Topline
Micky Dolenz, the last surviving member of supergroup Monkees, sued the Justice Department Tuesday for FBI files kept with the band throughout the ’60s for being in Vietnam During the civil unrest caused by the war, the Monkees incorporated controversial anti-war statements into their songs and concerts.
Monkees are one of the most popular bands in America mid-1960s.
KEY FACTS
Dolenz, 77, by attorney Mark S. The lawsuit was filed on his behalf by Zaid, Mark S. Zaid, a lifelong Monkees fan and FOIA litigator, according to Rolling Stone , which first reported news of the lawsuit.
While the FBI released a heavily redacted document from this document in 2011, it did not respond to Dolenz’s 6 Dolenz’s pursuit of a lawsuit was prompted by an FOI request in June to obtain any other documents the FBI held related to the Monkees.
The lawsuit requires the FBI to release to Dolenz any documents related to the Monkees as a member of the band and any individual , and asked the court to award reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees.
FBI did not return immediately Forbes for comment.
Precautions
Zaid told Rolling Stones that this will Start the process to determine if the file will be published.
What we don’t know
What information is contained in the FBI’s dossier on Monkees. The redacted information could reveal the identities of informants who attended the band’s gigs in the 1960s, Zaid said. “In theory, anything could be in these files,” Zaid told Rolling Stone
Surprising fact
Zeid was also one of the attorneys representing whistleblowers in the former president’s administration over Donald Trump’s Ukraine scandal that led to the president’s first impeachment. He met Dolenz through mutual friends and suggested that the former Monkees drummer and singer request the band’s FBI files, he told Rolling Stone.
Main background
Although Monkees are in politics Not as outspoken as many of their mid-1960s counterparts, many of their songs contained subtle anti-war sentiments, including one of their most popular singles, “Last Train to Clarksville.” In 2011, the FBI released a heavily redacted seven-page memo on anti-Vietnam War activism from the FBI’s Los Angeles field office that included the testimony of an informant who attended a Monkees concert. The informant described images that flashed on screens behind the band as “political left-wing meddling” that included “anti-American messages” about the Vietnam War and a civil rights march in Selma, Alabama. The memo also refers to an unreleased second FBI document about the Monkees that has been fully redacted, according to the agency. Zaid told Rolling Stone in the 1960s at the time Directed by J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI “is notorious for spying on the counterculture, whether or not they commit illegal acts.” The lawsuit states that the FBI also maintains files on entertainment figures linked to the Monkees, Including legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix and the more outspoken Beatles.
Tangent
For decades, the FBI has kept files on Hollywood entertainers and other high-profile individuals. Many of them are related to extortion or threats of violence investigated by the FBI, such as the case of actress Elizabeth Taylor. Others, such as writer Norman Mailer and actor-director Charlie Chaplin, are suspected of sympathizing with communism, while singer, actor and cultural icon Frank Sinatra is in the dossier for alleged ties to the mob.
Further reading
Micky Dolenz of the Monkees wants to talk to the FBI ( Rolling Stones)
