Agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have a history of illegal break-ins to homes and offices and conducting wiretaps without a search warrant. In the years when J. Edgar Hoover was the Director of the F.B.I., these warrantless break-ins came to be known as âblack-bag jobsâ. This archive edition of Radio Curious is a December 1995 interview with Wesley Swearingen a former F.B.I. agent, who in 1995 wrote âFBI Secrets: An Agentâs Expose.â His book describes some of the âblack-bagâ warrantless searches in which he was involved and his opinion of those activities. He ends his book by saying that the Hoover era will continue to haunt the F.B.I. because Hoover knowingly undermined the United States Constitution. When I spoke with Wesley Swearingen, I asked him what he meant by that.
Wesley Swearingen recommends âOfficial and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover,â by Anthony Summers.
Originally Broadcast: December 20, 1995
Barry Vogel, Esq. is the host and producer. Ignacio Ayala is the assistant producer.
Radio Curious is a half-hour, weekly, long-form interview program, now in it's 28th year. We interview people on a curiously wide variety of topics about life and ideas. Our website is www.radiocurious.org. If your station airs Radio Curious please let us know curious@radiocurious.org, we will add you to our list of syndicate stations. We also welcome questions, feedback and program ideas.
Swearingen, Wesley â Illegal FBI Break-Ins, Told By a Former Agent
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