Post Overview

In my last post, I said that my theory was that the Deep State did not begin subversion of the security community until right before WWII. I also think that subversion of the FBI did not occur until after Hoover's death, and mostly after the Church Committee.

As we look over this, we're going to see that corruption has always been a part of politics...not just Deep State corruption, but plain ol simple corruption.

We're going to see how Hoover built the FBI as a reflection of himself. We'll see that Hoover was a master of Information War, using media manipulation, blackmail ("greymail"), and selective information sharing. Hoover was also a master of bureaucratic warfare. As such, Hoover was able to build the FBI's power, as well as keep the FBI's duties to those which were likely to enhance the FBI's, and thus, his own, image. Finally, we will see that Hoover had a hatred for the Left that dominated his understanding of the role that the security community plays in defending American liberty.

Previous Posts

How long has the Left controlled the FBI? Let's start looking for evidence.

How long has the FBI been subverted, Part One (My own Deep State Theory)(The Mafia?)

Beginnings of the FBI

The Justice Department, to which the FBI is subordinate, was founded as Congress passed the Enforcement Act of 1870 in part as a reaction to Ku Klux Klan subversion. There was no policing agency assigned to the Justice Department, and Congress refused to establish such in fear of an "American secret police" though the early 20th Century. In 1908, Congress allowed the creation of what would eventually become the Bureau of Investigation, however, due to fears that the agency could be used as a "secret police" and enmeshed in politics, this new agency was not authorized to make arrests or to carry weapons .

Two things changed this:

• the first was the growth of militant leftist groups
• the second was the advent of was the advent of World War I and German sabotage efforts within the United States.

It was during this period that J. Edgar Hoover joined the Department of Justice. The growth and the direction of the FBI can not be explored without understanding Hoover's central role and how his personality affected it. Hoover's work during this period allowed him to become "known to his superiors as someone who was reliable and efficient" .

After World War I, the Department of Justice continued its war against subversion after a series of bombings by Leftists included the Attorney General Mitchell Palmer as a target . The Radical Division of the Bureau of Investigation, which Hoover was in charge of, was tasked with this responsibility.

Hoover's work as head of the Radical Division put him in good standing when Attorney General Harlan Stone sought to reform the Bureau of Investigation in 1924( for some strange the reason, the Bureau was rife with corruption, can you believe it? ;> ); Hoover was selected as Acing Director of the Bureau. In the era prior to World War II, Hoover's direction of the agency resulted in several changes, including the sanction to carry weapons, make arrests, and the new name of the agency...the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

These changes, however, included involving the FBI in internal politics. FDR personally directed the FBI to target the subversive activities of Nazis and Communists and legitimized domestic intelligence operations; FDR also required the agency's use as a political police, and to solicit bureau reports on the president's critics. In the future, the FBI would provide political intelligence on political rivals for each and every President through Hoover's tenure at the FBI.

The FBI under Hoover

Hoover's biographers generally agree that Hoover's perfectionism and autocratic leadership style were the key components in his success in running the FBI.

• From the beginning, Hoover played up the image of the FBI. One of the reasons that the FBI got into the bank robber game was the flashy headlines...to the point that Hoover inserted himself into a photo op

Hoover’s manipulation of the press was epitomized by his staged arrest of Alvin Karpis on May 1, 1936. The Director captivated audience members with various versions of a more singular narrative that emphasized his own militaristic leadership.
Underhill

• This goes back to the idea that Hoover defined the FBI as a reflection of himself

But Hoover’s blind spots and quirks were legendary. If an agent conducted himself poorly, Hoover felt it reflected on him personally. He codified his philosophy in the phrase “Don’t embarrass the bureau.” By that he also meant, “Don’t embarrass me.” As far as Hoover was concerned, he was the bureau. His agents were his family.
Kessler

• Public criticism of the FBI often led to reprisals from Hoover. Although it was JFK and RFK that authorized operations against MLK, Hoover was chomping at the bit to go after MLK, who had criticized the FBI's lack of success in rooting out the Klan and protecting the rights of black folk.
  Note 1 - Hoover had such a strong antipathy for MLK that Sullivan, one of his top men, considered the public fight between the two as the beginning of bad images for the FBI and Hoover
  Note 2 - Eventually, after direction from of the President, Hoover initiated COINTELPRO:WHITE HATE, which can overall be considered one the FBI's success stories
  Note 3 - One of the biggest reasons that Hoover was reluctant to go after the Klan was that he considered an issue for local government to deal with...i.e, the proper application of federalism...IMO I would guess that it would also cost Hoover in manpower in generating public operations that played to the FBI's image

• When FDR expanded the federal government, Hoover took his infowar and burrocratic talents and got the FBI a big piece of that pie.

In one of the least analyzed of all New Deal reforms, the Roosevelt administration promoted the growth of the FBI
O'Reilly

There was a quid pro quo...a trading of favors...

FDR personally directed the FBI to target the subversive activities of Nazis and Communists and legitimized domestic intelligence operations; FDR also required the agency's use as a political police,and to solicit bureau reports on the president's critics. In the future, the FBI would provide political intelligence on political rivals for each and every President through Hoover's tenure at the FBI.
Durchin

• Hoover understood, and thus hated, the Left. He got his start tracking leftists, and it where he personally excelled. After FDR greenlit FBI action against subversives, Hoover focused on leftism.

Communism is more than an economic, political, social, or materialistic doctrine. It is a way of life; a false, materialistic "religion." It would strip man of his belief in God, his heritage of freedom. his trust in love, justice, and mercy. Under communism, all would become...twentieth century slaves
communists are trained in deceit and trickery and use every form of camouflage and dishonesty to advance their cause
Hoover, Masters of Deceit

• Hoover played by the rules
  Hoover only initiated COINTELPRO operations after direction to do so by the president.

Hoover cut back "black bag" operations after Court decsions restricting their use

Hoover also played hard and fast with the rules; I suspect he had the following attitude; that which is not specifically prohibited is permitted

Playing by the rules meant a political understanding of how hard he could hit loopholes with the assent of politicians

Playing by the rules on a technical level allowed Hoover to protect both the image and the power (budget, responsibilities) of the FBI

COINTELPRO?

I'm giving these programs very little attention in this post; when I get around to it, there are acres to post on the subject!

Wrapping it up

I don't see any signs that the Deep State (which was in it's banking conspiracy stage at the time that Hoover took control of the FBI) got it's hooks into the FBI during Hoover's time

I don't see any specific actions the FBI took that would be considered an indicator of working for Deep State goals.

While Hoover played politics with the Left to gain power (FDR's progressive administration and the Soviet spies that polluted that administration), Hoover directed the agency with his goals in mind.

• The public image of the FBI
• The independence of the FBI
• protection of America from subversives, primarily leftist subversion

Yes, corruption and politics drove the policy of Hoover (and thus the FBI) through the time period he was in control, however, I see the actions of the FBI during this time in line with the goals I listed above.

References and Sources

Raymond J. Batvinis, Hoover’s Secret War against Axis Spies: FBI Counterespionage during World War II. Lawrence: Univ. Press of Kansas, 2014.

Charles, D. M. (2007). J. Edgar Hoover and the anti-interventionists: FBI political surveillance and the rise of the domestic security state, 1939-1945. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.

DeLoach, C. (1995). Hoover’s FBI: the inside story by Hoover’s trusted lieutenant. Washington, D.C. : Lanham, MD: Regnery Pub. ; Distributed to the trade by National Book Network.

Durchin, Steve (2015). The Effects Of Hoover’s Bureaucratic Tactics On COINTELPRO Operations: A Comparison Between NEW LEFT and WHITE HATE.

Gentry, C. (1991). J. Edgar Hoover: the man and the secrets. New York: Norton.

Keller, W. W. (1989). The liberals and J. Edgar Hoover: Rise and fall of a domestic intelligence state. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

Kessler, R. (2011). The Secrets of the FBI (Reprint edition). Crown Forum.

O’Reilly, K. (1982). A New Deal for the FBI: The Roosevelt Administration, Crime Control, and National Security. The Journal of American History, 69(3), 638–658. https://doi.org/10.2307/1903141

O’Reilly, K. (1993). J. Edgar Hoover and civil rights. Policy Studies Journal, 21(3), 609. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-0072.ep9410121504

Powers, R. G. (1987). Secrecy and power: the life of J. Edgar Hoover. New York; London: Free Press ; Collier Macmillan.

Sullivan, W. C. (1979). The Bureau: my thirty years in Hoover’s FBI (1st ed). New York: Norton.

Theoharis, A. G. (1990). Research note: the FBI and the politics of surveillance, 1908-1985.
Criminal Justice Review (Georgia State University), 15(2)

Underhill, S. M. (2012). J. Edgar Hoover’s Domestic Propaganda: Narrating the Spectacle of the Karpis Arrest. Western Journal of Communication, 76(4), 438–457. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2012.686649

Webb, G. (2004). New insights into J. Edgar Hoover’s role. Studies in Intelligence, 48(1).

Weiner, T. (2013). Enemies: a history of the FBI. New York: Random House