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 ahead of the public disclosure.
Other news we’re following today:
- Harvard University’s standoff with Trump: The nation’s oldest university was in federal court at a pivotal point in its battle with the administration, as the storied institution argued the government illegally cut $2.6 billion in federal funding from the school. If U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs decides in the university’s favor, the ruling would reverse a series of funding freezes that later became outright cuts. Such a ruling, if it stands, would revive Harvard’s sprawling scientific and medical research operation and hundreds of projects.
- Texas GOP will try to redraw districts: The state’s special session will focus on ensuring Republicans retain control of the U.S. House in next year’s midterm elections, as urged by President Trump. The goal of devising five new winnable seats for the GOP is possible because the party that controls the state legislature gets to direct the redistricting process.
- EPA eliminates research and development office: The Environmental Protection Agency said it would also lay off thousands of employees. The agency’s Office of Research and Development has long provided the scientific underpinnings for EPA’s mission to protect the environment and human health. The agency will create a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions to focus on research and science “more than ever before.”
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