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J. Edgar Hoover

Martin Luther King, Jr. | Illustration: Eddie Marshall | ChatGPT

FBI

Would Releasing the Martin Luther King Files Help Curb the Surveillance State?

The FBI spied on the civil rights leader for years. Would releasing its surveillance files just be a further violation of King's privacy, or would it make future abuses less likely?

Tosin Akintola | 6.11.2025 2:06 PM

George Foreman boxes Muhammad Ali at the Rumble in the Jungle in Kinshasa, Congo. 30 October 1974. | Mirrorpix/Newscom

History

That Time the FBI Conspired To Get George Foreman an Award for Boxing

In 1968, the feds thought that the boxing champion—and future grill salesman—could be a potent weapon against the left.

Matthew Petti | 6.6.2025 10:00 AM

Black and white image of J. Edgar Hoover leaning over a table, behind him are green squares and text. | Illustration: Lex Villena

Civil Liberties

An American Gangster at 100: J. Edgar Hoover's Authoritarian Legacy

Hoover’s reign at the FBI compromised American civil liberties and turned the FBI into America's secret police.

Matthew Harwood | 5.10.2024 8:15 AM

excerpt | Photos: Members of the Chicago Conspiracy, Abbie Hoffman (center); CSU Archives/Everett: Wikimedia

Bill of Rights

How Hippies Saved the Fourth Amendment

The Nixon administration did everything it could to curb antiwar activism. Then the courts said it had gone too far.

Sean Howe | 9.9.2023 6:02 AM

Journalist Eli Lake | Lex Villena, Reason

Surveillance

Eli Lake: Exploring the Darkest Corners of the Deep State

The journalist and podcast host on foreign policy, democracy, and habitual law breaking by the NSA, CIA, and FBI

Nick Gillespie | 8.30.2023 5:06 PM

The Dark Truth About J. Edgar Hoover's FBI | Lex Villena, Reason

FBI

Beverly Gage: The Dark Truth About J. Edgar Hoover's FBI

The first FBI director wasn't all bad (or a cross-dresser). But he and the agency he created regularly flouted constitutional limits on power.

Nick Gillespie | 1.4.2023 11:00 AM

8216308 | Lex Villena

FBI

The Complicated Truth about J. Edgar Hoover

The first FBI director wasn't a cross-dresser, says a new biography, but he was often quick to flout constitutional limits on state power.

Nick Gillespie | 1.4.2023 10:30 AM

Aretha Franklin | JOHN COLLIER/KRT/Newscom

FBI

The FBI Closely Tracked Aretha Franklin's Appearances at Civil Rights Events

The FBI used a network of snitches to spy on entertainers and activists, and the Queen of Soul was no exception.

C.J. Ciaramella | 9.9.2022 3:39 PM

Picture of Mort Sahl speaking overlaid on black background with red text | Adam Scull/PHOTOlink/Newscom | Illustration: Lex Villena

FBI

The FBI Kept Tabs on Mort Sahl's Jokes About It, and Hoover Thought Sahl Was a 'Sick Man'

The late standup comedian's FBI file says he "ridiculed the FBI, law enforcement, and high public officials, beyond the bounds of good humor."

C.J. Ciaramella | 6.30.2022 4:16 PM

Large image on homepages | Doubleday

Osage Indians

Blood for Oil

A covert war with the Osage Nation

Amy H. Sturgis | 10.19.2017 6:00 AM

Large image on homepages

FBI

God and Man at the FBI

Dissident and offbeat religious groups have faced more than a century of surveillance.

Athan Theoharis | 6.24.2017 6:00 AM

Politics

The FBI on The Anarchist Cookbook

Jesse Walker | 2.16.2011 3:07 PM

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