In march 8, 1971, a group of activists come including a cab driver, a daycare director, into professors, broke into an fbi office in media, pennsylvania. They stole every document they found an elite the press shocking details about fbi abuse and the then secret cointelpro program. , the firstr letter file i read was about a group of fbi agents who were told to enhance the paranoia and the Antiwar Movement and create an atmosphere that there is an fbi agent behind every mailbox. No one was ever caught for the fbi breakin. The identities of the media burglars made a secret until this week. Today, three of them join us on the show as well as the former Washington Post reporter, Betty Medsger, who first broke the story of the still of fbi documents in 1971. This week she revealed the identities of the burglars in her new book, the burglary the discovery of j. Edgar hoovers secret fbi. All of that and more coming up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The death toll from arctic temperatures across the United States has reached nine. The polar vortex at record lows in number of cities on tuesday as freezing temperatures overwhelmed homeless shelters and continue to disrupt travel by land and air. The cold will begin easing for large parts of the country today. Cities like new york will soon extreme jump by the weekend, from a record low of four degrees fahrenheit on tuesday to reject it high of 55 degrees on saturday. The senate has advanced a measure that would extend the jobless benefits of 1. 3 million americans for three months. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program expired late last month after congress failed to renew it. On tuesday, the senate agreed to begin debate on the temporary extension, setting up a likely vote later this week. At the white house, president obama blasted claims from some republicans that jobless benefits discourage recipients from seeking employment. I cant name a time where i met an american who would rather have an intimate check unemployment check and the pride of having a job. [applause] longterm unemployed are not lazy. They are not lacking in motivation. They are coping with the aftermath of the worst economic crisis in generations. The measure would face a hostile reception in the house, where republicans have insisted on an equal amount in cuts to avoid increasing the federal debt. John boehner has also floated a proposal to tie the jobless benefits to approval of Energy Projects including the Keystone Xl Oil pipeline. The financial giant jpmorgan billion topay 2. 6 settle allegations it failed to disclose suspicions of fraud in what turned out to be a massive ponzi scheme by bernie made off. Senior executives at Jpmorgan Chase said had serious doubts about the Investment Business at least 18 months before it collapsed. Repeated suspicions, that i never alerted authorities an allowed madoff to billions of dollars of Investors Cash in and out of his chase Bank Accounts right up until the day of his arrest in december 2008. The law requires Financial Institutions as institutions to establish and maintain defective antimoneylaundering complaint programs and to know their customers. It is not a tip from it is not a suggestion, it is a legal requirement enforceable or criminal sanctions. Todays charges have been filed because in this regard, jpmorgan as an institution failed and failed miserably. One reason, among others, that madoff was able to get away with the scrap for so long was that jpmorgan had an ineffective antimoney laundering program. Billion, 1. 7. Will go to his victims, who lost an estimated 18 billion. Jpmorgan is now paid some 20 billion to resolve government probes for the past 12 months. It is the latest settlement to come out of a series of deferred prosecution agreements that have allowed ager corporations to escape from all charges. In a statement, the Watchdog Group outlook citizen criticized the Justice Department saying nearly 100 people were killed in iraq on tuesday amidst clashes between Government Forces and Al Qaedalinked militants for control of two major cities. At least 25 fighters were killed when iraq you were claims bombed ramadi. Iraq you forces have also surrounded falluja in preparation for potential assault to retake the city. Have fledof fallujans to avoid being trapped in the crossfire. The United Nations has begun moving syrias chemical weapons stockpile out of the country. The human spokesperson announced the latest step. It was moved from two sides to the port in syria for verification and was then loaded onto a danish cargo ship today. The vessel has been accompanied by deval escorts provided by denmark and norway as well as the syrian arab republic. This initiates the process of transfer of chemical materials from syria to locations outside its territory for distraction. The weapons will eventually be transferred to a u. S. Ship and destroyed in international waters. In other news from syria, the head of the nusra front is calling for a ceasefire in clashes with the Islamic State of iraq and the levant. More than 270 people have been killed in a nearly week of fighting between the two Al Qaedalinked groups in northern syria. In an audio recording, the nusra front leader propose the formation of an islamic Legal Counsel to resolve disputes and return to a united stance against president bashar al assad. But in response hours later, the head of the isil vowed to crush nusra fighters as well as members of the Syrian National coalition. The internationally act Opposition Group in syria. The clashes marked the worst infighting between opponents of assad senses are in began nearly three years ago. The trial of former egyptian president Mohammed Morsi has been delayed today in cairo. He was due to appear on incitement charges surrounding the deaths the deaths of protesters killed in a rally against his government in december 2012. But the military regime says it is postponing or see us appearance until next month due to bad weather. The Muslim Brotherhood had called for pro morsi rally today to mark his return to court. Stay forces have killed hundreds of supporters since his overthrow in july. The u. S. Is boosting its military presence in south korea. The pentagon will deploy an additional 800 soldiers and around 40 tanks and Armored Vehicles beginning next month. The move comes as part of the obama administrations pledge to rebalance u. S. Foreign policy toward the pacific. At a meeting with south koreas foreign minister in washington, secretary of state john kerry renewed a vow to confront Nuclear Proliferation in north korea. Korea to de north nuclearize. We will not accept north korea is a Nuclear State nor as a Nuclear Armed state, nor will the International Community abide by that. I assure you that we remain fully committed to the defense of the republic of korea, including through extended deterrence and putting the full range of u. S. Military capabilities in place. A teenage victim of an alleged rape in merry hill, missouri has tried to take her own life. In 2012, daisy coleman, then 14 years old, claimed she was given alcohol and raped during a gathering of High School Athletes while another team filmed the incident on his phone. Despite reported evidence and interviews supporting the case, prosecutors dropped tardis against her accused rapist. Her family says she tried to commit suicide this week and by overdosing on pills after being bullied online. Daisy coleman was rushed to a hospital where she remains in recovery. It was her third Suicide Attempt since the alleged rape. Los angeles county sheriff lee baca has announced his retirement one month after the arrest of 18 current and former deputies for the alleged abuse of prisoners and other offenses and local jails. Yearsad served nearly 50 and had planned to seek reelection in june, but now says he will step down at the end of the month. The charges follow a multi followed a multiyear investigation. A forthcoming memoir from former defense secretary robert gates says president obama did not believe in his own strategy for the war in afghanistan. Of troopsred a surge in 2009, but gates said the president have major doubts. Describing his thoughts at a 2011 meeting, gates writes gates was appointed under president george w. Bush, but stayed on during president obamas first term. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Today we will spend the rest of the hour unraveling one of the greatest great mysteries of the vietnam war era. On march 8, 1970 one, group of eight activists including a cab driver, a daycare director, and two professors, broke into an fbi office in media, pennsylvania, installed every document they found. The activist, calling themselves the Citizens Commission to investigate the fbi, soon began leaking shocking details about fbi abuses to the media. Among the documents was one that bore the mysterious word cointelpro. No one involved in the break in was ever caught and their identities remained a secret until this week. Today, three of the fbi burglars will join us on the show. But first, i want to turn to a new short film produced by the nonprofit News Organization retro reports for the new york times. It is titled, stealing j. Edgar hoovers secrets. Greatest heist you have never heard of and one of the most important. Last march someone broke into the fbi offices and still records and mailed copies of them around the several newspapers. Those records would help bring an end to the secret activities within the federal bureau of investigation. He ordered his agents not only to expose new left groups, but take action against them to neutralize them. Many americans were tapped and bugged, heather mail open by the cia and fbi. The burglars were never caught and details have remained a mystery until now. A new book reveals for the first time who did it and how they used a crowbar to pry open one of the best kept in darkest secrets in american history. We were early whistleblowers before whistleblowers were known as such. Many people are asking, how much is too much when personal privacy is at stake . In the spring of 1970, the war in vietnam was raging. Cats now number 40,142. And lawar protesters enforcement officers were violently clashing at home. It felt like a nightmare unfolding. I took what was outrage and horror about what was going on and i realized that i had to take it somewhere. Bonnie raines worked at a Daycare Center in philadelphia. Her husband, john, taught religion at temple university. A were the very picture of the golden couple. We had three children. We were family folks who also wanted to keep another track active in our lives, which was political activism. It attracted the attention of the fbi, its director, the powerful and feared J Edgar Hoover, perceive the Antiwar Movement which ranged from radical revolutionaries to Peaceful Protesters as a threat to National Security. At one rally, i had one of my children on my back and not only did they take my picture, but they took her to her. Protesters became increasingly convinced the fbi was conducting a Covert Campaign against them, tapping their phones and infiltrating antiwar groups. We knew the fbi was systematically trying to squash dissent stop dissent is the lifeblood of democracy. Determined to get proof the fbi was crossing the line, fellow activist william davitton hatched a plan. He reached out to the raines and six others. We agreed to meet someplace where we could talk and he says, what would you think about the idea of breaking into an fbi office . I look at him and im like, youre serious, are you . I was pretty vehement in my opposition to the war and i felt like marching up and down the street with a sign was not cutting it anymore. It was like, ok, time to kick it up a notch. The crew decided to break into a small Fbi Field Office in media, pennsylvania. Once i got over the shock of thinking that this was the nuttiest thing i had ever heard of my life, im like, this is a great idea because we are not going to make any allegations, were going to take their own paperwork signed by their own people including J Edgar Hoover and give it to the newspapers. So lets see them argue with that. Floor the rainesthird attic, they divvied up responsibilities and assigned tasks. They hung maps to learn about the neighborhood, planned escape routes, and took extensive notes on the comings and goings of the building. I signed up for a correspondence course in locksmith. After a month, you get pretty good. Bonnie was assigned the job of going inside and casing the office. I was to call the office and make an appointment as a sophomore student doing research on opportunities for women in the fbi. So they gave me an appointment. I tried to disguise myself as best i could. I would to say goodbye and acted confused like, where is the door . Take a be a chance to check out both rooms and know where the file cabinets were. Bonnie discovered there was no alarm system and no security guards. She also found a second door leading inside. When she came back with that yes, we became convinced, i think we can get this done. We had more to lose than anyone in the group because we have these kids. We faced the reality of if we were arrested and on trial, we would be in prison for many years. He had to make some plans for that. With a solid understanding of how they would conduct the breakin, they now needed to figure out when. March 8, 1971, fraser and ali were fighting for the championship of the world. We had the feeling that maybe the cops might be a little distracted. While the crew waited at a nearby hotel, forsyth arrived alone. I walked up to the door and one of the locks is a cylinder lock. I just about had a heart attack. The bottom line is, i cannot pick that lock. The second door that bonnie noticed gave them another chance. At that point you know youre going to have to wing it. I picked the lock and like 20 seconds. There was a deadbolt on the other side. I had a crowbar. I put it in there and yanked that sucker. At one point, i heard a noise inside the office. And im like, are they in there waiting for me . Basically said to myself, theres only one way to find out. Im going in. Next, the inside crew walked into an empty Office Wearing business suits and carrying several suitcases. They cleaned out file cabinets and they made their way downstairs to the getaway car and drove off unnoticed. Farmhousereconvened a in hours drive away and started unpacking. We were like, man, i cant believe this work. We knew there was gold in there somewhere. We were sorting files and all of a sudden you hear, oh, look at this one after several long nights of digging for documents, the burglars sent copies to journalists, including Washington Post reporter Betty Medsger. The cover letter was from the Citizens Commission to investigate the fbi and the first file i read was about a group of fbi agents who were told to enhance the paranoia in the Antiwar Movement and create an atmosphere that there is an fbi agent kind of renown box. Attorney general John Mitchell asked the post, to not write about the stolen document, saying it could endanger lives. The attorney general called to key editors and tried to convince them not to publish. It was the first of several reports and told how agents told local police or letter carriers, and switchboard operators into informants. A very strong editorial calling for an investigation of the fbi. Another stolen document was even more explosive, around and slip marked with the mysterious word, cointelpro. The fbi was desperate to find the burglars. The bureau put nearly 200 agents on the investigation. Hoovers best lead was the college girl who had visited your office. Is to man was, find me that woman. There are many antiwar activists who fit her description. We could hide within thousands of people because there were so many of us who were active. Later, nbc reporter carl stern figured out the meaning of the word cointelpro. Secret fbi memos made public today show the late J Edgar Hoover ordered a nationwide campaign to disrupt activities of the new left without telling any of his superiors about it. Many of the techniques were clearly illegal. Her bearers, forged blackmail letters, threats of violence were used. The fbi initially defended its actions. The government would have been derelict in its duty had it not taken measures to protect the fabric of our society. But the bureaus techniques were worse and the targets more farreaching than the burglars ever imagined. Figures,ats, sports socially prominent persons, senators and congressmen. The fbi at one time sought to blackmail the late Martin Luther king into committing suicide. Marriages were destroyed, violets was encouraged, Many Americans