Over 6,000 documents related to the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., totalling nearly 250,000 pages, were uploaded to the National Archives website late Monday. The administration described this move as a significant gesture towards transparency.

However, several leading historians who have studied Dr. King's life and death said the release revealed little new about the circumstances of his assassination. They also pointed out that the archive still excludes key materials, including FBI wiretap recordings of Dr. King and other files that remain sealed until 2027.

The publication occurred without advance notice, at a time when President Trump and his staff have faced growing pressure from right-wing figures to declassify documents related to the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Officials from the Trump administration claimed that the newly released files include leads from the investigation, interviews with people connected to Dr. King's assassin, James Earl Ray, and new details about the involvement of foreign intelligence services in tracking Ray.

One audio file posted Monday features part of a police interview with Jerry Ray, James Earl Ray’s brother. The administration said these records had “never been digitised and sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades.”

Much of the collection is hard to decipher due to ageing and digitisation issues. The archive includes a wide range of materials, from hundreds of newspaper clippings and public tips, to reports about Ray’s participation in dance and locksmith classes, and notes on his use of aliases inspired by James Bond novels.

David Garrow, author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of King and a book on the FBI’s surveillance of him, said his preliminary review found little of public interest. “I saw nothing that struck me as new,” he remarked.

In 2019, Garrow had published an article based on what he said were FBI files about President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. That article referenced a claim that Dr. King had witnessed a rape at a Washington hotel in 1964. It's unclear if those files are included in this release, or who originally made those accusations. Garrow was criticised by other historians for reviving serious allegations rooted in FBI efforts to discredit King, without solid supporting evidence.

The FBI's surveillance and wiretapping of King were part of a broader campaign to gather damaging information on him and undermine the civil rights movement. While the actual tapes and transcripts remain sealed, some summaries and associated documents have previously been made public. Just last month, a federal judge denied the Justice Department’s request to unseal those records ahead of their scheduled release.

Dr. King’s extramarital affairs have been acknowledged, but many experts and members of his family have questioned the credibility of the more scandalous allegations, especially those involving his private life. They argue such claims may reflect the government’s intent to harm King’s reputation more than actual events.

"You have to read this closely and don't take it at face value," warned Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, who reviewed the documents with his team over the weekend. “I'm dubious about anything I see in FBI files regarding M.L.K.,” he said, adding that agents likely distorted facts to satisfy J. Edgar Hoover, then head of the FBI. “He wanted scandal on M.L.K. and his travels and his colleagues.”

Dr. King’s surviving children, Bernice and Martin III, issued a statement Monday saying their father had been “relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign.” They urged scholars and the public to interpret the files in the context of King’s legacy.

“We urge those who access the release of these files to exercise empathy, restraint and respect for our family’s ongoing grief,” they said. While administration officials have spoken with the King family, it remains unclear whether the family was given a chance to request redactions from the release.

Dr. King’s niece, Alveda King, a vocal supporter of Trump, praised the release in a public statement. “The declassification and release of these documents are a historic step towards the truth that the American people deserve,” she said.

Last year, Trump had promised to declassify records tied to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the 1968 assassinations of both Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. King. The JFK records, released in March, revealed little about the killing itself.