In 1971, a courageous group of activists broke into an FBI office and stole files containing J. Edgar Hoover's deepest, darkest secrets. How did their actions forever upend everything Americans knew about their country's most powerful law enforcement agency?
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Episode Transcript
Ah nineteen seventy one. It was a simpler time, a
groovy time. Soul train had just started chugging along. Everyone
had a lava lamp. For some reason, weebels started to wobble,
but as we all know, they don't fall down.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's really something. But it wasn't all weebels and bell bottoms.
There was also the Vietnam War and a growing nationwide
movement protesting it.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Today across the country, people were speaking up.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
And the more they did, we know they we.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Know they were looking for us, we know they had them.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
The more they learned about the hidden underbelly of the
most powerful law enforcement agency in the land. This can't
be true.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
This is America.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
One group sent out to find the truth, even if
it meant doing the unthinkable.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Would you dare break into an FBI office?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I'm Ed Helms, host of Snaffoo season two, medburg the
story of a daring heist that exposed Jaedgar Hoover's.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Epic FBI snaffo. The burglars were amateurs.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
I remember thinking, I'm not breathing.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
But the break in was flawless.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
It's always puzzled me why criminals don't learn lock picking
because it's really not hard.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
And what they uncovered, oh.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
It was well horrifying. It was horrifying.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Was never meant to see the light of day.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Every document was just telling a story about FBI power
that was unknown to anyone outside the FBI.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Here the incredible true story that almost got buried.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
I was told that it might not be published the
next day, or might not be published ever.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
As told by the ordinary citizens who took extraordinary measures,
getting caught was virtually inevitable to expose j Edgar Hoover's
secret FBI.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Many of the techniques were clearly illegal, but justified in
the interest of national security.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
If it meant some risks that were involved, well that's
what citizens sometimes have to do.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
Follow Snafoo and listen to season two starting July tenth,
available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Who
Host
Ed Helms
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