Broadcaster Paul Harvey had close ties to FBI

[Liberal_in_LA]

Broadcaster Paul Harvey had close ties to FBI
By Suzanne Starr, AP

Paul Harvey, the news commentator and talk-radio pioneer whose staccato style made him one of the nation's most familiar voices, had close ties to the FBI, documents reveal.

By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY
He was a broadcasting legend, a commentator with a voice instantly familiar to listeners both loyal and sporadic.

But on the cusp of his national career, he was an FBI target whose network bosses fretted about whether he should be fired.

Paul Harvey's FBI file, released to USA TODAY under a Freedom of Information Act request, shows how his relationship with the bureau evolved from perp to pen pal. The 1,375 pages also illuminate how the FBI cultivated one of the nation's most popular media figures by not only providing flattery from its most prominent officials but also by secretly putting words in his mouth.

Harvey died last February at age 90 after a broadcasting career spanning seven decades. His voice reached 24 million listeners at the peak of his career, when his daily show was carried on more than 1,200 radio stations and his column appeared in 300 newspapers. His signature form was "The Rest of the Story," a folksy anecdote ending with an ironic twist, delivered with theatrical cadences and dramatic pauses.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-01-22-harvey-fbi_N.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno

The federal files show that Harvey frequently gave the FBI advance copies of his scripts and columns, seeking information and advice. The FBI obliged, even writing portions of Harvey's commentaries for him, the records show. A 1986 commentary, for example, contained an FBI-written section about the bureau's "highly regarded" services to other law enforcement agencies.

Harvey had written to FBI spokesman William Baker, enclosing a draft commentary praising then-director William Webster and asking, "Please help me add meat to these bones." Baker responded a month later, enclosing a copy of Harvey's draft with the FBI's handwritten corrections and additions.

"I think your words portray us very well but, as you requested, my staff has added a little 'meat to the bones,' " Baker wrote. The resulting commentary, also distributed as Harvey's syndicated newspaper column, included the FBI's suggestions word for word.

[regnaD kciN]

1. So that's "...the rest of the story"

:eyes:

[Capers]

2. Paul Harvey was a traitor.

[Bleacher Creature]

3. He was a big time right wing loon. NT

[DBoon]

4. how many right wing talkers today have police/spy connections?

might be interesting to know

[gratuitous]

6. Also might be interesting to see if they'd deny it

If we get that "I won't dignify these scurrilous rumors by denying them," we could probably bet we're listening to a government stooge.

[gratuitous]

5. An old, old story

This has been a modus operandi for the FBI for decades. Either cost a person his job, intimidate him into cooperation, or make his life a living hell. Paul Harvey wasn't the first and surely wasn't the last to be pushed around by the American Cheka. It's hard to say what motivated anyone when faced with these odious choices; fear of public humiliation, loss of livelihood, loss of standing in the community, even loss of life can all have varying degrees of effectiveness on a person and everyone has his own limit.

What's probably most embarrassing for Harvey's memory is the slobbering eagerness to please his police state tormentors once they'd successfully turned him, and an independent voice became another media outlet parroting the establishment line. God only knows how many lives were ruined by this secret thuggery, and how much creativity we lost in the 20th Century thanks to J. Edgar Hoover and the Hobgoblins of the Illusion of Control that dominated his brain.

But if you're looking for a hero, Pete Seeger is still alive, and still vital. He hasn't given up, even when faced with the worst oppression from the American government. And I'm not knuckling under either, even after a week as fucked-up as this one.

[ernie1241]

7. FBI and Paul Harvey

There is absolutely nothing unique or remarkable about Hoover's relationship with Harvey.

The FBI routinely provided assistance to radio/TV/newspaper personalities, politicians, and many other people whom it considered influential opinion-makers or persons who could favorably impact public perceptions about the FBI and its agenda.

For example, I have FBI files which discuss FBI research or speech-writing assistance provided to nationally syndicated gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, Walter Trojan (Chicago Tribune Bureau Chief in Washington DC), the President of the American Bar Association (the Bureau in effect wrote one of his speeches!) and Harry A. Overstreet and his wife Bonaro, who wrote the 1958 book, What We Must Know About Communism.

After the retirement of FBI Assistant Director Louis Nichols, the Overstreets continued their relationship with the Bureau through Chief Inspector William C. Sullivan. In September 1958, a Sullivan memo mentions that he encouraged the Overstreets to write a book "against communism directed toward liberals and progressives, et cetera, who would not normally read a book condemning communism."

Sullivan then observed that he provided considerable assistance to the Overstreets during the preparation of their 1958 book. The assistance consisted of loaning public source material from FBI files and spending "approximately one night each week (7:00pm to about 11:00pm) during the winter months...devoted to reading and analyzing the materials the Overstreets were preparing." .

In another memo, Sullivan states that "while working with the Overstreets on this book I purposely had them direct 95% of their thinking to the world communist movement believing this would best supplement the Director's book which was directed almost 100% to the communist movement in the United States." .

Furthermore, after retirement, senior Bureau personnel often became prominent officials in organizations that influenced public opinion. For example: Inspector Lee Pennington headed the American Legion's Americanism Commission; former FBI Special Agent Zack Van Landingham became the Chief Investigator for the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission; and several former Bureau employees organized the American Security Council in Chicago.

[dysfunctional press]

8. he probably played 'dress up' with j.edgar mary.