Wiretapping: a secret history
HistoryExtra podcast
00:00
The Politics of Race Plays a Critical Role in Wire Tap Authority
The politics of race plays a critical role in the normalization of the government's wire tap authority. For decades, politicians and law enforcement lobbyists had been trying to pass a law to enable state and federal law enforcement to tap telephones. It was only after the explosion of urban violence in the mid 19 sixties that their calls for wire tap authority get heard. The politician who carried title three of the safe streets act through congress was a man named john mc clellan.
Play episode from 29:35
Transcript
