ATLANTA — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Sunday defended his family’s role in authorizing government surveillance of Martin Luther King, Jr., calling it a necessary step amid the political tensions of the Civil Rights era.

Kennedy’s provocative comments came as the independent presidential candidate was on a campaign trip to Atlanta on the eve of the Martin Luther King., Jr., holiday.

In an exclusive interview with POLITICO, Kennedy said that his father, Robert F. Kennedy — who authorized the wiretapping of King as attorney general — and President John F. Kennedy permitted the eavesdropping because they were “making big bets on King, particularly in organizing the March on Washington.”

“They were betting not only the civil rights movement but their own careers. And they knew that Hoover was out to ruin King,” said Robert Kennedy Jr., referring to J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director at the time.

He argued........

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