Democracy Now! June 5, 2002

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Program Title:
Democracy Now! June 5, 2002
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PRA Archive #: 
PZ0450.178
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A HISTORY OF THE FBIS COVERT OPERATIONS

Me and My Shadow: As Attorney General John Ashcroft rolls back restrictions on FBI surveillance, a look at the history of the FBIs covert operations and COINTELPRO 9:01-9:06 Headlines: 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break 6: WATCHING ME - Jill Scott Who is Jill Scott? Words And Sound Vol.1 20: DN! Mix: "Know Your Rights" Peter Coyote Prison Radio Project (www.prisionradio.org / www.NLG.org) Mixed over TELL THE TRUTH - Phil Upchurch Tell The Truth (Evidence) 40 : HE GOT GAME - Public Enemy End: NO MORE I LOVE YOU'S - Annie Lennox 9:07-9:20 SNOOPS, SNITCHES, AND PROVOCATEURS: AS CONGRESS LAUNCHES AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE RESPONSE TO SEPTEMBER 11TH, A LOOK AT THE TACTICS OF THE FBI AND CIA Congressional leaders on Tuesday launched hearings on whether the FBI and CIA overlooked signals that warned of September 11th. The joint House-Senate hearings took place under high-security, in a soundproof room on the top floor of the capitol building. The hearings follow revelations that the CIA told the FBI 18 months ago that one of the 9-11 hijackers was attending a meeting of suspected terrorists in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and that he had a type of visa which should have drawn suspicion. The disclosure contradicts repeated assertions by senior FBI officials that bureau headquarters had no information about Khalid Almihdhar until 3 weeks before the September attack. As recently as yesterday afternoon, FBI officials said the CIAs failure to share information had possibly resulted in a missed opportunity to unravel the Sept. 11 plot. President Bush said yesterday he was concerned that the congressional inquiry could jeopardize the so-called war against terrorism. But chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Bob Graham, disagreed. He called the first day's session "extremely constructive". He said the inquiry will focus on establishing a timeline of what was known before September 11th, examining the so-called strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. intelligence system, and suggesting likely reforms.Meanwhile, Attorney General John Ashcroft has already declared some reforms of his own. Last week he announced a broad loosening of restrictions on the FBIs ability to conduct domestic surveillance, particularly on political and religious organizations. Under the old rules, agents had to show they had probable cause or information from an informer that crimes were being committed to begin counterterrorism investigations. Now they will be able to monitor Internet sites, libraries and religious institutions without first having any evidence of potential criminal activity. The restrictions were imposed on the FBI in the 1970s after revelations that it had run a widespread domestic surveillance and sabatoge program by the name of COINTELPRO. The name stands for "Counterintelligence Program," but the targets were not enemy spies but rather "radical" political activists inside the US. These included the Black Panthers, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and antiwar activists. Guest: David Kairys, professor of constitutional law, Temple University. Kairys is a nationally renowned constitutional lawyer. He had been in practice in Philadelphia with the firm of Kairys and Rudovsky since 1971 and has been Philadelphia counsel for the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee. He edited the 1998 edition of The Politics of Law (3d ed., Basic Books), and wrote With Liberty and Justice for Some (New Press, 1993). Guest: Ed McGowan, author of the Camden 28 Lower third: author of the Camden 28 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break 9:21-9:40 ME AND MY SHADOW: A HISTORY OF THE FBIS COVERT OPERATIONS AND COINTELPRO The House and Senate intelligence committees on Tuesday began their investigation into whether the FBI and CIA overlooked signals that warned of September 11th. The committees announced they will investigate the government's overall response to international terrorism dating back to 1986. The New York Times reports this is an extremely broad charter for the review of the September 11 attacks. Congress will go as far back as Ronald Reagans administration, when the C.I.A. created its counterterrorism center. Well today on Democracy Now! we are traveling back in time even further. We are going to return to the era of the FBIs domestic so-called igence program that we discussed in our first segment. In early 1971, Cointelpro came to light when a "Citizens Committee to Investigate the FBI" removed secret files from an FBI office and released them to the press. Agents began to resign from the Bureau and blow the whistle on covert operations that went far beyond intelligence gathering. That same year, publication of the Pentagon Papers, the Pentagon's top-secret history of the Vietnam War, exposed years of systematic official lies about the war. The public exposure of COINTELPRO and other government abuses resulted in a flurry of apparent reform in the 1970s, but domestic covert action did not end. We turn now to a radio documentary called "Me and My Shadow: Infiltration Of The Left By The US Government." It was produced for Pacifica radio in 1976, just as the outline of the government's secret war against the left was beginning to emerge. In the documentary, youll hear the voices of agent provocateurs people the FBI hired to engage in violent acts, and to provoke others to do the same. Tape: Me and My Shadow, produced by Adi Gevins and narrated by Don Sorta. 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:41-9:58 ME AND MY SHADOW: A HISTORY OF THE FBIS COVERT OPERATIONS AND COINTELPRO, contd Tape: Me and My Shadow, produced by Adi Gevins and narrated by Don Sorta. 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits

Date Recorded on: 
June 5, 2002
Date Broadcast on: 
June 5, 2002
Item duration: 
59 min.
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Distributor: 
WPFW; Amy Goodman, host. June 5, 2002
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