Edgar Hoover

Did Hoover's death end the possibility, or at least likelihood, of FBI abuses? That seemed to many to be the case. After all, Congress had enacted legislation in 1968, in anticipation of the Director's retirement, limiting his successor's tenure to ten years and requiring Senate confirmation, and in the aftermath of Watergate and the Church and Pike committees' hearings, the congressional leadership (particularly the House Judiciary Committee) began to conduct a more careful scrutiny of FBI activities. Moreover, passage of the Freedom of Information Act in 1966 (with amendments in 1974) had ensured access to FBI files by reporters, academics, and activists and had correspondingly reduced the press's dependence on Bureau handouts. No longer could an FBI director, through spoon-fed leaks and ghost-written articles, control the image that was communicated to the American people.

Congressional findings of 1975-1976 - in particular those documenting that Hoover had willingly serviced politically inspired requests of the White House and that attorneys general either had had no knowledge of the scope of his activities or had intentionally avoided monitoring his administration of the Bureau - gave rise to demands for enactment of a legislative charter to define how the Bureau would operate in the future. While Congress mulled over various proposals (and ultimately enacted none), in March 1976 Attorney ney General Edward Levi issued new guidelines to govern FBI "domestic security" investigations.

Based on the premise that FBI investigations should be initiated only in cases in which there was evidence of violations of federal statutes, Levi's guidelines sought to curb the discretion that previous attorneys general and presidents had conferred on Hoover throughout his tenure. In effect, the new guidelines permitted the FBI to initiate "preliminary" investigations of non-criminal activities but limit them to ninety days. "Preliminary" investigations were to be confined to verifying or refuting allegations of criminal conduct. This limitation in practice ended the ongoing fishing expeditions that had allowed Hoover to acquire damaging personal information about dissident activists, members of Congress, and other prominent persons (on the ground that they might one day violate the law or that they had associations with proscribed organizations or individuals).

Levi also sought to ensure that future attorneys general would exercise their oversight responsibilities. His guidelines required that the Department of Justice annually review the "results of full domestic intelligence investigations . . . [and] determine in writing whether continued investigation is warranted." These requirements of a full briefing and creation of a written record of authorization were calculated to prevent resort by FBI officials to Do Not File procedures (to hide what the Bureau itself had termed "clearly illegal" activities), to ensure that the attorney general saw that the laws were faithfully executed, and to circumscribe the ability of future directors to advance the political interests of the White House.