----- Original Message ----- From: <Wes676767 at aol.com> To: <CTRL at listserv.aol.com>; <AGENDAS at MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>; <snetnews at world.std.com> Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 12:36 PM Subject: SNET: FBI Releases New Files
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> US Department of State
> International Information Programs
>
> Washington File
> _________________________________
>
> 02 March 2000
>
> FBI Adds New Subjects to Electronic Reading Room
> (Electronic versions of files on spies, politicians, authors) (2140)
>
> Suspected spies, gangsters, politicians, authors, and a group of
> student activists from the 1960s are among the latest subjects added
> to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Freedom of Information Act
> (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room, according to a February 25 FBI news
> release.
>
> These documents had been available in paper format for several years
> and now can be accessed electronically, the release said.
>
> Among the latest subjects for which investigative information is now
> available electronically:
>
> -- American POWs/MIAs in Southeast Asia
>
> -- Nathan Silvermaster, leader of a post-World War II Soviet
espionage
> ring.
>
> -- Ernst Franz Sedwick (Putzi) Hanfstangl aka Ernest Sedgwick, an
> author and intimate friend of Adolph Hitler who served as Hitler's
> Nazi Press Chief.
>
> -- Carlo Tresca, Italian political refugee and author who organized
> labor strikes across the United States through the International
> Workers of the World (IWW) beginning in 1912.
>
> -- Al Capone, the notorious gangster who conducted his illegal
> enterprises in Chicago during the 1920's.
>
> -- The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which was
> created in 1960 as a nonviolent civil rights movement primarily
> devoted to voter-registration campaigns in the South.
>
> -- Thomas Mann, German author, Nobel Prize winner in literature, and
> naturalized American citizen.
>
> -- Abbie Hoffman, 1960s and 70s activist, anarchist, and co-founder
of
> the Youth International Party (YIP a.k.a. Yippies) and one of the
> "Chicago Seven."
>
> -- Dr. Wilhelm Reich, a German immigrant who described himself as
the
> Associate Professor of Medical Psychology, Director of the Orgone
> Institute.
>
> The index to the paper format documents in the FOIA Reading Room is
> now available at the FBI's web site and, as additional documents are
> converted to an electronic format, they will be added to the
> Electronic Reading Room. Viewers may select records at
> http://www.fbi.gov.
>
> Following is the text of the FBI press release:
>
> (begin text)
>
> Federal Bureau of Investigation
> Washington D.C.
> February 25, 2000
>
> The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today that it has
added
> several new subject matters to the Historical Interest, Famous
> Persons, Espionage, and Gangster Era categories of its Freedom of
> Information Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room. The subjects listed
> below have been available in paper format for several years and now
> can be accessed electronically:
>
> HISTORICAL INTEREST
>
> -- American POWs/MIAs in Southeast Asia -- 4,888 pages
>
> In 1970-1973 the FBI investigated the Committee of Liaison with
> Families of Servicemen Detained in North Vietnam (COLIFAM), a U.S.
> antiwar group acting as "liaison" between POWs and their families.
The
> group was alleged to be a vehicle of North Vietnamese propaganda
whose
> activities were believed to be detrimental to the health and welfare
> of the prisoners held in North Vietnam. No information was developed
> warranting prosecution of COLIFAM for solicitation under the Foreign
> Agents Registration Act. In 1982, the FBI compiled information
> concerning American prisoners of war or American citizens in Viet
Nam.
> In 1992, the FBI provided assistance to the Senate Select Committee
on
> POW/MIA Affairs by furnishing information and/or performing
> investigations on behalf of the Committee on all facets of POW
issues.
>
> -- Moorish Science Temple of America -- 3,117 pages
>
> The Moorish Science Temple of America was organized in 1913 in
Newark,
> New Jersey. The Temple was investigated in 1953 for violation of the
> Selective Service Act of 1948 and sedition. Some members of the
> organization claimed to be conscientious objectors but professed
they
> were not pacifists. In September of 1953, the Department of Justice
> concluded that prosecution for violation of the Selective Service
Act
> was not warranted as the group's conscientious objectors did not
evade
> service other than by a right granted under provisions in the Act.
No
> sedition statutes were violated because subjects' actions were not
> directed toward members of the armed forces of the U.S. A 1940
> investigation was conducted to determine if the Moorish Science
Temple
> of America was committing subversive activities by adhering to and
> spreading Japanese propaganda. The investigation failed to
> substantiate that members were pro-Japanese in their attitude.
>
> -- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee -- 2,887 pages
>
> The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was created in 1960 as
a
> nonviolent civil rights movement primarily devoted to direct-action,
> voter-registration campaigns in the South. Investigation was opened
in
> 1964 to establish the extent of communist infiltration in the SNCC.
> Several leaders and members of SNCC had been identified as
communists
> in public hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
> SNCC was determined to be extensively communist dominated. In 1966,
> Stokely Carmichael emerged as SNCC national chairman. In 1968, SNCC
> merged with the Black Panther Party and, in 1969, the name was
changed
> to Student National Coordinating Committee. Not long thereafter the
> organization ceased to exist.
>
> -- Ernst Franz Sedwick (Putzi) Hanfstangl aka Ernest Sedgwick -- 122
> pages
>
> Ernst Franz Sedwick Hanfstangl, was an author and intimate friend of
> Adolph Hitler who served as Hitler's Nazi Press Chief. Hanfstangl
fled
> Germany for England in 1937 and was interned by the British as a
> German alien enemy and sent to Canada for confinement. In 1938, the
> FBI noted that Hanfstangl possibly had been connected with the Black
> Tom and Kingsland explosions. In 1942 he was paroled to the
President
> of the U.S. and placed under the care of Presidential Assistant J.
> Franklin Carter. Hanfstangl was to make his knowledge of Nazi
Germany
> available to the Office of Strategic Services and other branches of
> the Government. The FBI never interviewed Hanfstangl or knew of his
> exact whereabouts in the U.S.
>
> -- Carlo Tresca -- 1,358 pages
>
> Carlo Tresca, Italian political refugee, agitator, author, and
editor,
> organized labor strikes across the U.S. through the International
> Workers of the World beginning in 1912. Tresca published an Italian
> American newspaper "Il Martillo" (The Hammer) in which he criticized
> both communists and fascists. In 1922, an investigation of Tresca
was
> initiated to determine the status of his U.S. citizenship, as well
as
> his publication of an alleged obscene article in his newspaper. A
> security investigation was initiated in 1941 for violation of the
> Neutrality and Registration Acts. Tresca was murdered upon leaving
his
> office on January 11, 1943. The murder remains unsolved by the New
> York Police Department.
>
> FAMOUS PERSONS
>
> -- Hugo Black -- 156 pages
>
> Hugo Black was a U.S. Senator from 1927 to 1937 and was appointed
> Associate Supreme Court Justice in 1937 by President Roosevelt. He
> resigned from the Supreme Court in 1971 shortly before his death. In
> 1949 information was developed alleging Black's membership in the Ku
> Klux Klan of Clay County, Alabama. Records contain several threats
> against the life of Black, cordial correspondence with the FBI and
> numerous newspaper articles critical of Black's liberal
> actions/decisions as Senator and later as Supreme Court Justice.
>
> -- Abbie (Abbott) Hoffman -- 4,101 pages
>
> Abbie Hoffman, 1960s and 70s activist, anarchist, was co-founder of
> the Youth International Party (YIP a.k.a. Yippies) and one of the
> "Chicago Seven". He was the subject of a security investigation in
> 1968 in view of his anarchist actions, as well as an anti-riot law
> investigation as a result of his leadership in disturbances at the
> 1968 Democratic National Convention (DEMCON) in Chicago. The cases
> were closed in 1973 upon the final judgment of the "Chicago Seven"
> trial. The trial case was dismissed at the request of the Government
> in January, 1973, after the U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit,
> Chicago, Illinois, reversed the convictions and remanded the case
back
> to the U.S. District Court, Chicago, for a new trial if the
Government
> so desired . The "Chicago Seven" was the term used for the seven
> leaders tried for violations of anti-riot laws stemming from the
> DEMCON demonstrations.
>
> -- Thomas Mann -- 95 pages
>
> Thomas Mann, German author, Nobel prize winner in literature and
> naturalized American citizen, was investigated from 1927 through
1955.
> The security investigation gathered information showing Mann's
> affiliation with communist causes and associates. Mann wrote
magazine
> articles for an anti-Nazi magazine which was published by German
> communists.
>
> -- Nelson Rockefeller -- 1,592 pages
>
> Nelson Rockefeller, Medal of Freedom winner, 1977; Vice-President to
> President Gerald Ford, 1974 - 1977; and Governor of New York State
> 1959 -1973, was investigated in 1950 and 1969 for suitability to
fill
> presidential appointments and again in 1974 to perform the duties of
> Vice-President. The FBI investigated numerous threats against the
life
> of Rockefeller as Governor, Presidential Candidate, and
> Vice-President. Records also include personal correspondence between
> Rockefeller and the FBI demonstrating his affable relationship with
> the FBI, newspaper articles chronicling various aspects of
> Rockefeller's life, and documents in which his name was merely
> mentioned.
>
> -- Dr. Wilhelm Reich -- 789 pages
>
> This German immigrant described himself as the Associate Professor
of
> Medical Psychology, Director of the Orgone Institute, President and
> research physician of the Wilhelm Reich Foundation and discoverer of
> the biological or life energy. A 1940 security investigation was
begun
> to determine the extent of Reich's communist commitments. A board of
> Alien Enemy Hearing judged that Dr. Reich was not a threat to the
> security of the U.S. In 1947, a security investigation concluded
that
> neither the Orgone Project nor any of its staff were engaged in
> subversive activities or were in violation of any statute within the
> jurisdiction of the FBI. The Orgone Institute, founded by Dr. Reich,
> claimed that "orgone energy" would prevent and cure a variety of
> serious diseases, including cancer. In 1954 the U.S. Attorney
General
> filed a complaint seeking permanent injunction to prevent interstate
> shipment of devices and literature put out by Dr. Reich's group.
That
> same year Dr. Reich was arrested for contempt of court for violation
> of the Attorney General's injunction. Dr. Reich died in a Federal
> Prison in 1957 while serving a 2 year sentence for contempt of
court.
>
> -- Muriel Rukeyser -- 118 pages
>
> Muriel Rukeyser, author, poet and editorial free lance writer, came
to
> the attention of the FBI when a background investigation for
> suitability was initiated in 1943 in conjunction with her government
> employment as copywriter with the Office for Emergency Management.
The
> investigation terminated when she resigned from the position a few
> months later. A security investigation into Rukeyser's communist
> activities started as the suitability investigation ended.
> Investigation determined that Rukeyser sponsored or was a member of
> numerous organizations which were cited by the Attorney General or
> House Committee on Un-American Activities as communist front
> organizations. Louis F. Budenz testified in 1951 that Rukeyser was a
> concealed Communist Party member.
>
> ESPIONAGE
>
> -- Nathan Silvermaster Group -- 1,951 pages
>
> Nathan Silvermaster was a leader of a Soviet espionage ring. This
> espionage investigation from 1945 to 1959 uncovered Soviet placed
> agents working within the U.S. Government. The case - titled
Gregory,
> using the middle name of Silvermaster - exposed 27 individuals in
the
> Silvermaster ring who gathered information from at least six Federal
> agencies to turn over to the Soviets. No indictments for espionage
> were returned against any subjects in the Gregory case by any Grand
> Jury; however, a Grand Jury did return an indictment against Alger
> Hiss for perjury.
>
> GANGSTER ERA
>
> -- Al (Alphonse) Capone -- 2,397 pages
>
> Al Capone was a notorious gangster who conducted his illegal
> enterprises in Chicago, Illinois during the 1920s. Many of the
> activities ascribed to the "Capone Gang" were not violations of
> Federal law within the FBI's investigative jurisdiction. In 1929,
the
> FBI was ordered by the Attorney General to investigate the
legitimacy
> of an affidavit that petitioned for a postponement of Capone's
> appearance in response to a Federal Grand Jury subpoena. The
> investigation established that facts within the affidavit were
indeed
> false. Capone was tried and convicted of contempt of court on
February
> 25, 1931. When Capone was convicted for income tax evasion, the
Judge
> ruled that the sentence for contempt of court should be served
> concurrently with the tax evasion sentence. Capone served his prison
> sentence from 1931 to 1939. Capone was in poor health following his
> release from prison and died in 1947 at home in Florida.
>
> -------------
>
> These documents have been converted to an electronic format from
paper
> copies housed in the FOIA Reading Room located at FBI Headquarters.
> Portions have been blacked out to protect personal privacy,
> confidential sources, national security, etc., in accordance with
the
> exemption provisions of the FOIA. The index to the paper format
> documents in the FOIA Reading Room is now available at the FBI's
> website and, as additional documents are converted to an electronic
> format, they will be added to the Electronic Reading Room.
>
> Viewers may select records from the categories of historical
interest,
> famous persons, espionage, violent crime, gangster era, or unusual
> phenomena at http://www.fbi.gov.
>
> (end text)
> (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs,
U.S.
> Department of State)
>
>
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