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.

  • p. 62 …27 June 1968; Associated Press, London, dated 27 June 1968; United Press International (UPI-16), dated…
  • p. 71 …Press, London, dated 27 June 1968; 20 Associated Press, London, dated 27 June 1968; 21 United…
  • p. 155 …New York University Press, 1960. York: New York University Press, 1968. "HM and JPM: Twine of…
  • p. 156 …John Hopkins Press, 1967. Lefever, Ernest W. Uncertain Mandate. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1967, 1968. Lerner…
  • p. 158 …United Press International. Two Mrs. Kennedy. National Review. 4 April 1967, pp. 335-336. United Press…
  • p. 165 …Special Unit Senator: RFK Ammunition. New York: Random House 1970. " Conspiracial" Minority of Con, September 1968…
  • p. 171 …The had been accused of conspiring to the President of the United States is being interviewed…
  • p. 220 …COPIES PRINTED (NYT Press Rule) 9708 8300 B. FAIR CIRCULATION 1. SALES THROUGH DEALERS AND CARRIERS…
  • p. 225 # Political Assassinations in the United States Articles Published in Computers and Automation May 1970 to October…
  • p. 240 …When the striker plate is pressed against the wall or roof of the mine and the…
  • p. 245 …Part 1 of the Monthly Computer Census contains reports for United States manufacturers, A to H…
  • p. 254 …The man had been accused of conspiring to under the President of the United States was…
  • p. 262 …United States Committee for the United Nations, 1964. Horowitz, Irving L. "Kennedy's Death, Myths, and…
  • p. 263 …John Pitcherald Kennedy, 1717-1963, President of the United States of America Memorial Association at the…
  • p. 265 …United Press International United Press International. Prochure of front pages of 91 American newspapers. November 22…
  • p. 272 …Special Unit Senator: RIK Administration. New York: Random House 1975. "Minority of One, September 1758, pp…
# 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 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.