FBI files detail Hoover's loathing for columnist Jack Anderson, efforts to debunk reporting

[struggle4progress]

By PETE YOST and LARA JAKES JORDAN | Associated Press Writers
2:03 PM EDT, October 11, 2008

... Documents turned over to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act almost three years after Anderson's death include copies of his columns with critical notes in the margins, summaries of his movements while under surveillance, and FBI memos detailing efforts to find his sources who leaked information from deep inside government agencies.

The leaks fueled Anderson's Pulitzer Prize-winning column, "Washington Merry-Go-Round," and helped him produce stories on scandals including Watergate and the arms-for-hostages deal known as Iran-Contra.

Anderson's muckraking style, honed under the column's founder Drew Pearson, earned him a spot on President Nixon's enemies list, inspired Republican operatives to plot his murder and caused heartburn in Hoover's office at the FBI ...

Following his funeral, FBI agents called Anderson's widow to say they wanted to search his papers. At the time, the FBI confirmed it wanted to remove any classified materials from Anderson's archives, located at George Washington University, before they are made available to the public ...

http://www.amny.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-fbi-anderson,0,7534800.story