Overview

• The documents encompass FBI investigation files, federal police reports, international manhunt records for James Earl Ray and testimony from one of his cellmates.
• The publication fulfills the January executive order to declassify assassination archives of JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King Jr.
• King’s children expressed concern that the detailed materials could be manipulated to undermine his civil rights achievements and reiterated doubts about Ray’s guilt.
• Historians report finding few significant revelations and caution that some FBI records may reflect biases or fabrications under J. Edgar Hoover.
• Key items such as FBI wiretap recordings remain sealed until 2027 under existing embargoes.