How to Read an FBI File
[Thanks to Phil for writing this and Rex for posting it.]
Note: This article was written by Phil Lapsley and is
incorporated here with permission, due to its great usefulness in reading FBI
files in the MFF Archive. See sidebar at right for more information.
Maybe you found an FBI file on the web, maybe you got it
through a web site like Get Grandpa's FBI File or Get My
FBI File, maybe you found it at the National Archives, or maybe it was up
in the attic in great-aunt Mildred's possessions. If you're like most people,
after you read it you probably had a bunch of questions. FBI files are filled
with jargon, abbreviations, file numbers, codes, blacked out chunks of text,
and odd little codes in the margin. Very puzzling!
If you're serious about trying to understand the stuff in
that file, this document is for you. Its goal is to help you understand the
contents of your FBI file. (For convenience, let's say "your file"
even though the file may be about someone else.)
This document is divided into two parts. The first covers
the actual content of an FBI file -- what's in it, how to make sense of FBI
abbreviations, etc. The second deals with the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), which is likely how the file you're looking at was obtained. That
section will help you understand why some bits of text were blanked out, what
the odd little codes in the margin mean, and give you some hints on where you
can get more information.
Let's talk geography for a second. (Trust me on this.)
The FBI's Headquarters (HQ, also called "The
Bureau" in FBI files) is in Washington D.C. United
States
Most of what you will see in an FBI file is messages going
back and forth between Field Offices and HQ. It may help to think of an FBI
file as a collection of what today would be e-mail messages. Just as e-mail
messages today can range from trivial to vitally important, so too can the
messages in FBI files.
Some of these messages will have been sent by teletype,
others by airmail, and still others by normal surface mail. Some of the
communications will be mundane or administrative while others will be more
interesting. Documents in FBI files can be as serious as a "prosecutive
summary" or non-prosecutive summary or something like 50+ page
investigative report by a Field Office or by Headquarters which is then
forwarded to military intelligence, the White House, the Attorney General or
other government agencies -- and much of that data will be classified Confidential,
Secret, or Top Secret.
Other documents contained in FBI files include court
documents, transcripts of testimony taken under oath at Congressional hearings,
credit bureau reports, incorporation documents, military service records from
the National Personnel
Records Center
Note that most messages sent to HQ are addressed to the
"Director." The Director of the FBI did not personally read every one
of these messages. Rather, messages sent to HQ are processed by FBI agents
assigned to the office of the Director. Similarly, messages from the Director
were generally written by one of his staff members. (That said, one FBI file
researcher commented that, "Anything of national significance or which
might be of potential embarrassment to the Bureau or the Administration in
power was routinely circulated among top Bureau officials -- including Hoover Hoover
You're going to see a lot of file numbers in FBI files, so
we need to talk a little bit about how the FBI filing system works.
One of the most astonishing things about the FBI filing
system is that FBI HQ and FBI Field Offices keep separate files with separate
file numbers. This means that there might be a file number 87-1234 at
Headquarters and it is likely completely unrelated to file 87-1234 in
the San Francisco Field Office -- which in turn is probably completely unrelated
to file 87-1234 in the New York Field Office! This might seem crazy today, but
back before computers and the Internet when the FBI was started this was
probably a pretty reasonable approach.
Because of this, a complete FBI file designator is made up
of three parts:
The FBI classification number in the FBI's Central Records
System that the investigation or file was opened under. This is a two- or
three-digit number which specifies broadly the type of offense was being
investigated. For example, 87 is fraud, 139 is interception of communications.
A complete list of
FBI offense codes is provided on the Thunder
and Lightning News Service web site. This code is also sometimes
called an "offense code."
We'll use that terminology in this document to avoid
confusion with security classifications (e.g., secret, top secret, etc.), which
are also called "classifications."
A code indicating where the file originated, either FBI
Headquarters or a Field Office. These tend to be two-letter codes but are
sometimes three letters. For example, Headquarters is HQ, Los
Angeles San Francisco
The file number, which is typically a 3-6 digit number that
is unique (for that offense code) to Headquarters or the Field Office.
So for example, file number 139-HQ-4992 is a file from FBI
headquarters dealing with interception of communications (e.g., wiretapping)
and is file number 4992 in that offense code at Headquarters. File 87-NY-6837
is fraud case number 6837 in the New York
HQ files are sometimes called "Bureau" files so
you might see reference to "Bufile 139-4992." This is the same as
139-HQ-4992. Similarly, Field Office files are often written as something like
"SF 87-1234" instead of "87-SF-1234."
A few pages marked up to indicate
file numbers. (Click for 3-page pdf.)
file numbers. (Click for 3-page pdf.)
You may sometimes see an offense code followed by the word
"new." For example, "100-new." This indicates that the
office has opened a new investigation in the 100 series (subversive matters)
but that a file number wasn't yet assigned as of the time of writing.
A hypothetical Headquarters file 139-HQ-4992 might have
several corresponding Field Office files, depending on where the investigation
took place. If this was a wiretapping case in New York New York Kansas City
As you go through your file you will see references to other
file numbers. If you have a HQ file, these other files will frequently be Field
Office files; if you have a Field Office file, you will see reference to the
Headquarters file. If you are interested in learning more about the subject of
your file, you will likely want to file a Freedom of Information Act request to
obtain these corresponding files if you don't have them already.
A key point: Field Office files often contain
significantly more information than HQ files. Consequently, the field
office file should not be considered as a useless "duplicate" of HQ
files. While it is true that much of the material in a Field Office file may be
in a HQ file, it may have a lot that isn't there, too.
The upper left corner of reports and the lower left corner
of cover pages are good places to look for file numbers. Also, most letters,
telegrams, and teletype messages will have file numbers after the
"From" and "To" lines. (If you click on the tiny page to
the right you'll be rewarded with three pages of an FBI file that has been
annotated to identify all the file numbers mentioned in it.)
It is important to keep in mind that these other file
numbers do not necessarily pertain to the same subject. For example, a HQ file
on Joseph Smith (100-123456) might indicate the following additional files: Los
Angeles New York Chicago
Because file numbers mentioned in an FBI file don't always
have the two-letter code showing which office the file is from, it can
sometimes be tough to tell whether a file number is a HQ or Field Office file.
In these cases some thought may be required to puzzle this out.
TIP: Make a list all the file numbers mentioned as you
read through your file.
By the way, the offense code gives insight into the FBI's
thought process during the investigation. The Field Office might have thought
your file was a low-level administrative inquiry (file class 62) but the FBI
Headquarters file might be something more ominous, like espionage (file class
65).
TIP: Check your serials. If you don't have all of them,
try to match the missing serials up with pages listed on the deleted page sheet
that followed the cover letter from the FBI.
Each document in an FBI file is called a "serial."
A serial could be something as simple as a one-page teletype message or
something more complex, like a 45-page report with a 3-page cover memo. Most
serials are given a serial number, although a few are "unrecorded"
(i.e., not given a serial number). Serial numbers typically start at 1 in each
file and increase sequentially from there, though occasionally serial numbers
may start with "X" and then proceed to "X-2" and then
"X-3" and so on, eventually followed by serial #1. Serial numbers are
frequently handwritten in the lower right-hand corner of the front of the
document in large letters. They consist of the file number (without the HQ or
Field Office identifier) followed by a dash and the serial number. For example,
if the file number is 139-4991, serial number 3 of that file will be written as
139-4991-3.
Alas, sometimes serial numbers are illegible, or are
redacted.
Serials in a file are not always in chronological order.
That is, serial #1 isn't always the earliest document in the file. If this is
the case for your file it may help to rearrange serials chronologically. (Also,
sometimes public source materials (e.g., newspaper and magazine articles or
copies of flyers or newsletters) may be put at the front of the file and given
a serial number such as "1A" or "1B"; you can think of
these as "sub files" of the main file.)
TIP: Account for missing pages. If you don't you can
get way confused. See left for details.
It is sometimes difficult to tell if you have all the pages
in a given serial, especially since the FBI FOIA team may have withheld some
pages in their entirety. One trick is that usually the FBI is pretty good about
putting an asterisk after the last page number of a document. So if you look at
the bottom of the page and see "3*" in the center it tells you that
this is page 3 of a 3 page document.
Most documents in an FBI file are titled or
"captioned" with information on the file subject. A caption generally
consists of three lines: the name of the subject, the character or nature of
the case being investigated (often a cryptic abbreviation), and the office of
origin ("OO").
So a caption might look like:
Joe Blow, a.k.a.
ITWI; ITSP
OO:San Francisco
ITWI; ITSP
OO:
This tells you that the case concerns somebody named Joe
Blow who is also known by other names ("a.k.a."; sometimes the
abbreviation "was" for "with aliases" is also used) and
that Mr. Blow is being investigated for interstate transportation of wagering
information (ITWI) and interstate transportation of stolen property (ITSP). The
office of origin (OO) is San Francisco. Sometimes there can be more than one
office of origin, e.g., if a suspect moves. A secret decoder ring for
some of these abbreviations is available at abbreviations.com.
One thing you will quickly notice is that the FBI was, and
is, crazy about forms. Are you interviewing an informant? Fill out an FD-209.
Visiting a foreign country? Fill out an FD-473. The good people at The
MemoryHole have obtained a comprehensive list of FBI forms under
FOIA, but some of the most common you're likely to run into are:
FD-204: Investigative report
FD-263: Cover page accompanying investigative report
FD-302: Form for reporting information that may become
testimony
Another document you may run into is a "letterhead
memorandum", abbreviated LHM. This is an official FBI memorandum that was
expected to be shown to someone outside the FBI.
Abbreviations and Jargon
FBI files are rife with abbreviations and FBI jargon. A
pretty good list of FBI abbreviations is
available atabbreviations.com. A shorter list of
some of the more common abbreviations is at the end of this document.
One abbreviation which you may find puzzling when you first
encounter it is "RUC." Literally this stands for "referred upon
completion" but that doesn't quite explain what it means. It typically is
used when HQ or a Field Office requests another Field Office to investigate
something: when the Field Office is finished it will respond with something
like "We are placing this matter in RUC status" which is FBI-speak
for "Okay, here's the stuff you asked for. We're done with this unless you
tell us differently."
Depending on the nature of your file, you may run into the
phrases "symbol source" or "non-symbol source." The FBI
sometimes uses informants or technical sources of information (such as
microphones or wiretaps) when conducting an investigation. To protect the
identity of these sources in some cases the FBI will replace the sources names
with an abbreviation called a symbol, e.g., T-1, T-2, etc. Big surprise: these
are called symbol sources. Sources not so protected are called non-symbol
sources.
If you're lucky :-) you may run into mention of
"June Mail" in your file. According to Unlocking
the Files of the FBI, "June Mail was information received from or
relating to the FBI's 'most sensitive sources,' including governors,
secretaries to high officials, extremely confidential information, and 'highly
confidential or unusual investigative techniques'" (e.g., black bag jobs).
A mail cover is a investigatory technique in which the names
and addresses of a subject's mail correspondence are recorded. Mail covers
don't actually open someone's mail but they do make a record of all the
subject's incoming and outgoing mail.
On files of major significance, the Bureau often prepared a
"correlation summary" which essentially is a chronological history of
data contained in the file. This is extremely important because often the
correlation summary identifies cross-references and related files that contain
information about the subject which is not always released when the main file
was processed.
This section deals with things you'll see in your file that
are not part of the FBI file itself but are rather artifacts of your file
having been processed by the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Swiss cheese sprinkled
with gibberish.
(Click for larger image.)
If your FBI file was obtained under FOIA the FBI almost
certainly withheld -- "redacted" -- some information. (The image to
the right gives an example of this; click to get a larger version.) The way the
FOIA law works is that you are entitled to a complete copy of any Government
file or document except for portions of the document that are exempt from
disclosure. These "exemptions" are spelled out in the FOIA law; the
FBI isn't supposed to redact information just because it feels like it.
(That said, several FBI FOIA researchers I spoke to gave low
marks to the FBI for "routinely excising" materials, such as data
already in the public domain or things that might be embarrassing to the
Bureau, "just because they feel like it." See Gimme
Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files by Jon Wiener for one man's
quest to get the FBI to reveal information withheld from a famous file.)
The withheld parts are generally easy to spot: they're the
big white boxes where something should have been in the file! In some cases
entire pages, or dozens or hundreds of pages, may be withheld.
b2
b6
b7c
. . .
b6
b7c
. . .
Whenever the FBI withholds information, it has to tell
you which exemption -- that is, which part of the FOIA law -- it relied upon
to withhold the material. It does so by noting the specific exemption
code, which it typically puts in the right margin of the page -- just
like to the right of this paragraph. These look like little letter-number abbreviations
like b2 or b7c. These refer to the specific section of the Freedom of
Information Act that allows the FBI to withhold this information. For example,
b2 refers to 5 USC 552(b)(2). The
EEOC (of all places!) has a nice summary of FOIA exemptions.
You care about the exemption codes for a couple of reasons.
First, they give you an indication of the sort of information that was
redacted. Second, you can infer from them what your chances are of obtaining
the redacted information if you wanted to appeal the FBI's decision to withhold
it. For example, national security redactions are sometimes reversed on appeal,
but redactions dealing with protecting the identity of an informant or
confidential source are reversed much less frequently. Third, should you choose
to appeal the redaction, the exemption will strongly influence how you write
your appeal request.
Does your document have an interesting message like that to
the right? "All information contained herein is unclassified"? That
tells you that at one time the page you're looking at was classified and has
been through a security declassification review.
The following materials may help you as you read through
your file:
List of FBI offense codes
List of FBI
office codes
List of FBI abbreviations
And, if you want to become a serious student of FBI files,
the book: Unlocking
the Files of the FBI: A Guide to Its Records and Classification System by
Gerald K. Haines and David A. Langbart, Scholarly Resources Inc., 1993.
Finally, let's not forget:
Handy Table of Commonly Used FBI Abbreviations
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Assistant Director in Charge
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AM
|
Air mail
|
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AR
|
Anti-racketeering
|
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AUSA
|
Assistant
|
|
ELSUR
|
Electronic surveillance
|
|
FBW
|
Fraud By Wire
|
|
FNU
|
First name unknown
|
|
FISUR
|
Physical surveillance
|
|
IGA
|
Interstate gambling activities
|
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IOC
|
Interception of communications
|
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ITAR
|
Interstate transportation in aid of racketeering
|
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ITSP
|
Interstate transportation of stolen property
|
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ITWI
|
Interstate transmission of wagering information
|
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LCN
|
La Cosa Nostra
|
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LNU
|
Last name unknown
|
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MNU
|
Middle name unknown
|
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RExxTEL
|
Regarding telegram from the XX office (where XX will be an
office code, see Table 2)
|
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RExxLET
|
Regarding letter from the XX office (where XX will be an
office code, see Table 2)
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RM
|
Registered mail
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RUC
|
Referred upon completion
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SA
|
Special Agent
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SAC
|
Special Agent in Charge
|
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SUREP
|
Submit report
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SUTEL
|
Submit teletype summary
|
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UACB
|
Unless advised contrary by Bureau
|
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UNSUB
|
Unknown subject
|
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Michael Ravnitzky and several individuals who wish
to remain nameless for reviewing and commenting on this article.
This document is a work in progress. I'd love to hear your
suggestions, comments, or questions. Please drop me a note at
history-of-phone-phreaking (at) lapsley.org. Thanks!
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