On November 21, 1964, a package that contained the letter and a tape recording allegedly of King's sexual indiscretions was delivered to King's address. Although the letter was anonymously written, King correctly suspected the FBI sent the package. Their request was denied by
United States District Court for the District of Columbia judge
John Lewis Smith Jr. The
Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection bill, which would designate King government files for "presumption of immediate disclosure", was introduced in Congress by
Democratic Representative Cynthia McKinney from
Georgia in 2002 and 2005, by Democratic senator
John Kerry from
Massachusetts in 2006, and by Democratic representative
John Lewis from Georgia in 2010, but never passed by Congress. The full letter was discovered in
J. Edgar Hoover's confidential files at the
National Archives in 2014 by historian
Beverly Gage. It was soon published in
The New York Times, with only one name being redacted because "
The Times could not verify or disprove the claims about her." Gage noted that some still claim the letter's intent was "simply meant to push King out, not induce suicide", and argued that an uncovered portion of the letter suggested that FBI wanted King to step down and let other men lead the civil rights movement, stating that "Another uncovered portion of the note praises 'older leaders' like the NAACP executive director
Roy Wilkins, urging King to step aside and let other men lead the civil rights movement." == Text ==