Product Description: Athan Theoharis, long a respected authority on surveillance and secrecy, established his reputation for meticulous scholarship with his work on the loyalty security program developed under Truman and McCarthy. In "Abuse of Power," Theoharis continues his investigation of U...read more

Discusses the history, organization, activities, controversies, and key events and people of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Explores the FBI's history of operational failures, overrated abilities, and frequent use of wiretaps, buggings, and breaks-ins in a study that assesses how the FBI's extralegal activities have undermined civil liberties and agency accountability.

Discusses the FBI's role in important espionage cases of the cold war years, charging that the FBI promoted political McCarthyism while masking counterintelligence shortcomings and citing the FBI's failure to apprehend and convict Soviet agents.

Provides an overview of FBI developments and personalities, looking at important cases, policy decisions, media portrayals, and relationships with the president, Congress, and other law enforcement agencies.

Provides an overview of FBI developments and personalities, looking at important cases, policy decisions, media portrayals, and relationships with the president, Congress, and other law enforcement agencies.

The government is hiding information from its citizens-or so most Americans believe. While even some members of Congress now call for greater access to classified documents, federal agencies continue to withhold a massive amount of information in the name of national security, maintaining a culture of secrecy rooted in the Cold War.This new book examines who in government is hiding what from the rest of us, how they're doing it, and why it should matter to all of us. Contributing scholars, journalists, and attorneys survey the policies of federal intelligence agencies and presidents—notably Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton-to keep information secret. They show how these agencies have gone far beyond legitimate security needs to withhold information, and they describe the frustrations and costs encountered in their own efforts to obtain classified information.The authors review important cases exemplifying State Department, agency, and presidential efforts to withhold, destroy, or delay release of these records. In chapters centering on the Kennedy assassination, the Nixon tapes, and the FBI's files on John Lennon and the Supreme Court justices, readers will find an abundance of startling and disturbing revelations. By citing some of the methods used by agencies like the CIA, NSA, NSC, and FBI to circumvent the Freedom of Information Act—often with the cooperation of the judicial system—these essays clearly show that abuses of secrecy aren't limited to the withholding of information but extend to the absurd lengths taken to avoid disclosure.

Product Description: First published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Includes letters, memoranda, and other materials revealing surveillance of prominent Americans and political groups

Traces the life of J. Edgar Hoover, examines the way in which he ran the FBI, and discusses the secret files he kept on politicians, celebrities and extremists

Focuses on the shifting public attitudes toward the Yalta Conference in the decade following it