The John Lennon FBI files

"THE HALDEMAN LETTER"
J. Edgar Hoover's letter (HQ-12) to H.R. Haldeman, the president's chief of staff, dated April 25, 1972, provides crucial evidence that the Lennon investigation was a political one, of significance at the highest levels of the Nixon White House. In the original release, virtually the entire text was withheld on National Security grounds. The FBI describes the portion still withheld as "intelligence information provided by a foreign government." The FBI has stated that releasing it could lead to "foreign military retaliation." In 1992 the FBI reported that "the foreign government was recently contacted" and that it "continues to insist that the information remain confidential." The withheld portion remains in litigation. The ACLU cited this document as evidence that the FBI lacked a legitimate law enforcement purpose in investigating Lennon.