THE FBI: Bugging Hoover (Contd.)

The controversy continues to gather around the FBI and its chief, J. Edgar Hoover. Picking up from Hale Boggs, Democratic House majority leader, who charged that the bureau wiretapped members of Congress, Senator Edmund Muskie accused the FBI of infiltrating last April's Earth Day rallies with undercover agents. Attorney General John Mitchell replied: "The FBI has no interest in an Earth Day meeting as such, but it does have a very legitimate interest in the activities of persons whose known records reveal a likelihood of violence, incitement to riot or other criminal behavior." He added pointedly: "Any suggestion that...