Documents / FOIA release

FOIA on Martin Luther King

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

  • p. 5 …1968; Washington Star, 23 September 1968; Los Angeles Times, 7 August 1968; 125-3+7 See…
  • p. 63 …York Times, dated 23 April 1968; Washington Post, dated 5 July 1968; Los Angeles Free Press…
  • p. 72 …York Times, dated 23 April 1968;Washington Post, dated 5 July 1968;Los Angeles Free Press…
  • p. 157 …Los Angeles: The author, 963. on. "November 22, 1963." Progressive Magazine, December 1964. ley. "What They…
  • p. 159 …Los Angeles, September 1964, pp. 1-19. (paper) Sheatsley, Paul B. and Jacob J. Feldman. "The…
  • p. 160 …Los Angeles: Associated Press 1964. Highlights of the Warren Report. Los Angeles Associated Professional Service 1964…
  • p. 161 …Warren Report Wrong, College Teacher Says." Los Angeles Times, 17 November 1967, p. 18. Warren's…
  • p. 162 …Los Angeles: University of California, 1968. Gosset, P. and R. L'homme qui crut guer Kennedy…
  • p. 164 …Los Angeles: Holloway House, 1968. Man in Room 3. Time, 12 April 1968, p. 21. "Martin…
  • p. 165 …ntoosa, Rm. "First Court Appearance; Suspect Gives Impression of Cocky, arrogant Confidence." Los Angeles Times, 9…
  • p. 238 …primarily Miami, New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin, Galveston…
  • p. 264 …Los Angeles: Bureau of International Relations, 1967. "President and Nation's Journey." Reconstruction Int. 13 December…
  • p. 266 …Los Angeles, September 1964, pp. 1-19. (paper) Sheatsley, Paul B. and Jacob J. Feldman. "The…
  • p. 267 …Los Angeles. Pould, Jan. The Weight of the Evidence: The Warren Report and its Critic. New…
  • p. 269 …Los Angeles: University of California, 1968. Gosset, P. and R. L'homme qui crut tuer Kennedy…
  • p. 271 …Los Angeles: Holloway House, 1968. "Man in Room 5." Time, 12 April 1968, p. 21. "Martin…
  • p. 272 …Worthington, Richard. "New Yorker Warp on Family, Friends Return with Body." Los Angeles Time, 7 June…

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# Administrative - Internal Use Only

15 July 1976

MEMORANDUM FOR: Office of General Counsel

ATTENTION C/FOIA/PA

SUBJECT Request For Opinion--FOIA (b)(6) & Privacy Act

REFERENCE : FOIA Request 76-382, copy attached

1. Mr. Weisberg has requested under the FOIA information on:

a. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

b. Earl Ray

c. Other individuals involved with the assassination of Dr. King.

2. To ensure consistency in making determinations for release under both the FOIA exemptions (b)(6) and the Privacy Act, of requests such as Mr. Weisberg's, would you please state the current legal criteria to apply to these type cases. Specifically, it would be helpful to the DDO to have a clearly enunciated legal opinion regarding what, if any, privacy rights the family of a deceased individual might have vis-a-vis the deceased individual. Further, what, if any, privacy rights does a convicted felon have.

3. We are aware that each case must be judged on its own facts. Hence, we would be grateful for your opinion regarding the criteria to apply to Mr. Weisberg's request. However, a general rule applicable to the type of request also would be very useful, would expedite the processing of such requests, and would apply some consistency in the decision-making process.

Charles A. Briggs Chief, Services Staff

Attachment: Reference

cc: Paul Haefner, OPS/ITG

Administrative - Internal Use Only

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About this file

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