FBI releases Lennon documents

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington has released the final 10 documents related to the surveillance of music legend John Lennon.

The documents had been kept secret for 25 years on the grounds the information could cause "military retaliation against the United States." But a University of California, Irvine, historian said the documents are unlikely to cause an international incident, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

One of the documents, a memo from then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to President Richard Nixon's chief of staff, said: "Lennon had taken an interest in 'extreme left-wing activities in Britain' and is known to be a sympathizer of Trotskyist communists in England."

Another document said British leftists had attempted to court Lennon to fund a bookstore and reading room, but Lennon had refused.

Another of the documents stated no evidence had been found that Lennon had formal ties to any leftist group.

"I doubt that Tony Blair's government will launch a military strike on the U.S. in retaliation for the release of these documents," UC Irvine historian Jon Wiener said. "Today, we can see that the national security claims that the FBI has been making for 25 years were absurd from the beginning."