CIA Denied Link to James Earl Ray But Quietly Coordinated on MLK Files with Justice, Congress
Newly declassified records show that the CIA, while publicly denying any connection to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassin, James Earl Ray, internally reviewed Ray-related operational files in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and congressional investigators.
The disclosure reveals a quiet but deliberate effort by the Agency to manage the flow of information during a politically sensitive period.
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| Image Source: Gerald Posener |
While the Agency reiterated that it “had no prior relationship” with Ray, the documents confirm that a CIA representative reviewed Ray materials as part of interagency oversight.
Notably, the CIA placed strict limitations on the use of these documents. The Agency required that no information be released publicly or even internally within Congress without prior clearance from the Director of Central Intelligence.
CIA officials also made clear that their involvement was reactive—based solely on external requests—and aimed at verifying or dismissing the presence of classified material relevant to the MLK case .
The files shed new light on the federal government’s internal handling of King’s assassination and the broader intelligence landscape of the 1970s. While the CIA insisted it had no operational involvement in Ray’s activities, it nonetheless maintained enough records to prompt internal review when oversight bodies came calling.
This aligns with other recently released files showing widespread federal surveillance of civil rights leaders and a pattern of cautious legal positioning by intelligence agencies when responding to post-Watergate investigations.
These documents are part of a sweeping 230,000-page release ordered under Executive Order 14176, signed under the Trump administration.
The order mandated the digitization and public release of long-secret federal documents tied to the assassinations of Dr. King, President John F. Kennedy, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.