FBI admits to destroying their file on journalist Hunter S. Thompson — RT

FBI admits to destroying their file on journalist Hunter S. Thompson — RT:

'via Blog this'“It is apparent from this file that the FBI became interested in Thompson as a result of his Hell’s Angels article in The Nation (and book that followed) along with his subscription to The People’s World,” Cecil says, referring to the weekly paper tied to the US Communist Party.

It’s no secret that Thompson spent time in prison for robbery, failed to finish school and read communist publications. After becoming a journalist, he published an article titled, “The Motorcycle Gangs,” which detailed the life of the outlaws who called themselves the Hell’s Angels. His full-length account of his time with the biker group, "Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs," was later compiled and published as Thompson’s first nonfiction novel years before “Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream” propelled his career.

Using the access the FBI had to the subscription list, agents collected information about the journalist’s whereabouts, citations in the media and government records. The FBI also questioned those who knew Thompson about his affairs: in one instance, a liquor store clerk was even interrogated about the journalist’s visits to the store.

Thompson was an avid opponent of former president Richard Nixon, and the FBI may have been sent to dig up dirt on the journalist as a result of Nixon’s fear of impeachment, a write-up by Raw Story suggests.

“Some of my best friends have hated Nixon all their lives,” Thompson wrote in Rolling Stone for an article published in 1994. “My mother hates Nixon, my son hates Nixon, I hate Nixon, and this hatred has brought us together.”

What Winchester has received of Thompson’s file does in fact include documents critical of Nixon, including the “Aspen Wallposter” art series, presenting an image of the former president with vampire fangs and a Nazi swastika.

Elsewhere, the FOIA request has returned proof that the FBI investigated Thompson during his unsuccessful run on the “Freak Party” ticket to be the sheriff of Aspen, Colorado. Their investigation also includes information about mail sent to Thompson’s Woody Creek, CO home, as well as the occasional quip from the author, including one instance where he vowed to “disarm the sheriff and his deputies” to keep them from causing riots.