FBI records show broadcaster Paul Harvey had deep ties to J. Edgar Hoover - washingtonpost.com "FBI records show broadcaster Paul Harvey had deep ties to J. Edgar Hoover Previously confidential files show that Harvey, who died last February at 90, enjoyed a 20-year friendship with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, often submitting advance copies of his radio script for comment and approval. Harvey wrote Hoover and his deputies regularly. Hoover, in turn, helped Harvey with research, suggested changes in scripts and showered the broadcaster with effusive praise. an incident from 1951, when Harvey was 32. Harvey had already made a name for himself as a radio and TV commentator in Chicago, He routinely hammered officials for being lax on security, in particular those in charge of the Argonne National Laboratory, which conducted nuclear testing 20 miles west of Chicago. Harvey set out to prove his case Harvey guided his black Cadillac Fleetwood toward Argonne, arriving sometime past midnight. He parked in a secluded spot, tossed his overcoat onto the barbed wire topping a fence, then scampered over. But seconds after Harvey hit the ground, security officers spotted him, documents show. Harvey ran until, caught in a Jeep's headlights, he tripped and fell. As guards approached, Harvey sprang to his feet and waved. A friendship forms In April 1952, Rep. Fred Busbey, an Illinois Republican and longtime friend of Harvey's, asked the FBI if he could bring the broadcaster by to thank Hoover. "You will recall that Harvey has a history of mental instability," said an FBI memo analyzing the request, adding that Harvey appeared to be rehabilitated and was now "very effectively anti-Communist." Records of the Saturday morning meeting show Harvey acknowledged he had acted foolishly. Harvey told those present that he had always considered Hoover a great American but that, seen in person, the director far exceeded his expectations. And so began a friendship that continued until Hoover's death in 1972. In 1963, Harvey dropped by FBI headquarters for a publicity shot with Hoover. Harvey praised the director as "a champion of right-thinking people everywhere," and added that he appeared to be in excellent shape, as well. " interesting story. seems like harvey had a "wide stance" too.
