DOCUMENT: Crime

Commies And Capos

View Document

Commies And Capos

As FBI plots go, Operation Hoodwink was particularly kooky. The brilliant idea--part of the bureau's notorious COINTELPRO operations--was to create disputes between Mafia bosses and members of the U.S. Communist Party. FBI brass apparently believed that America would benefit if the two groups wanted to kill each other. The plan, described in these two mid-60s memos, involved agents (posing as Reds) drafting incendiary letters to wiseguys and Communist publications.However, Operation Hoodwink's agent provocateur act failed to generate the desired confrontations between commies and capos. But you probably could have figured that one out yourself. (8 pages)