The theft of files from an FBI office in Media Borough on March 8, 1971 that revealed FBI surveillance of U.S. citizens is being revisited by Washington Post reporter Betty Medsger on season 2 of the podcast “Snafu,” writes Kristin Hunt for Philly Voice.
“Snafu,” hosted by actor Ed Helms, is dedicated to “history’s greatest screw-ups.” The podcast’s second season, which Medsger is executive producing, looks at the FBI Media heist and the fallout from it.
Medsger launched stories on the FBI surveillance after receiving an envelope in the mail 53 years ago containing memos and reports stolen by anonymous activists who broke into the FBI Media office.
The FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover, was spying on antiwar protesters and college students, under a program called COINTELPRO.
Under the program, the FBI surveilled and sabotaged civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Fred Hampton.
Medsger eventually turned her articles into a 2014 book, “The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI.”
“This is a story that is so important because it’s about an act of resistance by completely unknown people that had an enormous impact,” she said.
Read more about Betty Medsger’s experiences covering the break-in in the Philly Voice.
