Word: fbi
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...enough that the FBI could so egregiously disregard citizens' privacy. But to assume that citizens' disagreement with a government agency indicates the influence of a foreign adversary is simply unbelievable. Instead of owning up to this mistake, the FBI became even more paranoid and defensive...
Concerned about increasing criticism of the surveillance program, the FBI sent agents to library associations urging them to be aware of manipulative counter-intelligence agencies. The supposed Soviet campaign, the FBI wrote in an in-house memo, could not go "unchallenged...
When the heat from civil libertarians became too intense, Sessions went before the American Library Association to explain the FBI's policy. His speech was more hypocrisy than genuine contrition. At the same time he was soothing librarians fears of surveillance, Sessions was telling his agents to continue approaching librarians--but to be more discreet about it. Evidently, he thought the investigation more a public relations failure than a moral outrage...
...FBI's defenders will claim that the average citizen can't understand the necessity of these seemingly trivial investigations. The motive for beginning this long and costly investigation, however, was not a legitimate security concern, but J. Edgar Hoover's paranoia. The FBI had no probable cause and no evidence that librarians were tools of a Soviet conspiracy. Even more disturbing, Sessions still doesn't believe that FBI was doing anything out of the ordinary...
Although Congress has been asked to investigate the investigation of the investigation, it is likely that little will come of it. The FBI's domain remains fairly sacrosanct, and Congressional scrutiny will not change the attitude of those who initiated the librarian surveillance...