Nazi espionage on U.S. soil had
become a real threat. The intelligence arms of the Army and Navy had noticed
increased activity by German and Japanese spies in the late 1930s and began
working with the Bureau to disrupt it. Learning the counterintelligence ropes
as it went along, the FBI was given the lead in these cases and
uncovered around 50 spies operating in America before the nation entered the
war, including a massive ring led
by long-time German agent Fritz Duquesne.
The U.S. needed more and
better intelligence to understand the threats posed by the Axis powers. The
Bureau had been put in charge of domestic intelligence and had already built
an extensive network of sources, with law enforcement around the country
serving as an important set of eyes and ears. It had also begun developing
connections with Canadian and British intelligence and law
enforcement.
South and Central America were fast becoming staging grounds for the Nazis to
send spies into the U.S. and hubs for relaying information back to Germany.
the FBI responded by setting up a Special Intelligence
Service in June 1940 that sent groups of agents undercover to eliminate the
Axis spy nests. Around that time, it also started officially stationing agents
as diplomatic liaisons in U.S. embassies
to coordinate international leads arising from the Bureau’s work.
One important step the Bureau had taken in the preparations for war
was to put together a list of German, Italian, and Japanese aliens in the U.S.
who posed a clear threat to the country. Under presidential order issued on
the evening of December 7, the Bureau moved to arrest these enemies and
present them to immigration officials for hearings
and for possible deportation. Within 72 hours, more than 3,800 aliens had been
taken into custody without incident.
The Bureau’s domestic counterintelligence work continued full force as well,
with plenty of successes. The FBI employed a variety of double agents to
disrupt enemy espionage, set up
radio networks to gather intelligence and spread disinformation, and used its
growing scientific capabilities to track down spies like Velvalee Dickinson.
become a real threat. The intelligence arms of the Army and Navy had noticed
increased activity by German and Japanese spies in the late 1930s and began
working with the Bureau to disrupt it. Learning the counterintelligence ropes
as it went along, the FBI was given the lead in these cases and
uncovered around 50 spies operating in America before the nation entered the
war, including a massive ring led
by long-time German agent Fritz Duquesne.
The U.S. needed more and
better intelligence to understand the threats posed by the Axis powers. The
Bureau had been put in charge of domestic intelligence and had already built
an extensive network of sources, with law enforcement around the country
serving as an important set of eyes and ears. It had also begun developing
connections with Canadian and British intelligence and law
enforcement.
South and Central America were fast becoming staging grounds for the Nazis to
send spies into the U.S. and hubs for relaying information back to Germany.
the FBI responded by setting up a Special Intelligence
Service in June 1940 that sent groups of agents undercover to eliminate the
Axis spy nests. Around that time, it also started officially stationing agents
as diplomatic liaisons in U.S. embassies
to coordinate international leads arising from the Bureau’s work.
One important step the Bureau had taken in the preparations for war
was to put together a list of German, Italian, and Japanese aliens in the U.S.
who posed a clear threat to the country. Under presidential order issued on
the evening of December 7, the Bureau moved to arrest these enemies and
present them to immigration officials for hearings
and for possible deportation. Within 72 hours, more than 3,800 aliens had been
taken into custody without incident.
The Bureau’s domestic counterintelligence work continued full force as well,
with plenty of successes. The FBI employed a variety of double agents to
disrupt enemy espionage, set up
radio networks to gather intelligence and spread disinformation, and used its
growing scientific capabilities to track down spies like Velvalee Dickinson.