In 1961, the bureau learned that a former Communist Party insider named Stanley Levison had become King’s closest white adviser, serving him as a ghostwriter and fund-raiser. The F.B.I.'s entanglement with King began not as an inquiry into his sex life but as a “national security” matter, one step removed from King himself. Looking past the viciousness of the accusations, the letter offers a potent warning for readers today about the danger of domestic surveillance in an age with less reserved mass media. The uncovered passages contain explicit allegations about King’s sex life, rendered in the racially charged language of the Jim Crow era. This summer, while researching a biography of Hoover, I was surprised to find a full, uncensored version of the letter tucked away in a reprocessed set of his official and confidential files at the National Archives. For several decades, however, only significantly redacted copies of the letter were available for public scrutiny. Since then, the so-called “suicide letter” has occupied a unique place in the history of American intelligence - the most notorious and embarrassing example of Hoover’s F.B.I. A little more than a decade later, the Senate’s Church Committee on intelligence overreach confirmed King’s suspicion. Edgar Hoover, made no secret of his desire to see King discredited. ![]() Despite its half-baked prose, self-conscious amateurism and other attempts at misdirection, King was certain the letter had come from the F.B.I. received this letter, nearly 50 years ago, he quietly informed friends that someone wanted him to kill himself - and he thought he knew who that someone was. It concludes with a deadline of 34 days “before your filthy, abnormal fraudulent self is bared to the nation.” “Lend your sexually psychotic ear to the enclosure,” the letter demands. Another passage hints of an audiotape accompanying the letter, apparently a recording of “immoral conduct” in action. The unnamed author suggests intimate knowledge of his correspondent’s sex life, identifying one possible lover by name and claiming to have specific evidence about others. ![]() “What incredible evilness,” the letter proclaims, listing off “sexual orgies,” “adulterous acts” and “immoral conduct.” Near the end, it circles back to its initial target, denouncing him as an “evil, abnormal beast.” They are described as “filthy dirty evil companions” and “evil playmates,” all engaged in “dirt, filth, evil and moronic talk.” The effect is at once grotesque and hypnotic, an obsessive’s account of carnal rage and personal betrayal. The word “evil” makes six appearances in the text, beginning with an accusation: “You are a colossal fraud and an evil, vicious one at that.” In the paragraphs that follow, the recipient’s alleged lovers get the worst of it. Clearly, some effort went into perfecting the tone, that of a disappointed admirer, appalled by the discovery of “hidious abnormalities” in someone he once viewed as “a man of character.” It’s rife with typos and misspellings and sprinkled with attempts at emending them. ![]() Show less.The note is just a single sheet gone yellow with age, typewritten and tightly spaced. Please remember that deleting cookies may affect your experience of our website. Please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service which provides important information about the cookies we use, how we use them and how they can be deleted. Some cookies are also necessary for the technical operation of our website. Cookies allow us to recognize your computer and improve your experience on our website. Cookies are text files containing small amounts of data which are downloaded to your computer, or other device, when you visit a website. This website uses cookies to maximize your experience and help us to understand how we can improve it. By clicking the “Accept” button, or otherwise continuing to use the Site, you consent to G5’s use of cookies and to the terms of our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service to reflect recent additions to our services and changes in the law. Sorry for interrupting, but there is something we need to tell you.
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