COINTELPRO: The FBI's Secret War on American Dissent (1956–1971)

By Cade Shadowlight

 

COINTELPRO, short for Counter Intelligence Program, was a series of covert and often illegal operations run by the FBI from 1956 to 1971 under Director J. Edgar Hoover. It targeted domestic political organizations deemed "subversive," aiming to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" them.

Agents infiltrated groups with informants, spread disinformation through anonymous letters and fake media stories, forged documents to sow division, harassed targets with IRS audits and arrests on bogus charges, and even incited violence. Psychological warfare was routine: sending fake letters to break marriages, smear reputations, or provoke internal paranoia. The program violated First Amendment rights on a massive scale, with no oversight.

The truth emerged in 1971 when activists calling themselves the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI burglarized an office in Media, Pennsylvania, and leaked thousands of documents to the press. Further revelations came via FOIA requests, lawsuits, and the 1975 Church Committee hearings, which condemned COINTELPRO as a "sophisticated vigilante operation" and led to some reforms. Hoover officially ended it in 1971, but the Church Committee warned similar tactics could continue under new names.

COINTELPRO's legacy echoes in modern controversies, where critics draw strong parallels to recent abuses of power. The 2016 Crossfire Hurricane investigation into possible Trump campaign ties with Russia relied heavily on the unverified Steele dossier, which was funded by Clinton allies and riddled with flaws, as later exposed by the Durham report and IG findings. Allegations of FBI bias, omitted exculpatory evidence in FISA warrants on Carter Page, and politicized surveillance strongly support claims it's a contemporary version: government agencies illegally targeting political opponents under the guise of national security.

For Further Reading

1. Ward Churchill & Jim Vander Wall – The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States (2022 edition) – Reproduces key declassified memos with sharp analysis. (Amazon link)
2. Nelson Blackstock – COINTELPRO: The FBI's Secret War on Political Freedom (1975, reissued 1988) – Early exposé with reproduced documents from the initial leaks. (Amazon link)
3. Betty Medsger – The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI (2014) – Gripping account of the 1971 break-in that blew the lid off COINTELPRO. (Amazon link)

  

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