COINTELPRO was an illegal FBI project run by J. Edgar Hoover to undermine and expose activists (through whatever illegal means found to be most effective - assassinations to fomenting race wars). It was exposed by a Weather Underground raid that proved its existence through stolen documents. Readers anxious about civil liberties under George W. Bush will find fodder for fears and suggestions for activism. The authors expose of America's political police force, the FBI, reveals the steel fist undergirding "compassionate conservatism's" velvet glove. Using original FBI memos, the authors provide extensive analysis of the agency's treatment of the left, from the Communist Party in the 1950s to the Central America solidarity movement in the 1980s. The authors' new introduction posits likely trajectories for domestic repression.