FBI: Federal Bureau of Intimidation

Not long after columnist Jack Anderson's funeral, FBI agents called his widow to say they wanted to search his papers. They were looking for confidential government information he might have acquired in a half-century of investigative reporting. USA Today

Yesterday, we read about how the FBI is attempting to obtain the personal files of investigative reporter Jack Anderson under the pretext it will help the government's case against two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The lobbyists, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, have been charged with disclosing classified information.

Interestingly, the FBI is expanding the scope to remove any documents discovered during the search which may be stamped "secret", "confidential", or may be otherwise classified. Smells to me very much like a fishing expedition to attempt to identify individuals, sources or contacts, who may have helped Anderson obtain access to information revealing unethical, illegal, or less than flattering activities of certain powerful figures.

Mark Feldstein, a George Washington University journalism professor and Anderson biographer. Feldstein said he was visited by two agents at his Washington-area home in March.

Feldstein, who is writing a book about Anderson's relationship with Nixon, said the attempt is part of the "greatest assault on the news media since the Nixon administration."

"On the one hand, I think it's really disturbing to have the FBI come knocking at your door, demanding to look at things you've been reading. It smacks of a Gestapo state. On the other hand, it's so heavy handed to be almost ludicrous," Feldstein said. Washington Post

Today, another Washington Post article more accurately reports, albeit via the comments from Kevin Anderson, Jack Anderson's son, the more troubling aspect of this demand from the FBI:

Kevin Anderson said agents were "duplicitous" about their "true objective . . . to whitewash Jack Anderson's papers and attempt to remove from history embarrassing documents."

Here we see firsthand attempts at rewriting history, erasing all evidence of the truths, facts, and events as they occurred. Under the cover of the search for security leaks compromising national security, the true objective of silencing patriots and honest citizens who would reveal corruption, unconstitutional, and criminal behavior, will now be sought.

Any document can be classified and excluded from revelation under the guise of protection of national security, at the discretion of anyone with the power to apply the classification, and thus sweep under the rug any act or decision they choose.

Criminal acts and abuses of power would never be revealed. Everyone would continue to believe what a clean house the intelligence, military, executive, and legislative communities maintain.

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