Along with the CIA, the FBI was a target of Service A's active measures. Most of the propaganda was aimed at the Bureau's leader J. Edgar Hoover, who passed away in 1972.
The KGB's propagandists delivered their literary mud in three phases:
1. Service A portrayed Hoover as an extreme, ultra right-winger in cahoots with the very right-wing John Birch Society. The Service ended up obtaining some of their stationary; the full extent of how they used the stationary is unclear. They did however later forge a letter in November 1965, making it appear that Hoover was sending the society his warm regards, and that with FBI money the John Birch Society could open up more branches.
2. Operation SPIRIT: This operation's aim was to depict abuses of civil rights on behalf of the FBI. Service A forged yet another letter to make it appear that Frances Knight, head of the Passport Office in the State Department was really an FBI agent. The forged letter from Ms. Knight to Hoover asked for FBI assistance in digging up information on a Harvard Vietnam War critic Professor H. Stuart Hughes. The letter was sent to columnist Drew Pearson and published August 4th 1967. Both Knight and Hoover dismissed the letter as a forgery, but damage had already been done as the FBI did not readily deny contacts with the Passport Office. Lesson: always forcefully deny what are lies and follow it up again and again. Luckily, the damage wasn't too severe.
3. And finally, Hoover was a red dress and boa wearing homosexual. There is of course no proof for this. The KGB had taken testimony from a known perjurer, Susan Rosenstiel, and ran with it. Not helping the matter Hoover did, however, share a home with his deputy Clyde Tolson. Despite this there is no credible evidence that any unusual relationship was occurring. To the dismay of Hoover's number three Deke DeLoach, he was shocked how readily the smear was accepted as an "undeniable truth". This is similar to a "repeat it often enough and people will believe it" matter as is with a more modern urban legend involving Richard Gere and a Gerbal. The lesson is, the next time you hear: "But, I mean everybody knows it's a fact that...", take it with a big grain of salt.
