Previously Unseen CIA Files Reveal Internal Tensions, Suspicions of KGB Involvement in MLK Assassination Probe

Previously classified CIA memos newly released by the National Archives reveal longstanding internal disputes and unresolved leads in the federal investigation into the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., including suspicions of Soviet (KGB) involvement and inter-agency coordination breakdowns.

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One of the most explosive details comes from a 1978 internal CIA memorandum describing how a photograph released by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) depicted a man allegedly recognized by a CIA officer as a known KGB operative, Nikolay Leonov, active in Cuba and Mexico during the time of King’s assassination. 

The memo notes that Leonov was connected to Fidel Castro and described as a “journalist,” a known cover for intelligence officers. These photos, according to the Agency, were originally obtained via a covert operation in Mexico but had not been cleared for public release.

Meanwhile, internal CIA documents show growing concern over jurisdictional ambiguities with the FBI. In a memo dated March 1977, CIA officials expressed frustration that the Justice Department had reviewed and drawn conclusions from King-related documents—many of which originated with the FBI—without formal coordination. 

Tensions peaked when CIA lawyers realized Justice investigators had been granted access to FBI-origin documents without written authorization.

Earlier memos also highlight Chief Counsel Richard Sprague’s 1976 visit to CIA Headquarters, where he demanded assurances that no files, even those deemed “irrelevant” by the Agency, be destroyed without House Committee review. 

Sprague emphasized that only Congress had the authority to determine document relevance. He also inquired about potential surveillance records of Lee Harvey Oswald's time in Mexico—records some feared had been altered or erased.

Another CIA memo indicates that the Agency preserved “sanitized” versions of King-related files for possible review by Congress and noted that most material in its possession originated with the FBI. CIA personnel flagged potential legal complications in sharing such content without prior coordination.

The documents—part of the 230,000 files released under Executive Order 14176, signed under the Trump administration—mark a watershed moment in public transparency. But the revelations also expose the fragmented nature of federal investigative processes and lingering doubts about the full story behind King’s assassination.

The files suggest that both congressional investigators and federal intelligence agencies long suspected possible international involvement in King’s death, while also grappling with the bureaucratic opacity and fragmentation that may have impeded a more thorough inquiry at the time.