Aides Fault F.B.I. Scrutiny of Kerry in 1970's (NY Times joins assassination plot spin parade)

New York Times ^ | March 23rd, 2004 | DAVID M. HALBFINGER

[Sabertooth]

ETCHUM, Idaho, March 22 — A yearlong F.B.I. surveillance of John Kerry's antiwar activities in the early 1970's was "a badge of honor" and an encroachment on civil liberties that has echoes in the presidential race, a Kerry spokesman said on Monday.

Newly disclosed F.B.I. files reveal that the bureau's agents and informants closely followed Mr. Kerry and other leaders of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, infiltrating meetings, recording speeches and filing reports to Director J. Edgar Hoover and President Richard M. Nixon.

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Mr. Kerry, who joined the antiwar group's leadership in late 1970 — months after leaving the Navy as a decorated lieutenant — was tracked by the F.B.I. beginning in early 1971, around the time he drew national attention with his statements about war atrocities at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"The Nixon White House set out to destroy him because he was a credible voice speaking up for veterans," said David Wade, a spokesman for Mr. Kerry, who is vacationing here. "And now we learn that J. Edgar Hoover's F.B.I. was following his every move."

The extent of the F.B.I.'s surveillance was first reported Monday by The Los Angeles Times, which reviewed copies of files obtained from the bureau by a historian and author, Gerald Nicosia, who also provided copies to the Kerry campaign.

"Revealed in F.B.I. reports," Mr. Wade said, "is the portrait of John Kerry at age 27 speaking with courage and conviction, leading veterans to Washington for peaceful protest, advocating nonviolence and moderation. That the Hoover-era F.B.I. and Nixon White House paid such attention to John Kerry is a badge of honor and a reminder of the tumultuous pre-Watergate era before the F.B.I. was reformed in the early 1970's."

Mr. Kerry resigned from Vietnam Veterans Against the War in November 1971, the reports indicate, several months later than he has previously recollected. He quit to run for Congress from Massachusetts after feuding with more radical leaders within the group, among them Al Hubbard, a national co-director who had met in Paris with representatives of North Vietnam.

A Nov. 19, 1971, F.B.I. teletype marked "urgent" quoted an informant describing a group meeting six days earlier in Kansas City, Mo., at which many delegates wanted the group to take the initiative in peace efforts with North Vietnam. "John Kerry, V.V.A.W. national chairman, considered conservative by most V.V.A.W. members resigned for `personal reasons,' " the report said.

Another informant said Mr. Kerry had repeatedly tried to get Mr. Hubbard kicked out of the group's leadership and questioned whether he had ever served in Vietnam. After leaving the group, Mr. Kerry ran for Congress in suburban Boston in 1972, winning a crowded Democratic primary but losing the general election.

The Kerry campaign released documents from his own F.B.I. file, including memorandums dated May 24 and July 31, 1972, stating that Mr. Kerry had severed ties with the antiwar group, was pursuing a career in politics and warranted no further surveillance.

"A review of subject's file indicated there is nothing to associate him with any violence or any violent-prone group or organization," said the memorandum, from the Boston F.B.I. office. "It is being recommended that no further investigation be conducted re the subject."

On the campaign trail, Mr. Kerry has often compared the Bush administration to the Nixon White House, particularly in criticizing Attorney General John Ashcroft's use of the antiterrorism law. "I know what it's like to be spied on by the government, because that's what they did to me when I came back and stood up against the war," Mr. Kerry said in a speech in October.

In a statement on Monday, Mr. Kerry called "surreal" the extent to which he had been followed by the F.B.I. But he hastened to add that "today's F.B.I. isn't the F.B.I. of J. Edgar Hoover," which "spied on everyone from President Kennedy to Martin Luther King."

"The F.B.I. of today is on the front lines of the war on terror, and it's critical that they be effective with our full support," Mr. Kerry said. "But the experience of having been spied on for the act of engaging in peaceful patriotic protest makes you respect civil rights and the Constitution even more."

Mr. Kerry, again jabbing at Mr. Ashcroft, repeated in the statement that if elected he would appoint an attorney general "who respects rights" and "knows how to enforce laws in a way that balances law enforcement with our tradition of civil liberties."

[Sabertooth]

It's a trifecta!

FBI Tracked Kerry in Vietnam Vets Group (WPost whitewash)
			Posted by Sabertooth On 03/23/2004 1:52:38 PM PST with 1 comment Washington Post ^ | March 23rd, 2004 | Laura Blumenfeld and Dan Balz ...The Los Angeles Times first reported on the documents yesterday. The documents were in the custody of California author Gerald Nicosia, who had received them five years ago as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. Copies of some were subsequently made available to The Washington Post. < -snip- > The documents shed new light on some of Kerry's activities and contradict some statements his campaign previously made, including the timing of his resignation from the group and whether he participated in a controversial VVAW meeting in Kansas City, Mo., in November 1971. Campaign spokesman David Wade said Kerry...
L.A. Times Overlooks Details of Kerry's FBI Record (VVAW Senatorial Assassination plot)
			Posted by Sabertooth On 03/23/2004 1:38:07 PM PST with 3 comments Insight Magazine ^ | March 23rd, 2004 | Scott Stanley Jr. News management may have reached an embarrassing low in the Los Angeles Times for March 23 where an article by staff writer John M. Glionna purports to offer selections from the FBI file on soon-to-be Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, who was under surveillance by the G-Men as a member of the executive board of the pro-Viet Cong Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). Presenting items from 50 documents carefully selected from what it reported were 14 boxes of related government papers 12 feet high, the Times confirmed from the FBI and other witnesses that Kerry had resigned...

[Sabertooth]

FYI

[Always Right]

The nerve of the FBI investigating a plot to kill Senators.

[NorseWood]

If assassinations were being discussed, then the FBI certainly better have been watching them! I would be very concerned if they hadn't been!!

[SuziQ]

Newly disclosed F.B.I. files reveal that the bureau's agents and informants closely followed Mr. Kerry and other leaders of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, infiltrating meetings, recording speeches and filing reports to Director J. Edgar Hoover and President Richard M. Nixon. Advertisement

As it should have! We have since discovered that most of these 'peace' organizations were funded by the KGB, so Mr. Hoover was pretty prescient in being so suspicious of them!

[kittymyrib]

The FBI was doing its job when it was infiltrating these dangerous, anti-American kooks who were plotting to kill US Senators. This is the same tripe Judy Woodruff was peddling on CNN last night. I guess the partisan media all got their talking points yesterday.

[William Martel]

Another informant said Mr. Kerry had repeatedly tried to get Mr. Hubbard kicked out of the group's leadership and questioned whether he had ever served in Vietnam.

I guess questioning people's veteran status isn't a new tactic for Kerry...

[Sabertooth]

The nerve of the FBI investigating a plot to kill Senators.

The FBI didn't report the plot, because they didn't know about it, because their bugs were discovered, and the KC meeting was moved.

All of the stuff about "A review of subject's file indicated there is nothing to associate him with any violence or any violent-prone group or organization," said the memorandum, from the Boston F.B.I. office. "It is being recommended that no further investigation be conducted re the subject" is based on the critical lack of info about the discussion of the Phoenix Project at the Mennonite Church in Kansas City.

The FBI's exoneration of Kerry is meaningless.

[Lion Den Dan]

This should be an abuse report.... Why did the F.B.I. not jail the lousy subversive?

[irgbar-man]

Whenever I hear "FBI files" I see Hillary's face. Or is it Gollum's?

[Williams]

"Mr. Kerry, again jabbing at Mr. Ashcroft, repeated in the statement that if elected he would appoint an attorney general "who respects rights" and "knows how to enforce laws in a way that balances law enforcement with our tradition of civil liberties."

Translation: Kerry won't defend the country in the first place, and he won't even press the "law enforcement" side of the equation. Oy.

[Sabertooth]

FYI

[Sabertooth]

FYI

[SpookBrat]

Thanks for the ping my most excellent friend.

[onedoug]

A yearlong F.B.I. surveillance of John Kerry's antiwar activities in the early 1970's was "a badge of honor" and an encroachment on civil liberties that has echoes in the presidential race, a Kerry spokesman said on Monday.

Like the "badges of honor" Kerry "won" for admitted war crimes and murder in Vietnam? Like the ones he threw away in that war's protests?

As usual, Kerry's for, and against everything...depending on his audience.

[Williams]

Just wondering, how much credence is normally given to a pro communist, anti-war protestor when he criticizes the FBI for daring to investigate his activities? And we should put this fox in charge of the hen house???

[blanknoone]

Newly disclosed F.B.I. files reveal that the bureau's agents and informants closely followed Mr. Kerry and other leaders of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, infiltrating meetings, recording speeches and filing reports to Director J. Edgar Hoover and President Richard M. Nixon.

Oh....I hope those tapes surface! Hearing a sitting Senator campaigning for President talk about assassinating senators (even though apparently arguing against it) would be priceless!

[Eva]

Thanks for the links. At least the Insight article gave us some insight.

[lwd]

You can add the AP to the list of liars by omission. Their article made no mention of assassination plot either. Typical....

[CyberAnt]

Well .. all sacarsm aside .. the reason the Kerry camp is making a big stink about this is only because it was a REPUBLICAN who was president and who had control over what the FBI was doing.

I believe if there had been a dem president - there would have been very little or no mention of this.