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john lennon
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![The interagency CACTUS program served as the conduit between CIA’s Operation CHAOS and FBI’s COINTELPRO](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/2017/12/10/NewLeftCov.jpg.1200x400_q85_crop.jpg.800x600_q85_crop.jpg)
The interagency CACTUS program served as the conduit between CIA’s Operation CHAOS and FBI’s COINTELPRO
A little known but extremely important part of the history of domestic surveillance by intelligence agencies is the CACTUS program. CACTUS was a highly classified channel used by agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to transmit information about “the New Left, Black Militants and related matters.” This channel was never disclosed in the Church Committee reports, even when the reports discuss information that was transmitted through CACTUS.
![FBI files on John Lennon's New Left turn up foul-mouthed parrots and bad b.o.](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/2017/12/10/parrot.jpg.800x600_q85_crop.jpg)
FBI files on John Lennon’s New Left turn up foul-mouthed parrots and bad b.o.
Part of an ongoing investigation into John Lennon, FBI files show informants infiltrated antiwar groups and documented in detail their nefarious activities - even if that activity was training a parrot to swear.
![FBI's efforts to get John Lennon deported were undercut by Bureau's inability to tell hippies apart](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/JohnLennonCov.jpg.800x600_q85_crop.jpg)
FBI’s efforts to get John Lennon deported were undercut by Bureau’s inability to tell hippies apart
John Lennon’s sizable FBI file begins in the midst of his 1972 deportation battle with INS. While Lennon argued in court that the motive behind the deportation was political, the Bureau worked to secure a narcotics charge that would get him out of the country before the Republican National Convention that year.