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Post by JoJo on Oct 1, 2004 21:43:59 GMT -5
From: www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,15051,00.html?tnews Just what is in those files that is so important? I think it's pretty much common knowledge that files were kept on him, and he was far from the only one at the time. So what's the deal here... Secret Lennon Files on the Way? by Charlie Amter Oct 1, 2004, 5:20 PM PT More than two decades after his death, John Lennon is apparently still a threat to national security--or so the FBI still contends. Now, at the behest of Jonathan Wiener, a California professor and author of several books on the murdered icon, a federal judge on Thursday ordered the FBI to turn over Lennon's disputed files to Weiner. The good professor has been doggedly pursuing the late Beatle's files under the Freedom of Information Act for 20-plus years. "The issue has become government secrecy and the absurdity that, today, when the FBI should have better things to do they are still trying to keep secret 34-year-old documents about the antiwar activities of a dead rock star," Wiener said of his victory. The Department of Justice has 60 days to announce whether it will appeal the ruling to fork over the 10 classified files. Lawyers for the agency are "reviewing the court's ruling and no determination has been made as to what our next step will be," U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Charles Miller said. The FBI famously followed the former Beatle in the early 1970s, amassing a thick file on Lennon after he moved to New York with wife Yoko Ono in 1971. Lennon, the most overtly political of the Beatles, protested the Vietnam War, staged bed-ins for peace, recorded the anthemic "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine" and publicly supported such counterculture figures as Abbie Hoffman, all while ingesting large quantities of drugs. The enemies-obsessed Nixon government, along with the rest of the country, took notice. According to Wiener, there is a 288-page file on Lennon in the FBI's "domestic security" section, of which 199 pages are still classified "in the interests of defense of foreign policy." Wiener, along with a little legal help from his friends at the American Civil Liberties Union, procured nearly 200 pages from the file in 1997. The professor culled the most interesting findings from the files into a book, Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI File, published five years ago. Among the top-secret revelations: Lennon hung out with, yes, a subversive parrot (actually, the bird belonged to one of Lennon's activist buddies who trained the parrot to squawk, "Right on!" during political debates). The files also confirmed the long-suspected belief that Lennon was targeted by Nixon, who used the FBI to try and gather dirt on the rock star in an effort to deport him. Nixon is on record as having feared Lennon as an influential antiwar activist who was a threat to the former President's political clout. According to Wiener, Lennon wanted to do a political Woodstock-like tour in the spring of 1972. "Nixon got wind of it," says Wiener, "and ordered Lennon deported." As a result, Lennon was only able to perform one show of his proposed tour. The icon was drawn into a three-year battle with U.S. Immigration. "He faced a deportation order," continued Wiener, "but because he had good lawyers, he managed to fight and delay the order." Lennon never complied with the deportation and was eventually issued a green card after Nixon resigned as President. Lennon was gunned down Dec. 8, 1980 in New York's Upper West Side at age 40 by crazed fan Mark David Chapman. His son Sean once insinuated that the U.S. goverment was behind his father's death, but few believe any Federal agency was involved with Chapman, who remains in a New York prison. Despite Thursday's court ruling, Wiener isn't expecting to see the documents any time soon. "The wheels of justice turn slowly," he says. "It could be six months, it could be a year."
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2004 22:26:25 GMT -5
Yes, and by then we are supposed to have lost interest...... I wonder what mind-bending information could be in there?
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Post by Goldfinger on Oct 25, 2004 11:33:37 GMT -5
From: www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,15051,00.html?tnews Just what is in those files that is so important? I think it's pretty much common knowledge that files were kept on him, and he was far from the only one at the time. So what's the deal here... Secret Lennon Files on the Way? by Charlie Amter Oct 1, 2004, 5:20 PM PT More than two decades after his death, John Lennon is apparently still a threat to national security--or so the FBI still contends. Now, at the behest of Jonathan Wiener, a California professor and author of several books on the murdered icon, a federal judge on Thursday ordered the FBI to turn over Lennon's disputed files to Weiner. The good professor has been doggedly pursuing the late Beatle's files under the Freedom of Information Act for 20-plus years. "The issue has become government secrecy and the absurdity that, today, when the FBI should have better things to do they are still trying to keep secret 34-year-old documents about the antiwar activities of a dead rock star," Wiener said of his victory. The Department of Justice has 60 days to announce whether it will appeal the ruling to fork over the 10 classified files. Lawyers for the agency are "reviewing the court's ruling and no determination has been made as to what our next step will be," U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Charles Miller said. The FBI famously followed the former Beatle in the early 1970s, amassing a thick file on Lennon after he moved to New York with wife Yoko Ono in 1971. Lennon, the most overtly political of the Beatles, protested the Vietnam War, staged bed-ins for peace, recorded the anthemic "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine" and publicly supported such counterculture figures as Abbie Hoffman, all while ingesting large quantities of drugs. The enemies-obsessed Nixon government, along with the rest of the country, took notice. According to Wiener, there is a 288-page file on Lennon in the FBI's "domestic security" section, of which 199 pages are still classified "in the interests of defense of foreign policy." Wiener, along with a little legal help from his friends at the American Civil Liberties Union, procured nearly 200 pages from the file in 1997. The professor culled the most interesting findings from the files into a book, Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI File, published five years ago. Among the top-secret revelations: Lennon hung out with, yes, a subversive parrot (actually, the bird belonged to one of Lennon's activist buddies who trained the parrot to squawk, "Right on!" during political debates). The files also confirmed the long-suspected belief that Lennon was targeted by Nixon, who used the FBI to try and gather dirt on the rock star in an effort to deport him. Nixon is on record as having feared Lennon as an influential antiwar activist who was a threat to the former President's political clout. According to Wiener, Lennon wanted to do a political Woodstock-like tour in the spring of 1972. "Nixon got wind of it," says Wiener, "and ordered Lennon deported." As a result, Lennon was only able to perform one show of his proposed tour. The icon was drawn into a three-year battle with U.S. Immigration. "He faced a deportation order," continued Wiener, "but because he had good lawyers, he managed to fight and delay the order." Lennon never complied with the deportation and was eventually issued a green card after Nixon resigned as President. Lennon was gunned down Dec. 8, 1980 in New York's Upper West Side at age 40 by crazed fan Mark David Chapman. His son Sean once insinuated that the U.S. goverment was behind his father's death, but few believe any Federal agency was involved with Chapman, who remains in a New York prison. Despite Thursday's court ruling, Wiener isn't expecting to see the documents any time soon. "The wheels of justice turn slowly," he says. "It could be six months, it could be a year." So, this isn't political?
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Post by JoJo on Oct 25, 2004 15:25:49 GMT -5
Somewhat, but I'm not the author, nor do I offer an opinion about any of the material therein, it's just a cut 'n paste. (of an article that doesn't offer any opinion either, it's just a reporting of the facts) This is a part of Lennon's life, just like his marriage to Yoko, his career with the Beatles, etc.
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Post by Goldfinger on Oct 25, 2004 16:17:36 GMT -5
Actually, I agree with you.
But I just put the 9/11 date in a post as a reference. I made no statements about it, offered any opinions, or made any political statements about it whatsoever. Why was I called on it for being "political?"
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Post by JoJo on Oct 16, 2005 9:09:57 GMT -5
It's been a little over a year since the article above, wonder what happened?
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Post by JoJo on Dec 20, 2006 17:05:28 GMT -5
Well.. they are out finally. I found this from file sharing, so I'm not sure of the source, but it came with an summary of each page, along with the scans. Scans are in the order as listed in the summaries below: The files were released to University of California, Irvine, historian Jon Wiener, who wrote about them in his book "Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files." Portions of the files had been withheld under the claim that releasing them would "endanger the national security." With the help of the ACLU of Southern California, Jon Wiener sued the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act, asking the courts to order release of the withheld portions of the Lennon FBI file.
On Dec. 19, 2006, the FBI agreed to release the ten documents that were still being withheld, bringing to an end 23 years of litigation.
(ny19p1) The text of document NY19 was previously blacked out in its entirety under the National Security-Foreign Government Information exemption. The document, described by the FBI as a "Letternead Memorandum" from the Legal Attache in London, was said to contain "information provided by a foreign government." Release of the information on this page, the FBI claimed from 1983 until 2006, "can reasonably be expected to inter alia: lead to foreign diplomatic, economic and military retaliation against the United States." The document, apparently based on information from Britain's MI5 intelligence agency, reports on Lennon's interview with Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn, published in the "Red Mole" -- and widely known to the public at the time. It also reports that Lennon met with French Marxist Regis Debray, also well known at the time, and that he signed a petition in support of Prince Sihanouk, the head of the Cambodian government, who was a neutralist. Release of this information in 2006 does not seem to have led to "military retaliaion against the United States." (ny19p2) The second page of the FBI's Letterhead Memorandum of Feb. 22, 1972, had also been withheld in its entirety from 1981 until 2006 under the claim that releasing it could lead to "military retaliation against the United States." This page conveys information, presumably from Britain's MI5, that Lennon "has encouraged the belief that he hold revolutionary views. . . by the content of some of his songs." This seems to be a reference to Lennon's song "Power to the People" -- hardly a national security secret. (hq11p1) The same day that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover wrote to H. R. Haldeman, assistant to Nixon in the White House, he also wrote to the Acting Attorney General conveying the same information. This correspondence indicates the high priority the Lennon case had in the Nixon administration. This release of information contains one sentence previously withheld: "Lennon has taken an interest in 'extreme left-wing activites' in Britain' and is known to be a sympathizer of Trotyskist communists in England." This is a reference to Lennon's ties to London New Left activists and writers Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn, who published a well-known interview with Lennon in the "Red Mole" in 1970. The FBI has claimed since 1981 that release of this sentence could endanger the National Security of the US.
(hq15p1) This memo was sent to E.S. Miller, head of the FBI's Domestic Intelligence Division at the time. Miller was convicted in 1980 of conspiring to violate individuals' civil rights by authorizing break-ins and searchs of the homes of five peopel suspected of having ties to Weather Underground fugitives. That made Miller (along with Mark Felt) the only FBI agent ever to hve been convicted of crimes committed while on duty. Shakeckelford was an unidicted co-conspirator. One additional sentence of this memo has been released: "Lennon has taken interest in 'extreme left-wing activities in Britain' and is known to be sympathizer of Trotksyist communists in England." This sentence has been withheld since 1981 on the grounds that releasing it would endanger the national security of the U.S.
(hq28p3) This document has been withheld in its entirety by the FBI since 1981 on the grounds that releasing it could endanger the national security of the US. The document is a letter to John T. Minnich at the American Embassy informing him that the "International Committee for John and Yoko" had been set up to gather support for them in their deportation hearings. The International Committee was not secret; it sought to publicize the injustice of the deportation order. The letterhead and signature remain classified under the national security exemption.
(hq33p1) The FBI described HQ33 as a "letter with attachment." All the information was blacked out, even the date. The FBI cited the national security exemption as grounds for withholding it, declaring that it contained "information provided by a foreign government with the expectation, expressed or implied, that the information is to be kept in confidence." Even today we are not allowed to know the name of the government that provided this information. However this page contains no information about Lennon -- it is the cover letter to a "five-paragraph report."
(hq33p2) HQ-33, page 2, previously was completely withheld under the national security exemption as "foreign government information." Release of its 28 words does not seem to have endangered the national security of the US -- the claim the FBI asserted from 1981 until 2006.
(hq33p3) These four paragraphs, along with two on the next page, contain the substance of the newly released documents. Originally withheld in its entirety as "national security information provided by a foreign government," this page reports information about Lennon's relationships with British New Left activists Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn, which were well-known and widely publicized at the time. The relationship of the underground newspaper the "Red Mole" to the International Marxist Group, and its Trotskyist affiliations, was also no secret -- see for example the entry at Wikipedia. The name of the "foreign government" intelligence services this provided this information remains classified, but it must be Britain's MI5.
(hq33p4) The last two paragraphs of HQ33 report that Lennon has "apparently resist the attempts of any particular group to secury any hold over him." The British MI5, evidently the source of this information, was concerned that Lennon might have "advanced [money] for subversive purposes," but had "no certain proof" of this.
(hq12p1) J. Edgar Hoover's letter (HQ-12) to H.R. Haldeman, Nixon's chief of staff, dated April 25, 1972, provides crucial evidence that the Lennon investigation was a political one, of significance at the highest levels of the Nixon White House. One sentence in the "Haldeman Memo" that had previously been withheld has been released: "Lennon has taken an interest in 'extreme left-wing activities in Britain' and is known to be a sympathizer of Trotskyist communists in England." This is a reference to Lennon's ties to London New Left activists and writers Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn, who published a well-known interview with Lennon in the "Red Mole" in 1970. The FBI has claimed since 1981 that release of this sentence could endanger the National Security of the US.
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Post by Mellow Yellow on Dec 21, 2006 19:06:14 GMT -5
What a let down. I was hoping the files would say something like "M.D. Chapman has completed his training and will be flying out tommorow to complete with his mission". The thing is, most of the files only go to 1972, maybe there were more files that they "accidentally" threw in the paper shredder?
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Post by beatlies on Dec 21, 2006 19:38:23 GMT -5
What a let down. I was hoping the files would say something like "M.D. Chapman has completed his training and will be flying out tommorow to complete with his mission". The thing is, most of the files only go to 1972, maybe there were more files that they "accidentally" threw in the paper shredder? Those would be the CIA files, of which none have been released. The FBI is a secondary, subservient organization to the real masters of the USA/51st colony of Britain, and that is the CIA and NSA, with a little help from MI6.
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Post by JoJo on Dec 21, 2006 21:18:49 GMT -5
Yeah there's far more under wraps than this, as the guy said, there is nothing here that wasn't widely known, especially the idea that the US govt. had political motivations for wtaching him and doing all they could to get rid of him.
The REAL information is on file somewhere, and we sure ain't gonna see it..
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Post by CoconutFudge on Jan 19, 2007 20:38:11 GMT -5
God, what a real let down!! I am probably behind because I haven't seen the papers up until now, but I mean... wow. I thought that they'd have a lot more information than that, which is all common knowledge anyway. I'd love to see the actual juicy stuff.
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