Documents / FOIA release

FOIA on Martin Luther King

Central Intelligence Agency · 2025-06-12 · 295 pages · text by OCR

This Central Intelligence Agency FOIA release, dated 2025-06-12, collects 1976 CIA paperwork on Harold Weisberg's request (76-F-382) for records on Martin Luther King, Jr. It includes routing slips, an Operations Staff memorandum listing releasable press items and exempt cables, dispatches and memoranda, and a CI Staff reply citing a 1968 Office of Security memo on Coretta Scott King. It also contains a 16 May 1968 memo to the FBI reporting that Gerald Lee Richards, investigated in Japan, did not resemble suspect James Earl Ray.

Open the PDF at page 192 Original source ↗

“King”60+ pages

  • p. 1 …The first time the Bureau sent those, they combined King-Ray docs with Kennedy assassination dogs…
  • p. 3 …Weisberg Request (Martin Luther King, Jr.) Part I REFERENCE: 76-F-382 1. This office maintains…
  • p. 5 …Martin Luther King, Jr. are releasable to the requestor. There are no exemptions. Look, 15 April…
  • p. 7 …documents which mention either Dr. or Mrs. King are held in OPS/ITG (SI) vault: 3…
  • p. 8 …3 of this cable mentions an intercepted letter addressed to President Johnson protesting the King assassination…
  • p. 9 …Martin Luther King; exempt under (b)(3)(a) and (b)(6). (e) OEPA-1097, dated 29…
  • p. 10 …an incidental mention of the name Dr. King) by or about a Jonathan Power; exempt under…
  • p. 11 …Investigation of Death of Martin Luther King, Jr. concerns a subject who did not appear to…
  • p. 12 …as being in contact with Martin Luther King; exempt under (b)(3)(a) and (b)(6…
  • p. 14 …documents which mention either Dr. or Mrs. King are held in OPS/ITG (SI) vault: 3…
  • p. 17 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. ## Para C: I cannot match the documents with the list you provided…
  • p. 20 …Martin Luther King (Request #F-76-382) In response to this request, CI Staff has no…
  • p. 21 …Stevens SUBJECT KING, Coretta Scott #541 487 AKA: Mrs. Martin Luther KINGnee: Coretta SCOTT 1. Subject…
  • p. 31 ## PRIORITY HANDLING FOIA REQUEST SUBJECT: (Optional) Martin Luther King, Jr., requested by Weisberg TO: (Officer designation…
  • p. 34 …July 1966. - A-62 (7) DDO biographic data on Martin Luther King, dated 5 November 1967.
  • p. 41 …GA-20 SUBJECT OF INDEX SEARCH SURNAME KING GIVEN NAMES Martin Luther Jr. SPELLING VARIATIONS TO…
  • p. 43 …0001 KING, MARTIN LUTHER SEX M CIT USA TO BE INTERVIEWED BY PAUL KRASSNER CONTACT OF…
  • p. 47 …DJSJ REPORTEDLY SHOT AND KILLED MARTIN LUTHER KING SUSPOSEDLY VISITED MEXICO ***LOCATOR DATA: DRUER FROM IP…
  • p. 49 …6 4. 5. SUBJECT (must be furnished): KING HO. FILE NUMBER DOCUMENT SYMBOL AND NUMBER DOCUMENT…
  • p. 50 …SUBJECT (must be furnished) King Martin HQ FILE NUMBER DOCUMENT SYMBOL AND NUMBER OUT DOCUMENT DATE…
  • p. 53 …OR SUBJECT WEISBERG request on Martin Luther King and James Earl Ray SEARCH COST (To be…
  • p. 59 …Martin Luther King, Jr. b. Earl Ray c. Other individuals involved with the assassination of Dr…
  • p. 60 …Martin Luther King, Jr. by the Dade County/Florida police (Criminal Intelligence); excluded under 1900.3…
  • p. 66 …Assassination of Martin Luther King. Subject in this memorandum is a James Ray, born 8 March…
  • p. 68 …have had something to do with Dr. King. (n) Panama City-6193 (IN-98420), dated 25…
  • p. 75 …Assassination of Martin Luther King. Subject in this memorandum is a James Ray, born 8 March…
  • p. 77 …have had something to do with Dr. King. (n) Panama City-6193 (IN-98420), dated 25…
  • p. 81 …Martin Luther King, Jr. 1. At the Attorney General's direction, a task force was established…
  • p. 87 …FBI Referral re Harold Weisberg Request on Martin Luther King, Jr. and James Earl Ray REFERENCES…
  • p. 89 …MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. 2. ANOTHER SENSITIVE RELIABLE SOURCE IN MEXICO CITY REPORTED THAT MCLAREN DEPARTED…
  • p. 91 …MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. 2. ANOTHER SENSITIVE RELIABLE SOURCE IN MEXICO CITY REPORTED THAT MCLAREN DEPARTED…
  • p. 94 …of the suspected killer of Martin Luther King, Jr, and asked for a check against visitors…
  • p. 97 …1234567 APR111968 ENGIPHERED ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. REURTELS NUMBERS TWO AND FOUR DATED APRIL…
  • p. 98 …Rap Brown advocated the death of Martin Luther King and King's assassination would benefit the…
  • p. 103 …Allegedly, they are being detained in connection with the assassination of Martin Luther King. These individuals…
  • p. 104 …MURKIN no knowledge of any connection between these individuals and the assassination of Martin Luther King…
  • p. 107 …Sullivan This is the case involving the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., 4/4/68…
  • p. 108 …and said he had killed Martin Luther King, Jr. There is no Whitefield, North Carolina. There…
  • p. 110 …Martin Luther King. Liaison advised of the receipt of information from Richard Helms, Director of CIA…
  • p. 113 …Martin Luther King. Liaison advised of the receipt of information from Richard Helms, Director of CIA…
  • p. 114 …In one on which I have paid the CIA large sums without compliance, the King assassination…
  • p. 115 …In one on which I have paid the CIA large sums without compliance, the King assassination…
  • p. 117 …Martin Luther King, Jr. 2. All records pertaining to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King…
  • p. 118 …Martin Luther King, Jr., and/or James Earl Ray and any of his alleged or suspected…
  • p. 119 …Martin Luther King, Jr., and to those dealing with James Earl Ray and any of his…
  • p. 120 …Martin Luther King, Jr. and his assassination. Because you require a down payment of half the…
  • p. 121 …Coretta King and James Earl Ray, respectively." Because Mr. Weisberg's request undoubtedly comprises records which…
  • p. 122 …receipt of the sworn waiver from Mrs. King, as mentioned in your letter of 3 December…
  • p. 123 FOIA Appeal - Harold Weisberg, for information about Martin Luther King, Jr. and James Earl Ray IPS…
  • p. 127 …Martin Luther King, Jr.: 1. All receipts for any letters, cables, documents, reports, memorandums, or other…
  • p. 128 …Coretta King Rev. Andrew Young Rev. Samuel B. Kyles Harry Wachtel 9. All notes or memorandums…
  • p. 130 …Martin Luther King, Jr. since April 15, 1975. 17. All notes, memoranda, correspondence or investigative reports…
  • p. 132 UNCLASSIFIED INTERNAL USE ONLY CONFIDENTIAL SECRET ## PRIORITY HANDLING FOIA REQUEST FBI Referral re Martin Luther King…
  • p. 140 …Association, care of the Rev. M. L. King, Dexter Ave. Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama.' The above…
  • p. 144 …Martin Luther King, Jr.: 1. All receipts for any letters, cables, documents, reports, memorandums, or other…
  • p. 145 …Coretta King Rev. Samuel B. Kyles Rev. Andrew Young Harry Wachtel 9. All notes or memorandums…
  • p. 147 …Martin Luther King, Jr. since April 15, 1975. 17. All notes, memoranda, correspondence or investigative reports…
  • p. 158 …Some disturbing parallels; assassination of M.L. King and J.F. Kennedy." Ramparts Magazine, 29 Uma…
  • p. 162 …28-31, 90. "Ruby and the King of Torto." Times Literary Supplement, 17 March 1966, p…
  • p. 164 …10. "Did Ray Kill King?" National Review, 23 April 1968, pp. 376+. "Doctor King." National Review…
## SECRET

27. Speech by Ronald Van Doren. Mr. Van Doren seems to be a follower of Governor Wallace. He began by commenting on the sad situation in a country with a judiciary where individuals have to make conjectures regarding a case as obvious as that of Bremer. There is no doubt that Bremer pulled the trigger. But one should examine the political situation at the time of his action. Wallace was by far the leading candidate in the election campaign, a threat to other candidates, and he was winning the nomination. He represented a challenge to both parties. Nothing he said could be interpreted as racist, and in the economic sense he carried wide appeal. The question which faced the other candidates was how he could be stopped from disrupting the two parties and from preventing the re-election of the President. History will show how he was stopped and why this occurred.

28. The case in defense of Wallace's civil rights was quietly dropped. No proper investigation was conducted. As usual in assassination cases there was a diary. It showed that Bremer was acting alone and was deranged. Read as a piece of literature, the diary presents Bremer as a non-person, an illiterate unable to spell. There is nothing regarding the people he worked with. Meanwhile, if one examines Bremer's background, he appears an entirely different person. Why did he travel repeatedly to Ottawa? How did he manage to carry guns on planes? What was he doing in New York? Why was he in Washington? And where did he get his funds? The apartment he rented exceeds his annual income. His mother could not afford to visit him in prison, yet he dressed well. With whom was he involved?

29. All this should be looked into. Watergate brought the electoral campaign to the fore. Why has discussion of the Bremer shooting been excluded from the investigation? Bremer was a part of the 1972 campaign, yet there is no mention of Wallace or of Bremer. Two years from now Wallace will be back.

30. Speech by Ms. Meredith Rode. Ms. Rode was very brief. She said she became interested in the killing of George Lincoln Rockwell in 1970, and that the case was built on circumstantial evidence exclusively. The case is still open, for the police believe that there was an accomplice. No funds are available for defense.

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About this file

FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 295 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.