The NSA Spied On Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, U.S. Senators And Antiwar Protestors

A view from helicopter of the National Security Agency at Ft. Meade, Maryland, January 29, 2010. (Photo: Reuters/Larry Downing)

Secret Cold War Documents Reveal NSA Spied on Senators -- Foreign Policy

...along with Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, and a Washington Post humorist.

As Vietnam War protests grew, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) tapped the overseas communications of prominent American critics of the war -- including a pair of sitting U.S. senators. That's according to a recently declassified NSA history, which called the effort "disreputable if not outright illegal."

For years the names of the surveillance targets were kept secret. But after a decision by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel, in response to an appeal by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, the NSA has declassified them for the first time. The names of the NSA's targets are eye-popping. Civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Whitney Young were on the watch list, as were the boxer Muhammad Ali, New York Times journalist Tom Wicker, and veteran Washington Post humor columnist Art Buchwald. But perhaps the most startling fact in the declassified document is that the NSA was tasked with monitoring the overseas telephone calls and cable traffic of two prominent members of Congress, Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho) and Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.).

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More News On The NSA Spying On Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, U.S. Senators And Antiwar Protestors

Declassified NSA files show agency spied on Muhammad Ali and MLK -- The Guardian
NSA bugged Martin Luther King and Muhammad Ali in a 'disreputable' Cold War surveillance program -- Daily Mail
Senators, Muhammad Ali, MLK and journalists landed on NSA watch list during Vietnam War -- NBC
Declassified documents show NSA listened in on MLK, Muhammad Ali and Art Buchwald -- Washington Post
Declassified Documents Reveal NSA Spying On Martin Luther King, Senators, And Journalists During Cold War -- Business Insider/AFP
Evidence NSA ‘illegally’ monitored anti-Vietnam dissidents, including journalists and two senators -- RT
Documents reveal NSA spied on Martin Luther King Jr -- Digital Journal
Why the NSA’s Vietnam-Era Watch List Is Still Relevant -- Caitlin Dickson, Daily Beast