The FBI only targeted genuine threats to national security
| The FBI only targeted genuine threats to national security | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "The FBI's domestic intelligence work in the 1950s and 1960s was limited to genuine threats such as espionage and violence." | |
| Domain | Government, Law & Courts |
| Tactic | Fabrication Propaganda Technique |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 1956 |
| Origin | FBI and Justice Department public positions under J. Edgar Hoover |
| Last reviewed | 2026-11-01 |
| Further reading: books on Government, Law & Courts | |
From 1956 to 1971, the FBI ran a secret program called COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Program) under Director J. Edgar Hoover. It targeted not only the Communist Party but civil rights leaders, antiwar groups, Black nationalist organizations, the New Left and others.
The program went beyond surveillance to deliberate disruption, including disinformation, forged letters and efforts to provoke conflict between groups.
What the evidence shows
- Exposure. On March 8, 1971, activists calling themselves the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania, and mailed stolen documents to newspapers. One mentioned "COINTELPRO."
- Church Committee. The Senate committee led by Frank Church reported in 1976 that the FBI had conducted "a sophisticated vigilante operation" aimed at preventing the exercise of First Amendment rights.
- Martin Luther King Jr. In 1964 the FBI sent King an anonymous letter, with a recording, that was widely read as urging him to kill himself.
- Disinformation. The FBI planted false stories with journalists, sent forged letters to sow distrust, and used informants to disrupt organizations.
Why it matters
COINTELPRO showed a security agency using the tactics of disinformation against its own citizens. Its exposure led to lasting limits on FBI domestic intelligence.
Sources
- US Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (Church Committee), Final Report, Book III, April 1976.
- Betty Medsger, The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI, Knopf, 2014.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation, "COINTELPRO," FBI Records: The Vault.