J. Edgar Hoover, one of the founders of FBI, is one of the most controversial and powerful figures that was in charge of the agency till the day he died. No president was capable of removing Hoover from his spot as a director of FBI, he knew too much and he wasn’t afraid to use blackmail.

The FBI is an intelligence and crime-fighting agency that was at it peak during the “gangster” era. Talking about the gangster’s ear, you can access records of Al Capone and other members of the mafia. The members of the mafia weren’t the only ones the FBI kept an eye on, you can find records of celebrities, politicians, and activists as well.

While Hoover wanted to create an organization that fights crime, others didn’t want to leave an organization like the FBI independent. While we don’t imply that the FBI is not doing some good to the world, as time went by even from the times when the first director lived, the FBI was deeply involved in politics and manipulated by its benefactors. Soon enough more money and resources were pumped into the organization, but the people behind it would soon ask for the FBI to turn a blind eye to their criminal acts.

We see it everywhere, the donors control the receivers, nothing is for free, not in electoral campaigns, in organizations or in politics. They were a few times when even the FBI found it hard to cover their tracks and their negligence or the corruption from the inside leaked into the eyes of the public.

We crafted a list of the 15 darkest secrets the FBI tried desperately to hide from all of us.

15. They Survey The Dark Web

What if I told you that using the Tor browser to cover your tracks on your dark web doesn’t work at all?

Even the ones who go there without any bad intentions, just out of curiosity, are going to be checked by the FBI.

Worse, the FBI allows the dark web users to post disturbing videos, job ads for hitmen and child pornography just to catch some of the people who are biting the bait.

The only problem with the dark web is that the FBI can’t catch every drug dealer, hit man or child pornography distributor.

While they use it as bait, the dark web for the most versed users can also become a marketplace.

14. Wiretapping – The FBI’s Hobby

Is no secret that many presidents had their Oval Office wiretapped by the FBI, but it seems like Donald Trump might use the wiretapping game against the agency.

Wiretapping was mostly used by Hoover to intimidate politicians, celebrities or anyone who could have some influence over the masses.

However, now Donald Trump tweeted “James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press,” implying that the president either was monitored or he recorded the conversations with Comey.

There were many instances in which the FBI made sure the president stays in line. After all, Kennedy was always monitored too.

13. They Monitored Martin Luther King

If you look into the past actions of the FBI, you will notice that they targeted many organizations or important personalities of color.

While some organizations like the Black Panthers and the Move were extremist and had anarchic tendencies, not the same can be said about Luther King.

While we don’t know much about the FBI’s plans with Martin Luther King, what we know is that he was being monitored day and night.

What strikes as odd is the fact that Martin Luther King had no ties with the communists, fascists or any other violent or deviant organizations.

We can only hope the FBI had nothing to do with his death.

12. They Monitored Marilyn Monroe

Another “harmless” personality who was under the FBI radar.

Some might argue that Marilyn took it too far when she choose to associate herself with the Kennedy brothers. After all, the FBI knew about the mistresses before the men’s wives did.

Relationships like this were used for blackmail, you could control anyone if you found out something embarrassing or immoral that once leaked damages the reputation permanently.

On the FBI website, you can find some files and records on Marilyn Monroe.

What nobody will tell us is that she was harassed by the FBI like Jean Serger, another actress who committed suicide after being carefully watched by the agency.

11. Ronald Reagan – Code Name T-10

Ronald Reagan was one of the presidents who served the Unites States during the Cold War, and he also had a more aggressive approach to external affairs (Star Wars – Strategic Defense Initiative).

What few people know that in his youth when he was just an actor, he was providing information to the FBI under the name T-10.

His mission was to report if he knew any actors in Hollywood who were communist.

The purpose of the mission was to identify any potential “Russian puppets”.

His early days with the FBI make many believe that he gave up on his acting career for politics because of the agency.

Also, his mandate as a president could have been just another way for the FBI to put in place their own Russian puppet.

10. The Harassment Of Steinbeck

John Steinbeck was a Nobel Prize winning writer who had the misfortune of sympathizing with some leftists and labor unions.

Hoover was always afraid of high profile personalities interfering in politics since they could use their popularity to convince the masses to follow them.

After extensive research, no skeletons were found in John Steinbeck’s closet, but since they could get away with it, the FBI arranged an IRS audit every year.

Every year the IRS would come and try to pressure Steinbeck, always making him feel like he was under magnifying glass, even though they never had evidence to lock him up.

9. Gregory Scarpa – The Man Who Did The Dirty Work

Gregory Scarpa was one of the notorious hitmen in the Colombo family.

By the time he got caught during a robbery in 1962, he had already killed 3 people. This didn’t stop FBI from making a deal with Gregory and taking him out of jail in exchange for information.

For many years Gregory Scarpa followed the instructions of the FBI which lead sometimes even to treason in his own family.

He leaked information and killed one of his own while following FBI orders.

He died in a hospital after a surgery while refusing to receive blood from the blood bank since he was afraid it might contain African American blood.

8. Tisa Isa – The Woman Who Was Killed While The FBI Was Listening

The agency was monitoring a suspect family for terrorism.

Since the FBI wasn’t sure they were trying to create harm, they didn’t focus too much on what’s happening in their home.

The American-Palestinian family was watched for a few months but other than racism they weren’t guilty of anything.

Tisa Isa was the daughter of the monitored family, and unlike her conservative parents she wanted to be a normal American teenager. She got a job at Wendy’s and she dated a young man of color.

Unfortunately, one night, she was killed by her parents in her home while the FBI recorded everything.

The teenager was stabbed 6 times by her father, while her mother was holding her, all this while the whole home was wiretapped.

Several weeks before, Isa tried to notify the authorities that she was being abused, however, she was ignored.

7. Jean Seberg – The Suicide Nobody Was Guilty Of

Sean Seberg was a young actress in Hollywood who was on her way to stardom in the 1960s till she caught the attention of the FBI.

Sean was donating a large part of her earnings to organizations who were protecting civil rights. Unfortunately, she also donated to the Black Panthers.

The Black Panthers were a socialist and nationalist organization that was pro-Marxist-Leninism and pro-Maoism.

Even though the Black Panthers weren’t a big threat to the national security, the FBI was afraid that this organization could be used by the communists abroad in China and Russia to accomplish their goals.

Jean Seberg had no idea what was happening behind the scenes, she just wanted to help an organization who was fighting against racism.

The FBI made sure to humiliate her in public by revealing her pregnancy and harassing her on several occasions with threats that “other secrets” would be revealed too.

The young actress, under pressure and sick of being watched and humiliated, committed suicide.

6. MOVE – Or How The FBI Dropped A Bomb

Does someone annoy you?

Just drop a bomb on your enemy and burn 61 surrounding homes to the ground too. This is what the FBI did with the organization MOVE.

MOVE was an organization that wanted to return to nature, to abandon technology completely.

The MOVE group was definitely not something you would want to take part in, they were screaming obscenities in the early hours of the morning, walking naked in the streets and performing rituals.

However, how the FBI managed to handle it wasn’t something to be proud of.

One night the angry neighbors called the authorities explaining what happens in the cabin next to them.

The FBI tried to take them out peacefully but when they didn’t want to cooperate, after a few hours, they dropped a C-6 bomb.

This lead to 11 casualties but nobody was charged. The man in charge of the whole attack was suspended one month without a pay.

5. The Girlfriend

Ana Cumpanas was a young Romanian woman who left her country in the search for the American dream. Unfortunately, she did so by taking up prostitution.

After a couple of failed marriages, she was out in the street, till one of the most powerful men at the time took interest in Ana.

John Dillinger was a public enemy, he was so sure of his ways that he ended up robbing even police stations.

Ana on the other hand was fearing deportation. She knew the authorities wanted to get rid of her since she was an alien and a prostitute.

She also needed money.

Ana went to the FBI to tell them how she meet Dillinger and what she was willing to do for a certain amount of money and the guarantee that she would never be deported.

After the woman helped the FBI detect Dillinger’s location, she was given half of the amount of money she asked for and was deported right after.

Moral of the story? Don’t do business with the FBI.

4. How Walt Disney Filmed Mickey Mouse

While we all love his animations and admire his genius, Walt Disney’s hard work didn’t do much for him.

To break into Hollywood would have been an impossible task for Disney and what brought him to the screens wasn’t just perseverance.

As much as we like to think about how gifted our idols are when someone rises from his ashes, most of the time there is some help from the outside.

Walt Disney was an informer for the FBI, he gave information in exchange for him getting more influence.

His task was to spy on celebrities who were communist, he worked as an informer for over 30 years.

Mickey Mouse was actually filmed in the FBI headquarters. I hope we didn’t ruin Disney for you.

3. Truman Capote – The Writer Who Called J. Hoover Gay

Truman Capote not only was an activist who believed Cuba was heaven on Earth but he also dared to spread rumors about the founder of the FBI.

We don’t actually know if J. Edgar Hoover was gay or not but what we know is after Truman Capote dared to gossip he got himself an FBI file.

We could argue Truman Capote was quite lucky. His FBI file was 200 pages long, he was an activist and a communist lover and he made Hoover angry.

Fortunately, the FBI only monitored him without interfering in his life.

Some say that Truman Capote was spared only because he became an information later on.

2. The FBI Didn’t Believe Hitler Died

The rest of the world was convinced that we defeated the Nazis completely. However, the FBI and Stalin didn’t believe the situation was all that pink.

Many Nazis managed to leave Germany unpunished and move to South America where they lived for years. Some were discovered only after their deaths when it was safe for their families to get out of hiding again.

In a conversation between president Harry Truman and Stalin, the latter confessed that he didn’t believe in the suicide of Hitler.

If you want to find out more about the FBI hunt for Hitler, just go on the FBI website where all the files and information gathered over the years was published.

1. Permission To Kill

If you are a regular Joe and you decide that the world would be better off without your neighbor Bill, you will face the death penalty in some states, or you will be locked up for life.

However, that doesn’t apply if Bill is on the “to kill list” written by the FBI. Actually, over 5000 murders are being orchestrated by the agency in one year alone.

The agents have a “license to kill” as long as the one who will get killed deserves to, according to the FBI.

Keep in mind this is the number that the FBI is comfortable releasing to the public, we will never know the real numbers.