FBI Archives

Hoover Appreciates Your Thoughtfulness: The FBI and History’s Most Infamous Anti-Semetic Forgery
August 20, 2020 –
The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion are an infamous anti-Semetic forgery. Created to stoke anti-Semetisim in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, they continue to be the centerpiece of bigoted conspiracy theories to this day. So why did an official FBI account tweet them?
Is PATRIOT Act Mass Surveillance Continuing Despite the Sunset of Section 215?
July 30, 2020 –
Section 215 authorizes expansive unwarra
Barr’s New FBI Task Force Is Just Another Tool to Use Against Protesters
July 13, 2020 –
As the nation rises up against police br
The Ongoing Saga of the Patriot Act Surveillance Provisions
June 1, 2020 –
On Wednesday night our left-right coalit
DRAD Withdraws Support for Lofgren-Davidson Amendment
May 27, 2020 –
Once again we’ve been double crossed by
What the Inspector General Report on FBI Assessments of Homegrown Violent Extremists Misses
March 11, 2020 –
The FBI’s use of assessments and its homegrown violent extremism designation are both highly controversial. Yet, the OIG ignores this completely, taking their existence for granted.
Missed Opportunities At Last Week’s FBI Oversight Hearing
February 10, 2020 –
The FBI both has expansive surveillance powers and a long history of abusing civil liberties. Congress must exercise oversight over the FBI. This requires approaching these abuses as what they are–longstanding, systemic problems.Unfortunately, for the most part, both Democrats and Republicans missed opportunities at least week’s hearing to really take on the issue of FBI abuse.
Defending Rights & Dissent Teams Up With Institute For Policy Studies for A People’s Briefing on FBI Abuse
January 28, 2020 –
Sixty people attended a joint Defending Rights & Dissent and Institute for Policy Studies People’s Briefing on political surveillance and the FBI.
Full House for Panel On History of Political Policing
January 21, 2020 –
Around 100 people gathered at The People’s Forum last Thursday, for a discussion of “Still Spying on Dissent: The History of Political Policing.” The event showcased Defending Rights & Dissent’s groundbreaking report Still Spying on the Dissent: The Enduring Problem of FBI First Amendment Abuse and comes on the heels of the 100th Anniversary of the Palmer Raids, one of the most notorious abuses of civil liberties in US history.
50th Anniversary of Police Murder of Black Panther Activists Fred Hampton and Mark Clark
December 4, 2019 –
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. Hamtpon and Clark were activists with the Black Panther Party. Chicago police killed both men during a police raid ostensibly ordered by the Cook County state’s attorney. Subsequent revelations uncovered the role of the FBI in the raid. In our recent report, Still Spying on Dissent: The Enduring Problem of FBI First Amendment Abuse, we discussed the raid and how it is part of the FBI’s notorious COINTELPRO.
New Revelations About FBI Spying Renew Concern With Assessments
November 4, 2019 –
The investigatory powers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are regulated not by any Congressional charter, but by guidelines promulgated by the attorney general. Thanks to George W. Bush’s lameduck Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who was the last attorney general to revise the guidelines, the FBI’s standard for opening an investigation is shockingly lax. The lax nature of current FBI investigatory powers are in the news again.
Report on FBI Spying Garners Praise, Renews Concerns About Political Surveillance
October 31, 2019 –
Last week, Defending Rights & Dissent released the groundbreaking report Still Spying on Dissent: The Enduring Problem of FBI First Amendment Abuse. The report has received widespread praise and has once again raised the issue of FBI spying.
Our Report on FBI Spying Featured in The Intercept
October 23, 2019 –
Defending Rights & Dissent launched a groundbreaking new report chronicling the FBI’s (most) recent surveillance of social movements. And the report, Still Spying on Dissent: The Enduring Problem of FBI First Amendment Abuse, is already making waves!The Intercept just published a major piece on the report, that both summarizes and validates the report:
Defending Rights & Dissent Releases Groundbreaking Report Exposing A Pattern of FBI First Amendment Abuse
October 22, 2019 –
October 22–For Immediate Release: Defen
In Light of FISA Court Ruling, It’s Time to Close The FBI’s Backdoor Loophole
October 10, 2019 –
Earlier this week, it was revealed that a judge on the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court ruled that some of the FBI’s “backdoor” searches of communications intercepted by the NSA violated the rights of Americans. Defending Rights & Dissent has long opposed the FBI’s backdoor searches and renews its call for Congress to eliminate them once and for all.