The Justice Department has asked a federal court to release FBI surveillance records of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., two years before their scheduled unsealing, a request opposed by the civil rights group he helped found.

US President Donald Trump has directed national security agencies to release all government records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Rev.

The request, which comes on the heels of an executive order by President Trump, represents a sharp reversal for the F.B.I. and the department.