FBI Wants to Peruse Journalist’s Archived Papers Before Public
beSpacific mentions this Chronicle of Higher Education article about how the FBI wants to examine Washington columnist Jack Anderson’s papers before anyone else so they can remove anything they don’t think the public should know about. Anderson covered the government for several decades and might have information in his papers about sources, state secrets, and other sensitive political issues. The FBI has talked to many people who might be familiar with the collection and its contents, which consists of about 200 boxes held by George Washington University. One person is concerned that they might try to access the collection by circumventing the archives. Several people decry the FBI’s actions as a threat to academic freedom and see it as another indication that the government is trying to be less open.
