COINTELPRO
ConfirmedRECORDEDINDEXED · RT-005
An FBI program that watched and tried to disrupt domestic groups, including civil rights leaders and anti-war activists. It came to light when activists burgled an FBI office in 1971.
What the record shows
- In March 1971 a group broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, and leaked the files.
- The Church Committee investigated in 1975–76 and described abuses of power.
- The reforms that followed included the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (1978).
Claimed, but not shown
The program ran in secret for years. Some individual claims about specific incidents remain disputed.
Verdict
Confirmed by leaked files and the Church Committee.
checked. real.
Sources
- Church Committee Final Report (1976)
- FBI documents released after 1971
Connected files (red threads)
- Snowden and the NSA — Surveillance lineage: 1970s abuses led to FISA (1978)
- MKUltra — Both exposed by the Church Committee (1975–76)
- Watergate — Same era of exposed executive-branch abuses
- The Church Committee and the 'Family Jewels' — The FBI's program was exposed and condemned in the committee's reports
- Project SHAMROCK and Operation MINARET — Parallel programs aimed at activists and civil rights leaders
- The CIA and the media ('Operation Mockingbird') — Secret influence campaigns inside the United States
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