This book is a window into a period of American history when secret government used its vast powers to engage in the widespread quashing of dissent.
In the midst of this dark era, a group of conscientious citizens chose to burglarize an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, because they thought they might be able to confirm how the FBI was spying on Americans who dared to protest the policies of their government.
The story of this courageous act and its impact is captivating on its own. Yet what makes the book even more extraordinary is its relevance to current events in the United States.
It is impossible to read Betty Medsger’s book without drifting into comparisons between then—when J. Edgar Hoover was the director of the FBI—and now—when Gen. Keith Alexander was the director of the NSA. In fact, Medsger enables such a comparison by including a chapter on the “NSA Files” disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Medsger spent years reporting in Philadelphia on the Catholic peace movement and continued to cover the movement after being hired to work for The Washington Post. Her coverage of the movement led the Media burglars to believe that the head of the Post would consider the files newsworthy.
As highlighted in the book, she had “no track record as a published critic of the FBI” and had maintained a “lower profile” as a journalist, which likely enabled her to receive an envelope of files without the FBI noticing. And, on March 24, 1971, Medsger and Ken W. Clawson published the Post’s first story on the documents.
Two other journalists also were mailed the files, Jack Nelson of the Los Angeles Times and Tom Wicker of The New York Times. In the first case, the FBI created a record that Nelson had received them although “[S]omeone intercepted the envelope, opened it, and did not deliver it,” to Nelson. This was done without copying the files or informing the top editors of the media organization. Though eager to receive the files, Nelson never managed to get his hands on any of them.
People in the two Washington bureaus of The New York Times chose not to report on the files. Instead, they called the FBI to notify agents that they had received documents and then “promptly delivered the files to the FBI.”
Five sets of files were mailed by the burglars. Four of the five sets were returned to the FBI immediately, but the Post refused to hand their files over to Hoover’s FBI.
Medsger continued to receive envelopes of files in the weeks after her first story. She soon realized she had earned the prestigious honor of having her mail monitored by the FBI. One “tall white-haired man,” claimed to work in the mailroom. He noticed she was receiving stolen FBI files. He knew she was from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and even creepily said to her, “I see all those letters your mother sends you.”
It was, as Medsger interpreted, a “ham-handed attempt to ‘enhance’ my paranoia in the manner prescribed” in the first Media file that she had covered for the Post. (Note: The file indicated the FBI had as its goal to “enhance paranoia and let the people know the FBI was behind every mailbox.)
Not unlike today, the atmosphere was chilly for journalists. Someone reporting on the files had to be concerned about being forced to reveal their confidential sources. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press formed in this era to help provide journalists with legal assistance and aid reporters if they decided to go to jail instead of revealing their sources to the government.
Medsger recalls that she thought about what she would do if asked by the FBI to turn over what she received from the burglars.
…I concluded that my unknown burglar sources deserved my protections as much as they would if they were sources known to me who had asked me to promise to protect their identity. They had passed an important confidential source test. They had provided me with information important to public discourse that was not otherwise available
I assumed that they, at great risk, had performed what eventually would be seen as a valuable public service, though I had no idea at the time how significant that service ultimately would be…
Four decades later, well after the government could legally prosecute any of the burglars, Bonnie and John Raines made the decision to reveal to Medsger that they had been involved in the burglary that eventually led to the disclosure of the term “COINTELPRO” and started an unraveling that led to widespread scrutiny of US intelligence practices.
William Davidon, Keith Forsyth, Robert Williamson, Bonnie and John Raines, and “Ron Durst” and “Susan Smith,” (the latter two chose to reveal their involvement under pseudonyms), decided to break their silence and tell the story of their act of resistance, perhaps because they understood it would resonate with Americans today.
Few other journalists would tell the story as well and as properly as Medsger. She treats her sources and others, who were involved in Catholic war resistance, with the empathy that they deserve.
Medsger also is not afraid to take the contents of the Media files and all that transpired around them and carry everything to a logical extension. She implicates the entire system of government for allowing Hoover to gain such power.
It took a burglary, a righteous albeit illegal act, to bring abusive and illegal government conduct out into the open.
None of these domestic spying programs were politically defensible once exposed to public scrutiny. The intelligence reforms implemented afterward were “fragile.” They often are, which makes what she portrays and outlines so illuminating for those concerned about secret government.
The Burglary is now one of my most valued go-to sources for information to guide me in contextualizing what I cover and write about on a daily basis. I highly recommend purchasing a copy of the book if you have not done so already.
There are many more tidbits from Medsger’s exceptional book that I am eager to note, but I’ll save them for the enlightening chat we will be having.
Join me in welcoming Betty Medsger to this FDL Book Salon.
[As a courtesy to our guests, please keep comments to the book and be respectful of dissenting opinions. Please take other conversations to a previous thread. - bev]