'Intimidate and humiliate': MLK family fears what Trump will do with 'secret' FBI records

15 February

Three days into his second term, President Donald Trump ordered the release and declassification of FBI files on three historic figures who were assassinated during the 1960s: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (D-Massachusetts). A member of Trump's administration is related to two of the three: anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is JFK's nephew and the son of RFK Sr.

According to Axios reporters Marc Caputo and Russell Contreras, MLK's family "is concerned that" Trump's order "could revive the FBI's attempts to discredit him."

Caputo and Contreras, in an article published on February 15, report, "The family requested a sneak preview of the records prior to their release. Trump declined, a White House official said, but not out of animus toward the family. Why it matters: The brewing controversy pits Trump's determination to release documents the government has kept secret for more than a half-century against the family's lingering pain over how J. Edgar Hoover's FBI spied on King and tried to intimidate and humiliate him."

The Axios reporters add, "Last month, Trump ordered the release of all records the U.S. government still holds."

Caputo and Contreras note that although the FBI "released documents about King's private life previously," the "new disclosure could include more documents detailing alleged embarrassing interactions in hotel rooms, private homes and even King's house."

A friend of the King family, quoted anonymously, told Axios, "We know J. Edgar Hoover tried to destroy Dr. King's legacy, and the family doesn't want that effort to prevail."

Another source voiced the family's "deep concerns," telling Axios, "They know the right wing wants to smear Dr. King, and one way to do it is by putting these smears in the public under the guise of transparency. If there are assassination records, release those. But smears are not assassination records."

In a January 24 post on Instagram, members of the King family wrote, "The assassination of our father is a deeply personal family loss that we have endured over the last 56 years. We hope to be provided the opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release."

Read the full Axios article at this link.

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