White House releases files on assassination of Martin Luther King Jr

The Trump administration on July 21 made public a vast trove of documents from the investigation into the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., in keeping with US President Donald Trump's executive order demanding their release.

- Glenn Thrush and Rick Rojas

WASHINGTON -

The release of the documents, about a quarter-million pages of records posted on the National Archives website, includes notes on the leads pursued by investigators, interviews with people who interacted with assassin James Earl Ray and previously unreleased details of interactions with foreign intelligence services during the search for Ray, said Ms. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, who oversaw review of the documents.

It is not clear if the digitized files contain unflattering details about Dr. King's personal life.

Still, the release comes as Mr. Trump and his staff have sought to divert attention from the backlash on the right after his administration reversed course and did not release more files from the investigation into the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.