Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI

a bureau of the US Department of Justice, established in 1908. The FBI is charged with investigating violations of federal law and with protecting the domestic security of the USA; it is also responsible for coordinating the activities of all agencies of the US government in these areas. The FBI occupies a prominent place in the network of US government bodies assigned to preserve bourgeois law and order. Its archives, for example, contain the dossiers of millions of Americans and the fingerprints of nearly 200 million people. Each year the trustworthiness of more than 2 million Americans is verified by the FBI, such verification being a condition for federal employment in the USA.

In carrying out its function of political investigation, the FBI opposes progressive trends in American society. Its activities are aimed primarily at undermining the Communist Party of the USA, the antiwar and youth movements, Negro organizations, and other progressive organizations. The FBI is used by the ruling circles in the USA as a weapon against political opposition. It maintains special records on persons, mainly progressive figures who are to be arrested in the event “extraordinary” circumstances should arise. Among the methods used by the FBI are intimidation and slander; in addition, agents and agents provocateurs are employed to infiltrate progressive organizations. The numerous abuses of the FBI, such as the exceeding of authority and the violation of the constitutional rights of American citizens, received particularly wide publicity in the 1970’s.

The organization of the FBI includes a division of operations and investigation, a division for the identification of fingerprints, and a technical laboratory. The bureau uses the latest scientific and technical methods. Its staff includes 20,000 permanent employees and a large number of outside employees, mainly informers. The budget of the FBI in 1975 totaled approximately $440 million. The FBI has field offices in all the states of the USA, as well as representatives in several foreign countries. The director of the agency is appointed by the president of the USA and confirmed by the Senate.