Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she’s worried the Trump administration’s federal education funding freeze could mean “closing schools” in her home state.

“Many of our school districts have already made really hard decisions about closing schools,” Murkowski said in the wake of three of Alaska’s school districts suing the Trump administration for freezing more than roughly $6 billion in congressionally authorized federal education funding nationwide.

“Both in Fairbanks and Anchorage, we’ve seen layoffs,” Murkowski said.

Earlier this month, the Anchorage School District announced in a letter to the community that the district had already begun laying off some staff members after $46 million was impacted by the pause. The district receives about a third of the state’s federal education funds, according to Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt.

“I wish I could say that we were really solid on the state level, but we’re not. And now there’s questions on the federal level as well,” Murkowski added.

Murkowski and nine other Republican senators signed onto a letter last week requesting the Trump administration reverse the funding pause, which they said prompted the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to unfreeze more than $1 billion in after-school and summer learning funding.

However, OMB did not indicate whether it would be unfreezing the rest of the roughly $6 billion in federal funds for programs, such as English language learning, educator development and adult education, among others.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., led the group of 10 senators signing on to the letter. She told ABC News that she hopes the administration can successfully restore all education funding to states by time school starts.

“I’d like to see some of the other programs released, but, you know, we haven’t heard one way or the other,” Moore Capito told ABC News.

School district leaders are now scrambling due to the uncertainty, according to state officials who’ve spoken to ABC News. At least two dozen states, several school districts and education advocacy groups have now sued the administration over the funding freeze.

An OMB spokesman said the funds are under review for “grossly” misusing programs that promote “radial leftwing agendas.”

But Murkowski slammed the administration for contending that districts in Alaska pushed programs with radical ideology. She said the programs are not “woke or ideologically out of line.”

Murkowski fears the programmatic review from the OMB — the stated reason for the freeze — could stretch into the school year, suggesting it would harm adult and English language learners the most. The delayed funding could in turn impact the workforce, according to Murkowski.

“If your literacy skills are weak, if you’re working on your English skills, I mean, these are all things that are keeping people out of the workforce at a time when we’re trying to get people into it,” Murkowski said, adding “So I am very worried.”

Since the funding pause ensued on July 1, North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven said he has been hearing from concerned educators in his state as well.

Hoeven was relieved when the after-school and summer learning grants were unfrozen because they, too, help the workforce, he said.

With funding for those programs secured, parents won’t have to make other arrangements for their children, potentially missing work to do so, Hoeven told ABC News. “That was the one that was most timely.”

Hoeven and Murkowski said they’re reaching out to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, hoping she can help release the additional funding to schools. OMB hasn’t made a decision yet on how long its review will take.

ABC News has reached out to the Education Department for comment.

Meanwhile, Arkansas Republican Sen. John Boozman said at this point unfreezing any aid is a positive first step.

“The good news is that we are moving in the right direction,” Boozman told ABC News.

“Hopefully we can get them [the rest of funding] restored as soon as possible.”

As the school year approaches, Murkowski stressed that the administration must move quickly.

“I don’t want to call it cuts yet, because my hope is that they’re just unpaused and that they are going to materialize,” she said.

The senator, who grew up in Alaska and raised her children there, told ABC News that she is hopeful McMahon understands that rural communities will suffer without critical education programs.

“It’s just kind of making it real to her,” Murkowski said, adding, “I know we’re worried in Alaska, and I have to assume it’s the same all over the country.”

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Miami elections could proceed this year as originally planned, after a judge ruled that city officials could not push elections back to 2026 without voter approval.

The ruling comes after the Miami city council voted 3-2, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez signed off, to cancel November’s elections and hold them in 2026 instead. They argued the alignment with statewide elections would lower costs and increase turnout. The decision was met with pushback for being done via ordinance rather than a vote from the public.

Suarez and council members faced accusations, including from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, of deciding to extend their own time in office, some beyond legal term limits.

Mayoral candidate Emilio Gonzalez filed a lawsuit on June 30, challenging the decision, calling it “unconstitutional” and a “blatant power grab.”

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Valerie R. Manno Schurr ruled in favor of Gonzalez on Monday, saying the city did not have the authority to shift elections without voter approval.

“The Court declares that the City of Miami cannot change the dates of municipal elections or the terms of offices for the City’s elected officials without amending the City of Miami Municipal Charter … which requires approval by the electorate,” Schurr wrote in her opinion.

DeSantis lauded Monday’s decision. He previously called the attempt to postpone the elections “wrong” and said he hoped to see “a swift legal response.”

“City of Miami politicians voted to defy term limits, cancel this year’s scheduled election, and extend their own terms in office — all without voter approval. Today, a judge has put the kibosh on the scheme,” DeSantis wrote on X. “Great to see the law and common sense prevail.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who had issued a legal opinion on June 11 supporting Gonzalez’s argument, also weighed in on social media.

“Thrilled that the Court agreed with our legal opinion on the City of Miami’s unconstitutional attempt at moving back an election without voter approval,” Uthmeier wrote.

Another amicus brief supporting Gonzalez’s came come from former Miami mayor and current Commissioner Joseph Carollo. Carollo was one of the two commissioners who voted against shifting the elections.

The court’s ruling offers declaratory relief but not injunctive relief, meaning Miami is legally in the wrong but has not been explicitly ordered not to postpone its elections. However, Florida State University Law Professor Michael Morley said “if push comes to shove, the court can just enter injunctive relief” at any time.

The city is appealing Schurr’s decision.

“While we respectfully disagree with the trial court’s decision, we are confident in the strength of our case and remain optimistic about the outcome on appeal,” City Attorney George Wysong wrote in the appeal notice.

Morley said he thought the appeal was “extremely unlikely” to succeed.

Speaking prior to the ruling, University of Miami Law Professor Charlton Copeland said due to the nature of the dispute, the suit would be able to move through the courts “fairly quickly.”

“These are clean legal arguments about what law governs… these aren’t procedurally complicated issues,” Copeland said.

Aubrey Jewett, a professor at the University of Central Florida, said the choice to hold elections on even or odd years involves a “trade off.”

Odd-year elections might have lower turnout, but “a greater emphasis on local issues that people are actually looking at and voting on.” In even years, local concerns might be drowned out by state or federal issues despite a higher turnout, Jewett told ABC News.

Even as elections could go forward this year as planned, Jewett said harm has been done to Miami’s political culture already because the postponement decision was pushed without voter input.

“The local politics has long had a reputation for being sort of an insider’s game, and that a relatively few number of people have a lot of influence,” Jewett said. “I think that for a lot of Miami residents, it will breed even more cynicism and distrust.”

 

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and the White House are already working behind the scenes on next year’s midterm elections, where Trump will play a heavy role in recruiting, fundraising and messaging, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.

The White House plans to spend this year and next selling the president’s massive tax and spending bill to voters ahead of the midterm elections, the White House official told ABC News.

Trump and members of his Cabinet will travel to battleground states to promote the bill. Just last week, Vice President JD Vance was in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, to tout the signature legislation.

The White House is also planning a retreat in August for congressional staffers to discuss how to promote the bill and is seeking candidates to run in several key races. Trump is also expected to get involved if a prospective candidate is hesitant to enter the race.

According to the White House official, aides of the president are working to recruit someone to run in New Hampshire for the state’s open Senate seat. The effort comes after the state’s popular former governor, Chris Sununu, who had been mulling a run for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, said in early April that he had decided not to run.

White House political director Matt Brasseaux also has been attending House candidate recruitment meetings organized by Georgia GOP Rep. Brian Jack.

Trump’s political operation has continued to raise money and the president has told congressional Republicans that he plans to spend money on their races. The president’s political operation will also soon establish fundraising vehicles for candidates in several notable races, allowing Trump’s team to raise funds for them. Trump is also planning to headline a major fundraiser organized by the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., in the fall.

The president and the White House are also working to keep Republicans in key races from retiring or seeking other offices.

The White House is working to prevent Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst from retiring, the White House official said. The efforts come after she received criticism, telling voters during a town hall, “We all are going to die,” in response to concerns about cuts to Medicaid in Trump’s megabill. Ernst has not announced her 2026 plans.

As the most powerful person in the Republican Party, Trump plans to use his political clout to influence the primaries to ensure that the party nominates the candidate he views as the most electable or to punish Republicans who have angered him.

Trump recently met with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to discuss the state’s Senate primary for the seat now occupied by Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. The White House aims to avoid a messy primary in the critical battleground state and is determining how to engage in the race.

Trump has pushed for Republicans to redraw congressional districts in Texas to create more GOP seats to pick up in the midterms. Trump encouraged members of Texas’ congressional delegation during a recent call to support his plan and his team is also exploring other states for possible redistricting opportunities. If successful, Republicans could gain five new seats, but the move comes with risks.

California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom has said that he has spoken to state lawmakers about calling a special session to initiate changes to state law to redraw districts in response to developments in Texas.

“If we’re gonna play fair in a world that is wholly unfair, we may have the higher moral ground, but the ground is shifting from underneath us. And I think we have to wake up to that reality,” Newsom said.
 

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(NEW YORK) — The federal judge now overseeing the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury records from Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal case said in a new order Tuesday that he plans to rule “expeditiously” on the matter but requires more information before he can do so.

“The Court intends to resolve this motion expeditiously,” District Judge Paul Engelmayer said in a four-page order, filed Tuesday. “However, the Court cannot rule on the motion without additional submissions,” the order also said.

Engelmayer is asking for further briefing from the Justice Department after he said their initial motion “does not adequately address” what the filing said is a “non-exhaustive list of factors for district courts to weigh in considering applications for disclosure” of such secret grand jury information.

Engelmayer gave the government until July 29 to submit a brief further outlining their justification for seeking the release of the records, which he said should address whether they have already reviewed grand jury transcripts from Maxwell’s case and whether they provided notice to victims prior to their motion to unseal the records.

The order also directs the government to file under seal an index of Maxwell grand jury transcript materials, the transcripts themselves and a proposed redacted set of the transcripts, as well as other items.

Separately, Judge Engelmayer set a deadline of Aug. 5 for Maxwell’s attorneys and victims in the case to address their positions regarding the disclosure of the grand jury transcripts.

President Donald Trump announced last week that he’d ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of additional Epstein material following pushback from conservatives and others for more transparency in the case.

Bondi said Monday that Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche will meet with Ghislaine Maxwell sometime in the “coming days.”

“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in a statement posted by Bondi on X.

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(NEW YORK) — The daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. said the White House should make public the files on financier-turned-sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after the Trump administration released thousands of files on her father’s 1968 assassination over objections from her and other relatives of the civil rights leader.

“Now, do the Epstein Files,” Bernice King, CEO of The King Center in Atlanta, wrote in a social media post on X on Monday night.

Bernice King’s social media post, accompanied by a black-and-white photo of her late father, came after she and her brother, Martin Luther King III, issued a statement on the government’s release on Monday of 230,000 files related to their father’s assassination.

“As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met — an absence our family has endured for over 57 years,” the children of the civil rights’ leader said in their statement. “We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief.”

On Monday, Tulsi Gabbard, the White House National Intelligence director, announced the release of the King assassination files in accordance with President Donald Trump’s Jan. 23 executive order to declassify records concerning the assassinations of King, President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

Gabbard said the files were being made public in coordination with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA and the National Archives.

Gabbard said the King files include records that have “never been digitized and sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades.”

“The American people have waited nearly sixty years to see the full scope of the federal government’s investigation into Dr. King’s assassination,” Gabbard said in a statement. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are ensuring that no stone is left unturned in our mission to deliver complete transparency on this pivotal and tragic event in our nation’s history. I extend my deepest appreciation to the King family for their support.”

In her statement, Gabbard included quotes from Alveda King, Martin Luther King’s niece and a former Georgia state representative.

“My uncle lived boldly in pursuit of truth and justice, and his enduring legacy of faith continues to inspire Americans to this day. While we continue to mourn his death, the declassification and release of these documents are a historic step towards the truth that the American people deserve,” said Alveda King, a supporter of President Trump.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network civil rights organization, criticized the release of the King assassination records as a “desperate attempt to distract people from the firestorm engulfing Trump over the Epstein files.”

“The integrity of Dr. King’s legacy can and will not be weaponized to serve Trump’s cynical agenda,” Sharpton said. “I urge the public to see this for what it is and not fall for the bait and switch.”

Trump has come under criticism recently from his own supporters for not releasing the files on Epstein, who died from suicide in 2019 in a federal detention center in New York City where he was being held while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Trump, who once had a friendly relationship with Epstein, said last week that he has urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to release “whatever she thinks is credible” about the Epstein files.

The president also told reporters that he doesn’t understand why some of his supporters are so interested in the “sordid, but boring” contents of the Epstein files. He added, “I think, really, only pretty bad people, including the fake news, want to keep something like that going.”

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(WASHINGTON) –Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday that Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche will meet with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sometime in the “coming days.”

“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in the statement posted by Bondi on X.

Blanche also said that the joint statement from the Justice Department and FBI on July 6 — which stated they would not release any additional files on Epstein and that they determined there was no Epstein “client list” — “remains as accurate today as it was when it was written.”

“Namely, that in the recent thorough review of the files maintained by the FBI in the Epstein case, no evidence was uncovered that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” Blanche said.

He added that up “until now, no administration on behalf of the Department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government.”

The statement comes as a growing chorus of lawmakers have called for Maxwell to testify about her relationship with Epstein, and while the department is actively opposing Maxwell’s efforts to appeal her conviction for conspiring with and aiding Epstein in his sexual abuse of underage girls.

David Oscar Markus, the appellate counsel for Maxwell, confirmed to ABC News that they are in talks with the government.

“I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government, and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully,” Markus said. “We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”

Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022.

Amid growing calls from Republicans to release the Epstein files, an Oversight subcommittee approved a motion on Tuesday morning to direct Chairman James Comer to issue a subpoena for Maxwell testimony.

The motion was offered by Republican Rep. Tim Burchett during an unrelated hearing in the Subcommittee on Government Operations. Burchett’s motion was approved by a voice vote with only a few members present in the room.

“It’s about to get real,” Rep. Burchett posted on X.

Comer said he plans to subpoena Maxwell “as expeditiously as possible,” according to a committee spokeswoman.

“Since Ms. Maxwell is in federal prison, the Committee will work with the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons to identify a date when Committee can depose her,” the spokeswoman said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson brought up the Epstein files during a GOP House news conference Tuesday and reiterated his calls to release the files, but emphasized that there needs to be protection for the victims.

“There are innocent victims of those sex crimes,” Johnson told reporters.

Johnson also slammed Democrats for calling out the administration for not being transparent in the Epstein case.

“What we refuse to do is participate in the Democrats’ political games,” he said.

Several hours later, when asked about the meeting between Maxwell and Blanche, Trump said he “doesn’t know a thing” about it, but said the meeting “sounds appropriate to do.”

“I don’t really follow that too much,” Trump said, calling the demand for the release of the files to be a “witch hunt.”

Last week, President Donald Trump ordered the DOJ to “release all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to Court Approval,” he said on social media.

The DOJ requested in its filing, which was signed by Bondi and Blanche, for the court to “conclude that the Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell cases qualify as a matter of public interest, release the associated grand jury transcripts, and lift preexisting protective orders.”

ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) –Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday that Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche will meet with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted associate of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sometime in the “coming days.”

“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in the statement posted by Bondi on X.

Blanche also said that the joint statement from the Justice Department and FBI on July 6 — which stated they would not release any additional files on Epstein and that they determined there was no Epstein “client list” — “remains as accurate today as it was when it was written.”

“Namely, that in the recent thorough review of the files maintained by the FBI in the Epstein case, no evidence was uncovered that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” Blanche said.

He added that up “until now, no administration on behalf of the Department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government.”

The statement comes as a growing chorus of lawmakers have called for Maxwell to testify about her relationship with Epstein, and while the department is actively opposing Maxwell’s efforts to appeal her conviction for conspiring with and aiding Epstein in his sexual abuse of underage girls.

David Oscar Markus, the appellate counsel for Maxwell, confirmed to ABC News that they are in talks with the government.

“I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government, and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully,” Markus said. “We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”

Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022.

Last week, President Donald Trump ordered the DOJ to “release all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to Court Approval,” he said on social media.

The DOJ requested in its filing, which was signed by Bondi and Blanche, for the court to “conclude that the Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell cases qualify as a matter of public interest, release the associated grand jury transcripts, and lift preexisting protective orders.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Another week, another stalemate in the House of Representatives over releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The GOP-led Rules Committee — which was working on advancing a slate of unrelated bills — came to a halt Monday evening because Democrats announced their plan to force a committee vote on bipartisan legislation that would call for the release of the Epstein files.

Republicans on the panel decided to recess the meeting with lawmakers saying there were no plans to reconvene at all. South Carolina GOP Rep. Ralph Norman said Monday he and the other Republicans on the committee did not want to vote on Democrats’ Epstein amendments, calling the effort “grandstanding.”

Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters it was “unlikely” the committee would meet this week at all.

This means that House Republicans will not hold votes this week on several key measures, including an immigration bill and legislation to establish new ZIP codes, because Democrats on the panel continue to force tough votes over releasing the Epstein files.

The House plans to depart for a long August recess on Thursday without holding votes on the planned measures. The lower chamber can still vote on measures under suspension, which requires a two-thirds majority.

With no action by the Rules Committee, the House will vote on two minor bills both under suspension on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Republicans also plan to meet behind closed doors Tuesday morning for their weekly conference meeting, which is followed by a news conference from Speaker Mike Johnson.

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(WASHINGTON) — A coalition of school districts — including Alaska’s largest school district — and advocacy groups has sued President Donald Trump’s administration over the $6 billion funding freeze to congressionally appropriated education programs.

The news comes just days after nine Republican senators and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski conducted a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump’s education policies, urging the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought to reverse the decision to withhold aid for key programs, such as English language acquisition, teacher development and student support.

OMB told ABC News in a statement that many of the programs “grossly misused” government funds to promote a “radical leftwing agenda.” However, the GOP senators’ letter said the decision to pause this funding was “contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” and they didn’t believe any leftwing agenda programs were being administered in their states.

Within 48 hours, the Trump administration had unfrozen more than a billion dollars for critical after-school and summer education programming nationwide, a senior administration official told ABC News.

Murkowski celebrated the initial funding release but noted it doesn’t go far enough.

“The pause of these funds caused great concern for families across the nation, and I am relieved to know that our young people will have enriching opportunities to stay engaged outside of the classroom,” Murkowski wrote in a statement to ABC News. “While this news is welcome, it is frustrating that many additional funds Alaska school districts are relying on from the Department of Education remain in limbo,” she said.

ABC News has reached out to the Trump administration for additional comment.

A pause on the total $6 billion funding happened on July 1, when federal aid for schools is typically allocated each year. However, states were notified on June 30 that an ongoing programmatic review of education funding would occur, according to a Department of Education memo sent to Congress, obtained by ABC News. School districts and programs have been concerned that programs and staff could be eliminated if funding isn’t restored.

The case, Anchorage School District et al. v. Department of Education et al., is led by multiple Alaska school districts and affiliates of the American Federation of Teachers. In it, the plaintiffs argue that the administration’s recent actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act, the Impoundment Control Act, and the constitutional separation of powers.

The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 says Congress must consider and review executive branch withholdings of budget authority, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The GAO website says the Administrative Procedure Act prescribes the minimum procedural steps an agency must follow in its administrative proceedings.

The school districts’ suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island. It comes in the wake of two dozen state attorneys general and Democratic governors suing the administration for withholding education funding using the same claims.

“It’s against the Constitution,” North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, one of the AGs involved in the suit, told ABC News. “It’s against the Impoundment Act. From a legal standpoint, this is not a hard case,” he added.

AFT President Randi Weingarten called the freeze an attempt to “lawlessly” defund education through rampant government overreach.

“It’s not only morally repugnant: the administration lacks the legal right to sacrifice kids’ futures at the altar of ideology,” Weingarten wrote in a statement to ABC News.

“The Department of Education is holding hostage billions of dollars from American communities,” according to Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward — a public education advocacy nonprofit representing the plaintiffs.

“This is an unconstitutional and unlawful power grab that puts extreme agendas over the well-being of students and denies communities the educational resources that Congress intended them to have,” Perryman added in a statement to ABC News.

Earlier this month, the Anchorage School District announced in a letter to the community that the district had already begun laying off some staff members after $46 million was impacted by the pause. The district receives about a third of the state’s federal education funds, according to Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt.

Several state education leaders who’ve spoken to ABC News say that they’re scrambling to prevent immediate harm to students as the school year approaches. OMB has not given a timeline for when the programmatic review for the other education programs will be completed.

Meanwhile, Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green applauded the Republican efforts to reverse the funding pause, stressing this is not a political issue.

“We are one United States of America,” Infante-Green told ABC News. “These dollars are important to every single student in every single state. This is what we need,” she said.

“We need people to speak up. We need people to be brave, to have the conversation and advocate for our kids, to put politics aside and make this one of their number one issues.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Monday announced the release of 230,000 files related to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

“Today, after nearly 60 years of questions surrounding the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are releasing 230,000 MLK assassination files, available now at http://archives.gov/mlk,” Gabbard wrote in a post on X. “The documents include details about the FBI’s investigation into the assassination of MLK, discussion of potential leads, internal FBI memos detailing the progress of the case, information about James Earl Ray’s former cellmate who stated he discussed with Ray an alleged assassination plot, and more.”

King, a Baptist minister from Atlanta and the country’s most famous civil rights activist, was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968 at the age of 39.

James Earl Ray, a convicted robber and prison escapee, was identified as King’s killer after his fingerprint was found on the rifle used in the assassination and discarded near the murder scene. Police believe Ray shot King from a boarding house across from the Lorraine Motel after stalking the civil rights leader for more than two weeks.

In March 1969, Ray pleaded guilty to King’s murder to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, where he died in 1998.

Following Monday’s announcement, King’s family called for the documents’ release to be “viewed within their full historical context.”

“During our father’s lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),” his family said in a statement. “The intent of the government’s COINTELPRO campaign was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle, and destroy Dr. King’s reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement.”

The family said that as it reviews the released files, “we will assess whether they offer additional insights beyond the findings our family has already accepted.” They also said they “strongly condemn any attempts to misuse these documents in ways intended to undermine our father’s legacy and the significant achievements of the movement.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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