or revive a disastrous superpower trade war. It's hardly a choice at all. 'We're just going to give him the facts, and then he will decide,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who along with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer led the US delegation in Stockholm, told CNBC Tuesday. No one is denying Trump's on a roll with trade. He can justifiably claim significant political victories with a series of framework deals with the EU, the UK, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines that favor the United States by imposing one-sided tariffs. Trump's bet that other nations and trading blocs would have no option but to, in his words, pay more for access to the mighty American market has paid off. And, in his trade deals, he successfully opened up some previously closed markets to American manufacturers. Trump has long regarded Europeans as freeloading off American power. He's made good on his promise to substantially reinvent the transatlantic relationship, securing a 15% tariff on the EU's exports while forcing NATO members to agree to steep increases in defense spending by 2035. His hunch that allies are so beholden to the US on security that they'd fold on trade was spot-on. Trump is also flouting the conventional wisdom of most economic experts, and he's fractured the global free trade and low tariff system in imposing some of the highest duties since the 1930s. And so far, the global economic disaster that many predicted has not materialized. Most remarkably, he's acted to impose a personal obsession he's nursed since the 1980s — tariffs. But it may only be halftime. Many of the expected consequences of this new radical US trade policy are yet to kick in, including higher prices for American consumers that could quickly sour voters on the president's approach. Goldman Sachs estimates that it could take up to eight months for price hikes to show up. Other consequences of Trump's trade romp will also take time to become obvious. That's not stopping the administration's triumphalism. 'No one's moved as fast as the world has moved with respect to Donald Trump. He has moved the world in a way that no one can imagine,' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBNC. 'He's done this in six months; this is amazing.' But China is looming in the path of Trump's victory lap. And the president may have met his match in Xi. He faces none of the constraints that spiked the trade guns of Europe — which was wary of antagonizing Trump and risking its military umbrella and its need for US support on Ukraine. And China's resistance is grounded in economics, sovereignty and politics that are existential for its Communist Party regime. No Chinese leader — especially one like Xi, who built his power on nationalism and restoring what Beijing sees as its rightful dignity and respect — can capitulate to an American president in a trade negotiation. China's centralized political structure, unlike the often-fractious 27-nation EU, also gives it stability. It also has cards to play that can hold the US economy hostage — including its dominance of the production of rare earth elements used in the manufacture of smartphones, smart weapons, satellites and aviation engines. China reacted to Trump's initial declaration of a trade war by blocking the export of the vital elements. It has since reopened the market, but the Trump administration is still complaining that Beijing is taking too long to approve all rare earth applications for US companies. But the fact that rare earths are a Trump card for Xi is not lost on anyone. Decades ago, China's isolated leaders didn't understand US politics. That's no longer the case. And it would not be surprising if they've already concluded that if they stand up to Trump, he'll back down. Calling China's bluff in these circumstances would be a massive gamble. It's not that China wants a trade war or would not be hurt by one. Its economy is plagued by problems. But its authoritarian system means Xi can impose more pain on his people than Trump might risk inflicting on Americans. It was almost alone among global trading powers in ignoring Bessent's admonition not to retaliate after Trump's tariff outburst in April. Bruce Stokes, a visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, argued that Trump's desire to visit Beijing later this year for a summit with Xi could also be crucial. 'This is not just about economics. (Trump) wants to be tough on China, I think that's indisputable,' said Stokes. 'But I think he wants even more so to have the opportunity to go mano a mano in Beijing, both for the optics of it and he believes he's a dealmaker who can strike a deal.' Stokes added: 'The Chinese experts I talk to think that the Chinese think that this guy can be manipulated. 'This guy, you can play him, and we'll see what happens.'' Trump's zeal for one-on-one dealmaking is antithetical to the protocol-laden approach of the Chinese. Chinese negotiators seek to shield their leader by ironing out agreements at lower levels. Trump's team seeks to set up theirs for grand photo-ops that fuel his 'Art of the Deal' ego. There's zero chance that Xi would fly to a meeting with Trump and improvise an agreement, then dole out sycophantic praise for his dealmaking as top European official Ursula von der Leyen did at the weekend. Bessent told CNBC that there was extensive 'pregame' planning in Stockholm, starting with 75 Chinese officials, compared with the 15 in the US delegation. Eventually, the teams were whittled down for the nitty gritty involving Bessent, Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. The Treasury chief insisted that the talks had made 'good progress' toward the US position on a 'clunky' Chinese system of controls on rare earth exports. Vice Premier He said that the talks were constructive and that the two sides would continue to push for a 90-day extension of the pause on reciprocal tariffs. But Bessent cautioned that China had jumped the gun on the pause before Trump weighs in. Of course, presidents make the ultimate decision in foreign policy. But this may be mostly optics. Trump needs to be seen as the big guy. But it's also a measure of his chaotic volatility that nothing is for certain unless he signs off. China's imperviousness to Trump's box of trade tricks is not the only reason why administration gloating is premature. Trade agreements are usually complex, running to thousands of pages after exhaustive negotiations between trade lawyers. The superficial framework agreements released by the White House, by contrast, show that nettlesome disputes in deals with EU and other trade competitors are unresolved. Such skimpy agreements could easily fall apart. Trump might also react to foot-dragging on details by lashing out with tariffs. And recriminations boiling within Europe mean it's not certain that the agreement reached on Sunday in Scotland will survive. Trump's business, personal and political life has always existed in a perpetual cycle of postponing reckonings. It's therefore typical that while he's touting his winning streak on trade now, he has no idea what lies ahead. It will take time to judge how the almost-certain rises in consumer prices will impact the economy. And the shock of tariffs will take months to work through supply chains and procurement schedules drawn up years in advance. This explains why Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is loath to slash interest rates despite Trump's fury. 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But Carney can make things difficult for Trump. A sudden spurt of inflation early next year, perhaps triggered by the Federal Reserve chief Trump will appoint when Powell's term ends, could also undermine the fragile foundation on which the president's trade wins rest. This all explains why a real deal with China is so important. And Beijing knows it, so it's unlikely to fold.
Associated Press
21 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to headline signature South Carolina GOP event
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Washington Post
21 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to headline signature South Carolina GOP event
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is set to headline the latest iteration of an event previously billed as the largest annual gathering of Republicans in South Carolina, a state traditionally key to picking the GOP's presidential nominees, and one in which she already has deep relationships. Rep. Sheri Biggs of South Carolina's 3rd District told The Associated Press that Sanders would be the featured speaker at her Salute to Liberty, slated to take place Aug. 18 in Anderson. In an interview last week, Biggs said she felt the governor 'represents what the people in the 3rd District believe in, our morals, just down-to-earth hardworking people that love the Lord and want to live in peace with their families and uphold our conservative values.' Historically a catalyst for Republican White House hopefuls, the South Carolina venue provides Sanders a chance to introduce herself to a large number — typically around 2,000 — of party activists. It's also a crowd with which President Donald Trump — whom she served as press secretary during his first administration — remains popular. Sanders, whose name comes up among potential 2028 presidential contenders , has been making trips to South Carolina since her father, former Arkansas governor and current U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, sought the 2008 GOP nomination. She's recently been in other early-voting states herself, including a speech earlier this month at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, an annual event held by a conservative Christian group. For years, the South Carolina occasion was billed as Rep. Jeff Duncan's Faith & Freedom BBQ, a fundraiser benefiting his reelection campaign. In a conservative-rich area, it became a showcase for future White House contenders, including then-Vice President Mike Pence , Sens. Ted Cruz , Tim Scott and Marco Rubio, and former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley . The barbecue was upended just weeks after the 2023 event, when Duncan's wife filed for divorce, saying the congressman left her, was having a sexual relationship with a lobbyist and had been unfaithful before during their 35-year marriage. Last year, Duncan opted not to seek reelection to an eighth term, following the 2023 diminishment of his reputation for conservative family values. In her first political run, Biggs — a nurse practitioner and Air National Guard officer — defeated a Trump-backed primary opponent last year. Mark Burns, a Black pastor who has been by Trump's side for nearly a decade, had unsuccessfully run for Congress twice before. Biggs easily won the general election in the district, which has been in GOP hands since Republican Lindsey Graham, who is now seeking his fifth U.S. Senate term, won it in 1994. Six months into her first term, Biggs said that she knew she wanted a district-unifying event of her own, as well as one that could continue to act as a showcase for potential GOP presidential candidates seeking to get to know its voters. 'I do want people to know that I'm here to serve this district, and that means making myself available and being out front and accessible to our voters, and hearing their needs,' she said. 'I'm here to serve the district, and that doesn't just mean everybody who voted for me.' In some ways, Biggs' event will be familiar. It's being held in the same venue as Duncan's barbecue, a civics center in Anderson, and there will still be $1 tickets for law enforcement officers and first responders. As for the menu, Biggs said she'll be shifting away from the buffet line of barbecue, baked beans and rolls, with a catered, 'more of a sit-down type of dinner.' 'It's not so much that I don't think the barbecue was great, I just want my own identity,' Biggs said. 'I want people to realize that it's a new ballgame, and I want to move forward on my own accord.' ___ Kinnard can be reached at
