</s>104-10068-10026 SECRET 25 November 1977 MEMORANDUM FOR: Mr. Robert Barteaux Chief, Information Services Staff, Information Processing Group FROM Maurice A. Sovereign : Office of the Special Assistant, Office of The Special Assistant. to the DDO for External Oversight SUBJECT Dr. Martin Luther King and Mr. James Earl Ray SUBJECTS : A. House Select Committee on REFERENCES Assassinations' Letter dated 11 November 1977, March Subject B. O/S/A/D/O/10/0 Letter, 2 March 1977 Subject: DOJ Inquiry - Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force 1. As you will note from the attached, the HSCA asks for our material or Dr. Martin Luther King, for the period 1963 through 1964 and our material on Mr. James Earl Ray for the period 1967 through 1968. 2. As as indicated in reference B, you provided a substantial amount of direct information material which was sanitized for review by a DOJ ask Director of the FBI/CIA contacts which was reviewed the extensive review amount of the following documents concerning the Reverend Dr. King, we indicated that time to the OLC that we would hold the SAMITIZED King material, which was prepared by for the Justice from the HCSA. We believe that this material that we have, previously made available to Justice, is most that we were, previously available to justice, and is most pentiment to the HSSA investigation; however, the review FBI in this instance, since we are talking about third material in this instance. Since we are discussing the review FBI agency material, we should continue our review to Directorate material indicating only that there is FBI material available. APPROVED FOR RELEASE 1993 CA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM E2-INPDET-CL-BY-018630 RELEASE S SECRET

Summary  
This document is a memorandum dated 25 November 1977 from Maurice A. Sovereign to Robert Barteaux, detailing the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) request for FBI materials related to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and James Earl Ray. The HSCA seeks information on MLK from 1963–1964 and on Ray from 1967–1968. The memo references a prior DOJ inquiry (March 1977) and notes that FBI materials were previously shared with the Justice Department but may require further review. It mentions the HSCA’s request for sanitized documents and indicates that the FBI Directorate holds material relevant to the investigation, though details on its availability remain unclear. The memo sets a deadline of 15 December 1977 for providing updates.  

Key People  
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (subject of the inquiry)  
- James Earl Ray (suspected assassin of MLK)  
- Maurice A. Sovereign (sender, Office of the Special Assistant)  
- Robert Barteaux (recipient, Chief, Information Services Staff)  

Key Locations  
- Washington, D.C. (implied via reference to federal agencies and offices)  

Key Events  
- HSCA’s request for FBI materials on MLK and Ray (1963–1964 and 1967–1968)  
- DOJ inquiry into the assassination (March 1977)  
- Discussion of sanitized FBI documents and their availability to the HSCA  

Key Organizations  
- House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA)  
- Department of Justice (DOJ)  
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

MLK Declassified Files

00419386_dr_martin_luther_king_an_104-10068-10026.pdf

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