Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by sillysaurus3 4485 days ago
Late in life and after his death Hoover became a controversial figure, as evidence of his secretive actions became known. His critics have accused him of exceeding the jurisdiction of the FBI.[1] He used the FBI to harass political dissenters and activists, to amass secret files on political leaders,[2] and to collect evidence using illegal methods.[3] Hoover consequently amassed a great deal of power and was in a position to intimidate and threaten sitting Presidents.[4] However, according to biographer Kenneth Ackerman, the notion that Hoover’s secret files kept presidents from firing him is a myth.[5]

Seems some on Wikipedia disagree...

2 comments

Somebody disagrees that his files prevented him getting fired. Does anybody dispute that he kept files on political leaders that had information that they didn't want revealed?
Some on Wikipedia are also on a payroll. Including in articles about commercial products and companies, but even more so in political articles.
About that - I'm making an FF addon[1] that will alert you to users that self-report being paid by a third party, as required by a recently proposed ToS amendment[2].

[1] https://github.com/patriotpie/wiki-sanitize [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use/Paid_contributi...

Really? That's very interesting. Do you have a link or further info about that?
There's a Wikipedia page about it[1]. More broadly, this Google search[2] will find plenty more incidents.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Congressional_staff_edits_...

[2] https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Staffer+edited+Wikipedia