Trump Jr.'s new book pushes a conspiracy theory that his father has been persecuted by the 'deep state,' which he compares to the FBI's harassment of Martin Luther King Jr.

Associated Press/Matt Rourke

Donald Trump Jr., gestures at a rally for his father, President Donald Trump in Montoursville, Pa., Monday, May 20, 2019.

• Donald Trump Jr. in his new book compared the experiences of his father, President Donald Trump, to Martin Luther King Jr.'s.
• Trump Jr. pushed conspiracy theories that so-called "deep state" elements of the federal government have been working against his father and compared this to the government-led efforts to discredit King.
• "Even now there are forces deep inside our government trying to bury evidence of wrongdoing against my father," Trump Jr. wrote.
• He added: "If you don't think something like that could ever happen, consider this: it's happened before - to, of all people, Martin Luther King Jr."
• Trump Jr. wrote: "J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI kept a file on Dr. King for years ... After living through the past three years, can you honestly say that anything has really changed? Or is it more of the same?"
• The FBI engaged in an extensive, intrusive operation with the goal of taking down King. There's no evidence of any comparable government-led campaign against Trump.
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Donald Trump Jr. in his new book, "Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us," compared his father's experience to Martin Luther King Jr.'s as he pushed conspiracy theories about the intelligence community's opposition to the president.

A significant portion of Trump Jr.'s new book portrays the investigation into Russian election interference as a covert, unfair campaign to discredit President Donald Trump.

In one section, Trump Jr. wrote: "Even now there are forces deep inside our government trying to bury evidence of wrongdoing against my father ... If those people have a hand in writing the history of the Russia hoax - and believe me, they will try - they will say that the Mueller investigation was based on real evidence and that Donald Trump and his administration really did commit obstruction of justice."

Trump Jr. then went on to compare what his father has faced to the federal government's malicious campaign against one of the most iconic civil rights figure in US history: "If you don't think something like that could ever happen, consider this: it's happened before - to, of all people, Martin Luther King Jr."

He added: "J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI kept a file on Dr. King for years ... After living through the past three years, can you honestly say that anything has really changed? Or is it more of the same?"

The FBI went to extreme lengths to harass and discredit King, including documenting his sex life. The bureau placed wiretaps in King's home and offices as well as bugs in his hotel rooms. At one point, the FBI wrote a letter to King that he interpreted as a suggestion of suicide. Hoover has been described by historians as being "obsessed" with bringing King down, and thought the civil rights leader was a communist sympathizer.

There is no evidence of a government-led campaign as extensive or intrusive against Trump as the efforts of the FBI against Trump.

In another section of his new book, Trump Jr. claimed the media worked in concert with "deep state elements" of the FBI and Justice Department to publish the Steele dossier in order to discredit his father.

The document, a collection of memos alleging collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia, was compiled by the former British spy Christopher Steele and published by BuzzFeed News in January 2017. Much of the dossier remains uncorroborated, including its most salacious details, but a number of its allegations have held up on some level.

Trump Jr.'s book echoes many of the president's oft-repeated issues with his critics and political opponents, and is filled with easily disproven claims about the Trump family and its finances, among other topics. It is largely a collection of grievances against both real and perceived rivals of the Trump administration.

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