After Jack Anderson’s death, the FBI wants what it never had during the legendary Washington Post reporter’s career — a chance to pore through his notes:
[Anderson’s] syndicated column, Washington Merry-Go-Round, earned him the enmity of the corrupt and powerful — so much so that during the Watergate years, associates of Nixon had discussed assassinating the columnist. They never went through with the plot. Anderson died last December at the age of 83.
His archive, some 200 boxes now being held by George Washington University’s library, could be a trove of information about state secrets, dirty dealings, political maneuverings, and old-fashioned investigative journalism, open for historians and up-and-coming reporters to see.
The FBI says it wants to review them in order to remove any classified material. Jack Anderson “would probably come out of his skin at the thought of the FBI going through his papers,” his son tells the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Anderson broke many Washington scandals in his time, but he also gave us Murray Waas and a generation of other investigative reporters, who interned for him in their youth — that’s a legacy to be proud of.
Doesn’t the FBI have better things to do?
