THE AMERICAN POLICE STATE: The Government Against the People

by David Wise ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 30, 1976

A medium-sized summary of the findings of the Rockefeller Commission and Congressional committees, fleshed out by interviews with Alexander Haig, Howard Hunt, and others, which adds up to nothing new. The first section itemizes NixonKissinger wiretaps and surveillance of journalists and executive aides, charging that the Secretary of State was ""deeply implicated and involved"" in the wiretapping ""despite his sworn testimony to the contrary."" Next come the blackmail investigations and burglaries by the White House and intelligence agencies: Anthony Ulasewicz gathers dirt on Teddy Kennedy; the International Revenue Service spies on taxpayers; the FBI offers the press tapes of Martin Luther King's purported sexual indiscretions. Two cases are examined at length. A Defense Department staffer suspected of leaking the government's SALT position was polygraphed at Nixon's order, and though he ""passed,"" his career was wrecked; and Leslie Bacon was detained as a suspect in the 1971 Capitol bombing on a slight pretext because the authorities wanted a scapegoat. Wise--co-author of The Invisible Government, a 1964 CIA expose--tabulates recent revelations on the CIA as well, concluding ""They had been schooled at St. Grottlesex but learned their political morality from Eichmann."" Not original research but a smooth compilation.

Pub Date: Nov. 30, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1976

Categories: NONFICTION