The Trump administration has released records of the FBI’s surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr., despite opposition from the slain Nobel laureate’s family and the civil rights group that he led until his 1968 assassination.
The release involves an estimated 200,000 pages of records that had been under a court-imposed seal since 1977, when the FBI first gathered the records and turned them over to the National Archives and Records Administration.
King’s family, including his two living children, Martin III and Bernice, were given advance notice of the release and had their own teams reviewing the records.
Here's the latest:
Newly released documents contain FBI leads and CIA information relating to MLK Jr.
Among the documents are leads the FBI received after King’s assassination and details of the CIA’s fixation on King’s pivot to international anti-war and anti-poverty movements in the years before he was killed.
It was not immediately clear whether the documents shed new light on King’s life, the Civil Rights Movement or his murder.
King’s family got advance access to the records and had their own teams reviewing them. Those efforts continued even as the government granted public access.
Judge gives ex-officer nearly 3 years in Breonna Taylor raid, rebuffs DOJ call for no prison time
A federal judge has sentenced a former Kentucky police officer to nearly three years in prison for using excessive force during the deadly 2020 raid, declining a U.S. Department of Justice recommendation that he be given no prison time.
Brett Hankison, who fired 10 shots during the botched drug raid raid but didn’t hit anyone, was the only officer on the scene charged in the Black woman’s death.
He is the first person sentenced to prison in the case that rocked the city of Louisville and spawned weeks of street protests over police brutality.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings sentenced Hankison to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised probation.
The U.S. Justice Department recommended no prison time for Hankison — an abrupt about-face that angered critics after the department spent years prosecuting the former detective.
▶Read more about the sentencing and the case
Budget office says Trump’s tax law will add $3.4 trillion to deficits and leave 10 million uninsured
The Congressional Budget Office reports that the tax and spending law will add $3.4 trillion to federal deficits through 2034.
That’s a slight increase in the projection that takes into account final tweaks Republicans made before getting the legislation over the finish line.
The CBO found that more than 10 million people will be uninsured in 2034 because of the law, an improvement from an earlier projection of 11.8 million people.
Republicans tout the law as a tax cut for all Americans, yet a recent AP-NORC poll found about two-thirds of U.S. adults expect it will help the rich as Democrats attack the legislation.
The bill Trump signed into law on July 4 extended current tax rates for individuals that were set to expire at the end of this year.
Republicans also used the bill to cut future spending on Medicaid and food assistance and to phase out certain clean energy tax credits more quickly.
▶Read more about the CBO analysis
Johnson says no House vote on Epstein files this week
House Speaker Mike Johnson says there won’t be a vote this week on legislation related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Johnson told reporters there is no difference between House Republicans and Trump on the issue.
He says Trump has requested that grand jury files involving Epstein be released by the courts.
“My belief is we need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing, and if further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we’ll look at that,” Johnson said.
House lawmakers are expected to recess this week and not return to Washington until after Labor Day.
House Republicans put forward a resolution last week calling for the release of documents related to the Epstein sex trafficking case. The resolution carried no legal weight, but it could have been voted on this week if GOP leadership had allowed.
Trump officials slam what they call NYC's sanctuary policies after customs officer shooting
The criticism comes after two men living in the U.S. illegally were arrested in connection with the shooting of the Customs and Border Protection officer at a New York City park.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the suspects have lengthy criminal records and should never have been free to commit Saturday’s robbery-gone-wrong.
Noem blamed the mayor and city council, nearly all Democrats, saying that “the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe refused to do so.”
The officer is recovering and expected to survive. His name has not been released.
Border czar Tom Homan vowed to send more federal immigration agents into so-called sanctuary cities.
New York and other cities have long-standing laws and policies that limit or restrict local government involvement in federal immigration matters.
▶Read more about the NYC shooting
Closing arguments are held in trial over crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protesters
Lawyers made their arguments in federal court hearing a lawsuit filed by several university associations against the administration’s campaign of arresting and deporting college faculty and students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
It’s one of the first such suits against Trump and members of his administration to go to trial.
Lawyers for a group representing university professors argued the campaign violates the First Amendment rights of faculty and students.
Federal lawyers insisted there was no ideological deportation policy.
Plaintiffs are asking U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston to rule that the administration’s policy violates the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, a law governing how federal agencies develop and issue regulations.
Young did not indicate when or how he would rule.
▶Read more about the case
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers ask judge to delay release from jail over deportation fears
They made the request before a federal judge in Tennessee to prevent the Trump administration from trying to swiftly deport the Maryland construction worker.
Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over Trump’s immigration policies when he was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. in Nashville is expected to rule soon on whether to free him while he awaits trial on human smuggling charges.
If the Salvadoran national is released, U.S. officials have said he would be immediately detained by immigration authorities and targeted for deportation.
Facing mounting pressure and a U.S. Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. last month to face the smuggling charges, which his attorneys have called “preposterous.”
▶Read more about Abrego Garcia's case
White House says Trump ‘caught off guard’ by recent Israeli strikes
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to Israeli strikes in Syria and on a Catholic church in Gaza.
Her comments were a rare suggestion of daylight between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have often been aligned on politics and foreign policy, particularly with the recent attacks on Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump is pushing for an end to the war in Gaza and trying to support the new Syrian government as the country emerges from years of civil war.
Israeli military operations have threatened to complicate those initiatives.
An Israeli attack last week hit the Gaza Strip’s only Catholic church, killing three people and stirring outrage. Israel also intervened during the latest outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria, even bombing the capital, Damascus.
▶Read more about Leavitt’s remarks
Family says MLK Jr. was ‘relentlessly targeted’ by FBI ‘surveillance campaign’
In their statement, King’s two living children said their father was subject to “an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing” operation at the behest of J. Edgar Hoover.
They say the campaign was intended “not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy” both King and the movement he led, calling the actions “designed to neutralize those who dared to challenge the status quo.”
Sharpton calls release of King files ‘a desperate attempt to distract’ from Epstein files
The Rev. Al Sharpton says the president released the King files to divert attention from “the firestorm engulfing Trump over the Epstein files and the public unraveling of his credibility among the MAGA base.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche asked Friday for the unsealing of grand jury transcripts in the prosecutions of chronic sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend.
The request that comes as the administration seeks to contain the firestorm that followed its announcement that it would not be releasing additional files from the Epstein probe despite previously promising that it would.
Trump pledged to release JFK and RFK files - and has
During last year’s presidential campaign, Trump promised to release files related to President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination.
When Trump took office in January, he signed an executive order to declassify the JFK records, along with those associated with Robert F. Kennedy’s and King’s 1968 assassinations.
The government unsealed the JFK records in March and disclosed some RFK files in April.
King’s niece applauds release of FBI files
In a statement released by Gabbard’s office, Alveda King said she was grateful to Trump and the intelligence director “for delivering on their pledge of transparency” in making the documents public.
Alveda King has been a supporter of Trump since his first run for the White House.
In 2017, she was among those accompanying him to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Trump in 2018 nominated her to the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission.
Gabbard says MLK files include FBI probe, case progress memos
In a social media post announcing the records release, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says that the 230,000 files include details about potential leads in the case and information from James Earl Ray’s former cellmate.
Ray pleaded guilty to assassinating King. He later renounced that plea and maintained his innocence until his death in 1998.
Gabbard also included a link to the released documents on the National Archives and Records Administration website.
Pentagon withdraws 700 Marines from Los Angeles
The Pentagon ordered the U.S. Marines to leave Los Angeles on Monday, more than a month after Trump deployed them to the city over the objections of local leaders.
The 700 Marines were deployed June 9 on the fourth day of protests in downtown LA over the administration’s crackdown on immigration. Four thousand National Guard soldiers were also deployed.
Their presence in the city had been limited to two locations with federal buildings in Los Angeles, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office and detention facility downtown.
The decision to pull back the Marines comes after half of the National Guard troops were ordered to leave the city last week. The rest remain.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell says the military presence “sent a clear message: lawlessness will not be tolerated.”
MLK Jr. records had been intended to stay sealed until 2027
Earlier this year, Justice Department attorneys asked a federal judge to lift the sealing order ahead of its expiration date.
In addition to King’s family, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference — which King co-founded in 1957 — opposed their release, arguing that the FBI illegally surveilled King and other civil rights figures, tapping their offices and phone lines with the aim of discrediting them and their movement.
Scholars, history buffs and journalists have been preparing to study the documents to find new information about King’s assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.
It has long been established that then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was intensely interested in King and others he considered radicals. Previously released FBI records show how Hoover’s bureau wiretapped King’s telephone lines, bugged his hotel rooms and used informants to get information against him.
MLK Jr.‘s family urges files be viewed with ‘empathy’ and ‘full historical context’
King’s family, including his two living children, Martin III and Bernice, were given advance notice of the release and had their own teams reviewing the records ahead of the public disclosure.
In a lengthy statement, the two living King children called their father’s case a “captivating public curiosity for decades” but called for “empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief.”
The pair emphasized the personal nature of the matter, urging that “these files must be viewed within their full historical context.”
Trump administration releases the FBI’s MLK Jr. file
The records of the FBI’s surveillance of the slain Nobel laureate were released over opposition from his family and the civil rights group that King led until his 1968 assassination.
The release involves an estimated 200,000 pages of records that had been under a court-imposed seal since 1977. That’s when the FBI first gathered the records and turned them over to the National Archives and Records Administration.
King’s family, including his two living children, Martin III and Bernice, were given advance notice of the release and had their own teams reviewing the records ahead of the public disclosure.
White House boots Wall Street Journal from Scotland Trip
The Wall Street Journal was scheduled to be part of the press pool flying on Air Force One for Trump’s upcoming trip to Scotland, but the newspaper infuriated the president by reporting on a birthday letter that he allegedly sent Jeffrey Epstein.
In response, the White House has kicked the Journal out of the pool.“Due to the Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board,” said Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, wrote in a statement.
“Every news organization in the entire world wishes to cover President Trump, and the White House has taken significant steps to include as many voices as possible.”
The White House has been more aggressive than predecessors in retaliating against news outlets. The Associated Press has faced its own restrictions on pool participation, and its lawsuit is ongoing.
Lawsuit challenges restrictions on social services for families in the US illegally
Twenty-one Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the Trump administration’s restrictions on social services for immigrants in the country illegally, including the federal preschool program Head Start.
Individual public benefits, such as food stamps and college financial aid, have been largely unavailable to people in the country without legal status. The new rules and guidance from the administration curbed their access to community-level programs that receive federal money.
The suit argues that the government failed to follow the rulemaking process and didn’t provide required notice on conditions placed on federal funds. It
also argues that the changes will create significant harm.
The Trump administration’s rule changes rescinded a Clinton-era interpretation of federal laws on immigrants ′ access to services.
EU defense chief welcomes Trump’s comments on Russia
The European Union’s defense chief said Monday that Trump’s recent comments about the need to help Ukraine represent an opportunity for renewed cooperation in the fight to counter Russia.
Speaking with reporters during a visit to Washington, European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said he is pleased that Trump has taken a harder line against Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it “a new opening in how we can support Ukraine.”
Trump has said he will punish Russia with tariffs if Putin doesn’t agree to a deal to end the war within 50 days.
Kubilius is in Washington for meetings with U.S. officials about European defense and support for Ukraine.
Trump attacks the judge hearing Harvard’s funding case
Shortly a federal hearing on a Harvard University funding lawsuit ended Monday, Trump took aim at the judge in the case.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump called U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs a “TOTAL DISASTER, which I say even before hearing her Ruling.”
Burroughs was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
“She has systematically taken over the various Harvard cases, and is an automatic “loss” for the People of our Country! Harvard has $52 Billion Dollars sitting in the Bank, and yet they are antisemitic, anti-Christian, and anti-America,” Trump wrote.
Harvard lawyers appeared in federal court Monday to challenge $2.6 billion in funding cuts by the Trump administration. The university accuses the government of using funding as leverage to control its academic decisions.
EU defense chief says China is watching response to invasion of Ukraine
Andrius Kubilius, the European commissioner for defense and space, said during a visit to Washington that it’s critical that Europe and the U.S present a unified front when it comes to support for Ukraine.
Russia cannot compete with the U.S. and its European allies economically, Kubilius said. The challenge is uniting those allies in strong, coordinated support of Ukraine.
“We need to understand that if you combine American economic power and European economic power we are something like 20 times Russia’s power,” Kubilius said. “We need political will.”
Russia isn’t the only country watching to see how the U.S. and its allies respond to the invasion, he told reporters. Leaders in Beijing are also closely monitoring the war in Ukraine for clues as to the potential response to aggression against Taiwan, for instance.
“We need to be very clear in our support for Ukraine,” he said. “China is watching.”
Rubio meets with president of the Philippines
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The men greeted each other Monday and shook hands in front of the press before they went into their meeting.
Marcos is visiting Washington this week and is expected to meet President Trump later. The trip, which is the first by any leader from Southeast Asia since Trump returned to the office, is intended to boost economic and security ties between the two countries.
Marcos met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier Monday, and Hegseth reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to “achieving peace through strength” in the region.
The Philippines are a treaty ally of the U.S.
Federal judge orders administration to keep funding Radio Free Europe
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to continue funding the pro-democracy news outlet Radio Free Europe through the end of September.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington on Friday granted in part a preliminary injunction sought by RFE.
Lamberth said the funding must be disbursed under existing terms, not new conditions that RFE said threatened its independence.
The judge previously ordered the administration to release the news outlet’s funding for April, May and June. He said the administration cannot unilaterally revoke funding approved by Congress, which appropriated about $77 million for RFE from March to October.
In his ruling on Friday, however, Lamberth refused to block the administration from imposing new conditions on the funding in the future.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty started broadcasting during the Cold War. Its programs are aired in 27 languages in 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Proposed NASA budget cuts draw nearly 300 dissenters, including astronauts
Nearly 300 past and present NASA employees have signed a letter urging the space agency’s interim chief to resist the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts.
The so-called Voyager Declaration pointing out “rapid and wasteful changes” at NASA over the past six months was addressed Monday to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was named NASA’s acting administrator earlier this month.
Six former astronauts were among those signing the letter, which noted that the proposed budget cuts “have or threaten to waste public resources, compromise human safety, weaken national security, and undermine the core NASA mission.” Science missions, in particular, are big targets.
NASA spokeswoman Bethany Stevens said any reductions in workforce won’t “compromise on safety.” The space agency is focused on high-profile missions, she said, and “not on sustaining outdated or lower-priority missions.”
Judge says she will take Harvard case under advisement
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston did not issue a ruling from the bench on Harvard’s request to restore billions in funding cuts.
Her ruling is expected later in writing.
Hegseth meets Philippine president at the Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated America’s commitment to “achieving peace through strength” in the Asia-Pacific region.
While in Washington this week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will also meet with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Marcos told Hegseth that a mutual defense treaty “continues to be the cornerstone” of the two countries’ relationship. The governments are boosting security ties in the face of China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea.
The U.S. has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines — its oldest treaty ally in Asia — if Philippine forces, ships or aircraft come under armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
On this trip, Marcos also is expected to discuss a possible trade deal ahead of a Aug. 1 deadline, when Trump has threatened to impose 20% tariffs on products from the Philippines.
Judge presses government on basis for funding cuts at Harvard
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said during Monday’s hearing that the government had provided no documentation or procedure to “suss out” whether Harvard had taken appropriate action to combat alleged antisemitism on campus.
“The consequences of that in terms of constitutional law are staggering,” Burroughs said. “I don’t think you can justify a contract action based on impermissible suppression of speech. Where do I have that wrong?”
It’s not clear when Burroughs might issue a ruling on Harvard’s request to restore government funding for the university.
Harvard has moved to self-fund some of its research
However, even with the nation’s largest endowment at $53 billion, the university has warned it can’t absorb the full cost of the federal cuts.
Federal agencies say grants can be scrapped if they no longer align with government policies
In court filings, Harvard has said the government “fails to explain how the termination of funding for research to treat cancer, support veterans, and improve national security addresses antisemitism.”
The Trump administration denies the cuts were made in retaliation, saying the grants were under review even before the April demand letter was sent. It argues the government has wide discretion to cancel contracts for policy reasons.
Hearing begins in Harvard’s lawsuit over funding cuts
A lawyer for Harvard opened the hearing by saying the Trump administration violated the university’s First Amendment rights by cutting more than $2.6 billion in federal funding.
Steven Lehotsky said the government conditioned research grants on Harvard, “ceding control” to the government over what is appropriate for students and faculty to say.
US envoy doubles down on support for Syria’s government and criticizes Israel’s intervention
A U.S. envoy doubled down on Washington’s support for Syria’s new government, saying Monday there is “no Plan B” to working with it to unite the country still reeling from years of civil war and wracked by new sectarian violence.
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Tom Barrack also criticized Israel’s recent intervention in Syria, calling it poorly timed and saying it complicated efforts to stabilize the region.
Barrack is ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, with a short-term mandate in Lebanon. He spoke in Beirut following more than a week of clashes in Syria’s southern province of Sweida between militias of the Druze religious minority and Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes.
Tom Barrack, who is ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria and also has a short-term mandate in Lebanon, told The Associated Press that Israel’s intervention in the latest round of conflict in Syria had further complicated matters. (AP Video shot by Fadi Tawil; Production by Abby Sewell)
Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to restore order, but ended up siding with the Bedouins before withdrawing under a ceasefire agreement with Druze factions. Hundreds have been killed in the fighting, and some government fighters allegedly shot dead Druze civilians and burned and looted homes.
Neighboring Israel intervened last week on behalf of the Druze, who are seen as a loyal minority within Israel and often serve in its military. Israel launched dozens of strikes on convoys of government forces in Sweida and struck the Ministry of Defense headquarters in central Damascus.
Over the weekend, Barrack announced a ceasefire between Syria and Israel. Syrian government forces have redeployed in Sweida to halt renewed clashes between the Druze and Bedouins, and civilians from both sides were set to be evacuated Monday.
▶ Read more about the U.S. support for Syria’s new government
Trump threatens to hold up stadium deal if Washington Commanders don’t switch back to Redskins
Trump is threatening to hold up a new stadium deal for Washington’s NFL team if it does not restore its old name of the Redskins, which was considered offensive to Native Americans.
Trump also said Sunday that he wants Cleveland’s baseball team to revert to its former name, the Indians, saying there was a “big clamoring for this” as well.
The Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians have had their current names since the 2022 seasons, and both have said they have no plans to change them back. Trump said the Washington football team would be “much more valuable” if it restored its old name. His latest interest in changing the name reflects his broader effort to roll back changes that followed a national debate on cultural sensitivity and racial justice.
The Commanders and the District of Columbia government announced a deal earlier this year to build a new home for the football team at the site of the old RFK Stadium, the place the franchise called home for more than three decades.
▶ Read more about Trump’s attempt to strong-arm the NFL team
The Associated Press
