Black bag operation
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Black bag operations or black bag jobs are
Some of the tactics, techniques, and procedures associated with black bag operations are
History
In black bag operations,
Prior to it being discontinued, there had been over two hundred instances of black bag jobs organized by the FBI, for purposes other than installing microphones (as well as over 500 warrant-less microphone installations). These were approved in writing by Hoover as well as by Hoover's deputy Clyde Tolson, with most records being destroyed after the job was complete.[4] Agents were trained in lock studies or electronic surveillance that performed the jobs. In many cases, lock-picking was not required and a key could be accessed from a landlord, hotel manager, or a neighbor.[5]
However,
The use of "black bag jobs" by the FBI was declared unconstitutional by the
In 1947, after American spy Elizabeth Bentley had defected from the Soviet underground and had started talking to the FBI, the FBI broke into her Brooklyn hotel to do a "black bag job" to verify her own background – and to look for anything that would invoke suspicion. "They found nothing out of the ordinary."[9] Bentley had learned how to dodge such intrusions from her earliest days in the underground:
She learned how to determine if enemy agents had discovered secret documents in her possession. "If I had to leave the apartment, I was careful to put them in my black trunk and tie a thin black thread around it so that I would know if they had been tampered with in my absence."[10]
The CIA has used black bag operations to steal cryptography and other secrets from foreign government offices outside the United States. The practice (by preceding U.S. intelligence organizations) dates back at least as far as 1916.[11]
Black bag operations in popular culture
See also
References
General references
- ISBN 0-670-82055-5.
Inline citations
- ^ "Tallinn government surveillance cameras reveal black bag operation". Intelnews. 16 December 2008. Archived from the original on 1 April 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- ^ "Freedom of Information/Privacy Act". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ Select 1976, p. 9.
- ^ Select 1976, p. 1.
- ^ Select 1976, p. 4.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ Rood, Justin (15 June 2007). "FBI to Boost 'Black Bag' Search Ops". ABC News. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- ISBN 9780061740473. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ISBN 9780807862179. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ "The CIA Code Thief Who Came in from the Cold". matthewaid.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
Bibliography
- Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations (23 April 1976). Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans (pdf) (Report). U.S. Senate.