Columnist's Family Outraged At FBI

FBI Seeks Jack Anderson's Files; Pulitzer Prize Winner Died In 2005

(CBS/AP) 

Given his history, Anderson's family might already have been skeptical when the FBI came calling.

The timing only deepened suspicion. The AIPAC investigation dates back at least five years.

"And right after he dies, they contact his widow," Kevin Anderson said.

Still, when the FBI first called Olivia Anderson and said it was a matter of national security, the family was willing to consider the request. Jack Anderson himself cooperated with the FBI from time to time, his son said.

The more the Andersons learned, however, the less willing they were to help. Lawyers for the family are preparing a letter to the FBI declining to cooperate, Kevin Anderson said. The story was first reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

"We don't think there's anything related to the current investigation there, based on the time frame and dad's poor health," he said. "They made it clear they want to look at everything and by the way, if we find anything classified, we'll have to remove it. I suspect that's their real intention, to get through these papers before they become public."

Feldstein, who is writing a book about Anderson's relationship with Nixon, said the attempt is part of the "greatest assault on the news media since the Nixon administration."

The AIPAC case itself has raised questions about press freedoms because the former lobbyists, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, are accused of sharing information with reporters, among others. Two two are being prosecuted in federal court in Alexandria, Va.

At the same time, journalists have been questioned or subpoenaed in the investigation of who in the Bush administration leaked a CIA officer's identity and the Justice Department is probing who revealed the existence of the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping program.

The agents who went to Feldstein's home asked if he had seen any classified documents, wanted the names of all graduate students who had looked through the papers and questioned him about where the documents are housed and who controls access to them.

"On the one hand, I think it's really disturbing to have the FBI come knocking at your door, demanding to look at things you've been reading. It smacks of a Gestapo state. On the other hand, it's so heavy-handed to be almost ludicrous," Feldstein said.

Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, finds the situation "profoundly dangerous."

"It is both ironic and somehow fitting that Jack Anderson should again be at the center of a controversy like this," Aftergood told The Washington Post. "What the FBI couldn't do during his lifetime, they're now seeking to do after his death, and I think many Americans will find that offensive."