FBI Records: The Vault
The Vault is our new FOIA Library, containing 6,700 documents and other media that have been scanned from paper into digital copies so you can read them in the comfort of your home or office.
- The Vault
- Abner Zwillman
- Abner “Longie” Zwillman (1904-1959) was a major racketeering figure in Newark, New Jersey in the 1930s.
- ABSCAM
- Anthony Spilotro
- Anthony “Tony” John Spilotro (1938-1986) was an organized crime figure from Chicago. He was the subject of an FBI narcotics investigation in Las Vegas.
- Basque Intelligence Service
- Gene Siskel
- Bishop Fulton Sheen
- Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short)
- Elizabeth Ann Short, aka “The Black Dahlia” In 1947, a brutally mutilated female corpse was found in Los Angeles. The press nicknamed the victim “The Black Dahlia.” Her killer was never found. The FBI identified the victim as Elizabeth Ann Short (1924-1947), an aspiring actress. This release details the FBI’s assistance to the Los Angeles Police Department, which investigated the murder, between 1947 and 1948.
- Edward Abbey
- Author Edward Paul Abbey was investigated by the FBI for sedition. While attending school in Pennsylvania, he publicly proposed destruction of draft cards. Abbey served in the U.S. military from 1945 to 1947. A Loyalty of Government Employee investigation was conducted while Abbey worked for the National Forest Service.
- Bugsy Siegel
- Clarence Smith (aka 13x)
- Dinah Shore
- Dr. Samuel Sheppard
- Frank Sinatra
- Francis “Frank” Albert Sinatra (1915-1998), singer and actor, appears in many FBI files. He was the target of many extortion attempts that the FBI investigated. Sinatra also appeared in FBI files in connection with his contacts with racketeering investigation subjects and his early involvement with the Communist Party in Hollywood. The dates of these files fall between 1943 and 1985.
- Jack Soble
- Jane Addams
- Jane Addams (1860-1935) was an internationally known social worker, activist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner. This release concerns a treason investigation opened in 1924 involving the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; Addams was a founding member of the organization.
- Joseph Aiuppa
- Marilyn Sheppard
- Sidney Korshak
- Spiro Agnew
- Spiro Theodore Agnew (1918-1996) was a Maryland politician and U.S. vice president from 1968 to 1973. He resigned as vice president and later pleaded no contest to tax evasion charges pursued by the IRS; the FBI investigated him for bribery, but he was not prosecuted on that charge. This release consists of FBI records concerning the bribery investigation as well as threats made against Agnew. It ranges between 1969 and 1986 (mostly between 1969 and 1973). This more comprehensive release replaces the more limited one made in the 1990s that had been previously posted here on the Vault.
- FBI Miami Shooting, April 11, 1986
- Space Shuttle Challenger
- Five Percenters
- The Five Percenters was an offshoot of the Nation of Islam founded in Harlem in 1965 under Clarence Edward Smith, also known as Clarence 13X and other names. This release covers from 1965 to 1967 and consists of one main file primarily concerned with the group's potential to foment public disturbances and containing a number of references to the group found in other FBI files.
- Cardinal Francis Spellman
- Francis J. Spellman (1889-1967) was a Roman Catholic cardinal in the diocese of New York. This release consists of correspondence between Spellman and the FBI over many years and an investigation into the bombing of the cardinal’s home in New York.
- John Steinbeck
- ACLU
- St. Valentines Day Massacre
- Taylor Caldwell
- Alcatraz Escape
- On the morning of June 12, 1962, guards at Alcatraz—a federal penitentiary opened in 1933 on a desolate island in San Francisco Bay—discovered that prisoners John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Morris had escaped. The FBI's thorough investigation, which lasted for nearly two decades, was unable to determine whether the three men successfully escaped or died in the attempt. The files begin with the breakout in 1962 and continue through December 1979 when the FBI closed the case.
- Truman Capote
- Emmett Till
- Emmett Louis Till (1941-1955) was murdered while visiting relatives in LeFlore County, Mississippi. In 1955, two suspects were tried for the murder, but acquitted. In May 2004, the FBI reopened the investigation to determine if other individuals were involved. This release consists of the FBI’s 2006 “Prosecutive Report” on the matter and includes a type-copy of the transcript of the first trial as an appendix.
- UFO
- In 1947, a rash of sightings of unexplained flying objects (UFOs) swept America. Although the newly formed U.S. Air Force was the primary investigator of these sightings, the FBI received many reports and worked for a time with the Air Force to investigate these matters. This release details the FBI’s role in investigating such reports between 1947 and 1954.
- John Murtha
- Senator Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy
- Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy (1932-2009) served as a U.S. senator from 1962 to 2009. The files below range from 1961 to 2001. The bulk of this material concerns FBI investigations into threats of violence and extortion claims against Senator Kennedy and other public officials. Parts 1 to 18 were previously released in 2010.
- Henry A Wallace
- Howard Zinn
- (1922-2010)
- Michael Jackson
- Michael Jackson (1958-2009) was a famous singer and entertainer. Between 1993 and 1994 and separately between 2004 and 2005, Jackson was investigated by California law enforcement agencies for possible child molestation. He was acquitted of all such charges. The FBI provided technical and investigative assistance to these agencies during the cases. The Bureau also investigated threats made against Mr. Jackson and others by an individual who was later imprisoned for these crimes. These investigations occurred between 1992 and 2005.
- Jefferson Airplane
- The popular rock group Jefferson Airplane was founded in 1965. This release consists of several mentions of the band and its lead singer--Grace W. Slick--that appeared in FBI domestic security investigative files between 1970 and 1974.
- Lady Bird Johnson
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- Al Gore, Sr.
- Albert Arnold Gore, Sr. (1907-1998) was a Democrat congressman and senator from Tennessee.
- All American Anti Imperialist League
- Lillie Belle Allen
- Steve Allen
- Amerithrax
- Amerithrax, short for American anthrax attacks, was a multi-agency investigation led by the FBI. It was launched in October 2001, when letters laced with anthrax powder were mailed to NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, U.S. Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy, and media offices in New York and Florida. Five people were killed and another 17 were sickened in the attack. The FBI’s ensuing investigation led to the U.S. government biological research facility at Ft. Detrick, Maryland and eventually centered on pathologist Bruce Ivins as the culprit. A wide range of investigative documents from the years 2001-2010 are available here.
- Albert Anastasia
- Albert Anastasia (1902–1957) was a leading figure in organized crime activities on the New York City waterfront and in a group known as “Murder, Incorporated.”
- The Zodiac Killer
- Aryan Nation
- Louis Allen
- Marian Anderson
- William Safire
- Anna Nicole Smith
- Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2007), celebrity and model, was born Vickie Lynn Marshall. Smith was involved in three FBI investigations between the years 1999 and 2004.
- American Nazi Party
- Aristotle Onassis
- Aristotelis (or Aristotle) Sokratis Onassis (1906-1975) was a wealthy shipping magnate and husband to the widowed Jacqueline Kennedy.
- William Brennan Jr. (US Supreme Court Justice)
- Vito Marcantonio
- Elizabeth Arden
- Desi Arnaz
- Arthur Rudolph
- Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph (1906-1996) was a German-born rocket engineer and Nazi party member. He was brought to the United States to work for the U.S. Army and NASA after World War II. The attorney general asked the FBI to review internal security aspects of his immigration into the U.S. for permanent residence.
- Weather Underground (Weathermen)
- Aryan Brotherhood
- The Aryan Brotherhood, a violent white supremacist gang, formed within the California state prison system in the late 1960s. On August 9, 1982, the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office opened a racketeering enterprise investigation into the gang. The case was closed in 1989.
- Vincent Astor
- Atlanta Child Murders
- Between 1979 and 1981, approximately 29 African-American children, teens, and young adults—mostly boys—were kidnapped and murdered. A majority of the killings shared common details. The FBI joined the multi-agency investigation in 1980. In our files, the major case is called ATKID, short for the Atlanta Child Murders. The investigation was closed following the conviction of Wayne Bertram Williams for two of the murders in 1982; after the trial, law enforcement linked Williams to 20 more of the 29 murders. This release was made prior to the creation of the FBI Vault; the files have since been renamed to enhance the clarity of the information, but the content remains the same.
- The Beatles
- Melvin Belli
- Jack Benny
- Hugo Black
- Walter Winchell
- Caryl Chessman
- Caryl Whittier Chessman (1921-1960) was convicted of robbery, automobile theft, and kidnapping with associated bodily harm. He received the death penalty under the “Little Lindbergh Law” of California in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Mary Alice Meza.
- Black September
- Project Blue Book (UFO)
- Project Blue Book Originally Project Blue Book was the Air Force name for a project that investigated UFO reports between 1947 and 1969. In 1989, an organization calling itself “The New Project Blue Book” contacted the FBI. This file consists of correspondence concerning this organization.
- Anthony Blunt
- Sir Anthony Frederick Blunt (1907-1983) was a member of the Cambridge Five, a group of Soviet Union spies that operated at the highest levels of British politics and society.
- Bonnie and Clyde
- Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (1910-1934) and Clyde Champion Barrow (1909-1934) were violent criminals who were active in the Mid- and Southwest between 1932 and 1934. The FBI began to investigate “Bonnie and Clyde” and their fellow gang members after Barrow stole an automobile in December 1932. The couple died in an ambush by local and state police officers from Louisiana and Texas on May 23, 1934. This release consists of the FBI Dallas Field Office’s file, which ranges from 1933 to 1934.
- Bonus March
- Venona
- John Profumo (Bowtie)
- Black Panther Party
- The Black Panther Party (BPP) is a black extremist organization founded in Oakland, California in 1966. It advocated the use of violence and guerilla tactics to overthrow the U.S. government. In 1969, the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office opened an investigative file on the BPP to track its militant activities, income, and expenses. This release consists of Charlotte's file on BPP activities from 1969 to 1976.
- Bertolt Brecht
- Eugen Bertolt Friedrich Brecht (1898-1956) was a Bavarian poet and playwright who immigrated to the U.S. after Hitler took power. This release covers the FBI’s role in the U.S. government’s consideration of Brecht’s petition for permanent residence.
- Wernher VonBraun
- George Jackson Brigade
- Ted Bundy
- In 1977, Theodore (or Ted) Robert Bundy (1946-1989) escaped from custody while being transported to Colorado to stand trial for murder. Salt Lake City issued an escape warrant that prompted the FBI’s involvement.
- Al Capone
- Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone (1899-1947) rose to infamy as a gangster in Chicago during the 1920s and early 1930s. The Bureau of Investigation (the FBI’s predecessor) joined the Bureau of Prohibition and other agencies in investigating Capone. In 1931, Capone was sentenced to prison for tax evasion. Suffering from a case of syphilis that left him too mentally ill to resume his previous criminal activities, he was paroled in 1939 and settled in Florida, where he lived until his death in 1947.
- Stokely Carmichael
- Billy Carter
- Animal Mutilation
- Animal/Cattle Mutilation In the mid-1970s, reports of scattered animal mutilations in western and mid-western states concerned many people. The FBI was asked to investigate, but was unable to do so because of a lack of jurisdiction (except when such mutilations were found on Indian lands). These files consist mainly of press clippings and correspondence concerning the issues between 1974 and 1978.
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Mary Jo Kopechne (Chappaquiddick)
- Charles Manson
- Cesar Chavez
- Christic Institute
- Winston Churchill
- Aryan Circle
- Claudia Jones
- Christian Identity Movement
- Clergy and Laity Concerned about Vietnam
- Roberto Clemente
- Morris and Lona Cohen
- Sixteenth (16th) Street Church Bombing
- Bernard Baruch
- Columbine High School
- On April 20, 1999, Eric Davis Harris (1981-1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (1981-1999) killed 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado before committing suicide. The tragedy sparked national debates about school safety. The FBI assisted local law enforcement by investigating additional threats and Internet leads, conducting witness interviews, and processing physical evidence. The FBI’s file details the initial investigation and contains witness interviews between April 21, 1999 and May 5, 1999.
