Athan Theoharis, Chronicler of F.B.I. Abuses, Dies at 84
He found his way through the formerly unobtainable files of J. Edgar Hoover, whom he called “an insubordinate bureaucrat in charge of a lawless organization.”
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Athan Theoharis in his office at Marquette University in 1991. He used Freedom of Information Act requests to uncover secrets about the F.B.I.Credit.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Athan Theoharis, a pre-eminent historian of the F.B.I. whose indefatigable research into the agency’s formerly unobtainable files produced revelations about decades of civil liberties abuses under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, died on July 3 at his home in Syracuse, N.Y. He was 84.