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| There was a vital need for action. The Government had to protect our society. If the extremist groups, and their mentality of terrorism, were allowed a“ r] ~ to gain even a temporary ascendancy, great damage might be done to the freedoms which form the lifeblood of our democratic society. As a result of this crisis in the 1960's and early 1970's, the FBI instituted a program called "cointelpro" which is an abbreviation which simply means "counterintelligence program." This program waS a positive effort to reduce and lessen the extremist danger. It was designed to bring under control and weaken extremist fu the Weatherman and other revolutionary organizations, ‘and ,to protect the rights of innocent citizens. The gospel of violent revolution and insurrection had to be halted. If permitted to proliferate, it could seriously jeopardize our constitutional system of government. Now, I was not in the FBI at the time this can well understand the, feelings of the FBI and the Government. I am convinced that the motivation behind "“cointelpro” stemmed from a sinceré and patriotic desire to protect our government . % and our democratic principles. 7 Toy - + EN tt 8, - . . . ' : re ; et gy ~ . . . es