Posted on 12/20/2006 5:52:03 AM PST by ShadowDancer
Secret John Lennon Files Released By FBI
Documents Conclude Former Beatle Wasn't Serious Threat
POSTED: 7:35 am EST December 20, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- The FBI has released its final surveillance documents on John Lennon to a university historian who has waged a 25-year legal battle to obtain the secret files.
The 10 pages contain new details about Lennon's ties to leftist and anti-war groups in London in the early 1970s, but nothing indicating government officials considered the former Beatle a serious threat, historian Jon Wiener told the Los Angeles Times in Wednesday's editions.
The FBI had unsuccessfully argued that an unnamed foreign government secretly provided the information, and releasing the documents could lead to diplomatic, political or economic retaliation against the United States.
The newly released documents include a surveillance report stating that two prominent British leftists had courted Lennon in hopes that he would finance "a left-wing bookshop and reading room in London" but that Lennon gave them no money.
Another page states that there was "no certain proof" that Lennon had provided money "for subversive purposes."
"I doubt that Tony Blair's government will launch a military strike on the U.S. in retaliation for the release of these documents," Wiener told the newspaper. "Today, we can see that the national security claims that the FBI has been making for 25 years were absurd from the beginning."
Wiener first requested the documents in 1981, several months after he decided to write a book about Lennon following the singer's murder.
He initially obtained some documents, but the FBI withheld numerous files, saying they contained national security information and were exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.
Wiener sued the government and received a number of files in 1997 as part of a settlement with the FBI. Justice Department lawyers continued to withhold the final 10 pages until a federal judge in 2004 ordered their release.
The previously released files showed that the FBI closely monitored Lennon from 1971 to 1972.
No doubt. The point of my post - which wasn't specifically directed to you or anyone else - is that it's a mistake to try to pidgeon hole him.
So what? He was a prominent opponent of the Vietnam war... and? Does this mean that President Hillary's critics need to be tailed because they oppose her policies? You seem to love big government a wee bit too much.
It was not illegal to be opposed to nam. I am opposed to alot of government programs. Perhaps if you object to the department of education they can sick the FBI on you too.
To conclude. What the hell are you talking about? If there was evidence that Lennon wanted to stage a violent revolution, commit criminal acts in order to finance radicals, or actual evidence of you know a crime, other than free speech.
I suppose Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh needed bugging because they opposed Clinton's war in Kosovo too. Are you an American? You sure don't sound like one.
What subject would that be---the topic of this thread, or your panty-twist over Hemingway?
I was simply wondering why you were flying false colors after claiming to be a 10-year veteran here. If you've got some sort of indigestion, pal, feel free to work it out on someone else.
We would be better off if we did.
Great stuff! How is it you knew all these people?
Your "friend" is a crook and a pretty well-known crackpot:
Frederic Seaman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Seaman
I read Seaman's book a few years back. I guess in the halls of Lennon history he hasn't come off too well. It would be fun to talk to you sometime about your brushes with the Lennon circle.
Lennon had his picture taken with Ronald Reagan too. Photo ops are meaningless. May Pang described John as a chameleon who went through different phases in his life.
John Lennon was investigated by the FBI when it was learned that he had contributed $75,000 to a group planning to disrupt the Republican National Convention in 1972.
That disruption was planned by Kerry's VVAW. It resulted in a trial of the "Gainesville Eight":
Gainesville Eight - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville_Eight."
Why not get informed rather than live in ignorance?
Cynthia Lennon, Julian Lennon, May Pang, Jack Douglas, Ken Gehringer and others who knew John said that Fred got a raw deal. It's nice to know that you're a fan of Yoko.
Seaman came off very well in Cynthia's book which came out last year.
"Lennon had his picture taken with Ronald Reagan too. Photo ops are meaningless."
LOL. I guess you didn't read my post about how that "photo op" was taken when they were both speaking at the same event.
Note my post below yours. Lennon subsequently gave $75,000 to Kerry's group.
That's why the FBI investigated him.
But your a Lennon expert, all right. LOL!
Good to know. I haven't gotten to that one yet. I haven't followed the "diary heist" issue very closely. As much as Yoko dominated every aspect of John's life, it wouldn't surprise me if John felt he had to make a secret deal to make sure the diaries wound up in Julian's hands.
Rock and Roll Ping.
"I don't understand why the government insisted on keeping this secret for so long. If the Lennon surveillance didn't amount to much, why not just give the author the files when he first asked for them?"
Way I look at it is, if you freely give out the info when it's not all that significant, then every time you refuse to give information, everyone will know it's significant and dig that much harder. Consider it camouflage for the secrets that really should be kept.
Qwinn
I know that Lennon supported Kerry and opposed the Vietnam War at the time, you dope. All I said was that Lennon outgrew that phase of his life. You've been brainwashed by Yoko's bullshit that romanticized John's "peace" activism. John was a more complex figure than that.
"I know that Lennon supported Kerry and opposed the Vietnam War at the time, you dope. All I said was that Lennon outgrew that phase of his life. You've been brainwashed by Yoko's bullshit that romanticized John's "peace" activism. John was a more complex figure than that."
Please note the subject of this thread. Then note the claims that Lennon was not a figure worth investigating. I have posted to counter those erroneous claims.
Your argument (based on the claims of one person who is a convicted thief and known liar) that Lennon became a Reagan supporter is irrelevant to all of this.
And for you to paint me as a Yoko fan for simply pointing out facts is laughably stupid.
Another person, Mike Tree, also said that Lennon supported Reagan in 1980 and it's common knowledge that Lennon and Reagan had a pleasant meeting in 1974.
Thank You, John Lennon, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Bang Bang Shoot Shoot
Firstly, the FBI was investigating him before this. Secondly, the gainesville eight were acquitted. You seem to be under the impression that the FBI wasn't a "political" operation in the 1950-70's during the hey day of Hoover. He was after particular people, and he shielded others like the mafia. It was for politics not for crime that they went after alot of people.
Was Lennon ever accused of committing a crime? I suppose every one of Mark Foley's campaign contributors need investigation because they supported a pedophile.
What actual crime was Lennon known or in good faith suspected of committing to have committed that warranted all the FBI attention?
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