Former FBI Undercover Agent Testifies About Infiltration, Illegal Actions Against Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)
The Senate Church Committee investigation of abuses by the FBI, the CIA and other intelligence agencies on this day heard testimony about the activities of an undercover agent who spied on the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW).
The former undercover agent, Mary Jo Cook, explained that her mission was not only to get information on individuals (including “who they were sleeping with”) but also to take “a leadership role” and to steer the VVAW in a moderate political direction.
In short, the FBI was directly attempting to manipulate the activities of a political group.
The Senate created the Church Committee on January 27, 1927 to investigate abuses by the intelligence agencies and other federal agencies.
Read the Senate Church Committee report on the FBI use of informants (pp. 225–270): http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/contents/church/contents_church_reports_book3.htm
Learn more: Wallace Terry, Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War (1984)
And more: Robert Jay Lifton, Home from the War: Vietnam Veterans: Neither Victims Nor Executioners (1973)
Learn more about the anti-Vietnam War movement: Thomas Powers, The War at Home: Vietnam and the American People, 1964–1968 (1973)