COINTELPRO

The covert FBI program against domestic political groups, 1956 to 1971

Overview

Begun in 1956 against the Communist Party USA, the FBI Counterintelligence Program expanded under J Edgar Hoover to target civil rights organizations, the antiwar movement, Black nationalist groups and others. Tactics included infiltration, forged letters, leaks to the press and efforts to discredit leaders, including an anonymous letter sent to Martin Luther King Jr. The program came to light after activists burgled an FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania, in March 1971 and mailed the files to newspapers, and Hoover formally ended it weeks later. The Church Committee later condemned it as a sustained abuse of power.