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FBI (The Vault)

Sources: FBI  ·  Period: 1920s–2000s  ·  tens of thousands documents

The FBI’s electronic reading room — “The Vault” — holds thousands of declassified Bureau files released under FOIA. DeclassDB indexes them so you can search across investigations, surveillance programs, and the Bureau’s extensive files on public figures and political movements.

Search below to explore the FBI’s historical record, from J. Edgar Hoover’s era through modern releases.

What you’ll find

  • COINTELPRO counterintelligence and domestic-surveillance files
  • Files on civil-rights leaders, activists, and public figures
  • Organized-crime and espionage investigations
  • Historical case files and Bureau policy memoranda

Need a file that isn’t public yet? Draft a FOIA request to the FBI’s Record/Information Dissemination Section with the builder below.

Open the FOIA Request Builder →

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