FBI file shows bureau kept tabs on Aretha Franklin's activism
(CNN)There "ain't no way" agents with the highest domestic law enforcement office in the country were keeping tabs on Aretha Franklin -- but they were.
The FBI kept a careful eye on the Queen of Soul and her activism, nothing unusual during the civil rights era when the bureau was monitoring a host of the movement's luminaries. Franklin died in 2018, best known for her sturdy catalog of R&B and gospel hits, but her FBI file shows that her possible affiliation -- both real and perceived -- with Communist and Black liberation organizations was a regular focus for federal agents.
Though the documents are redacted, the agents and investigators seemed to conclude there was no cause for alarm, despite the extensive monitoring. The file also outlines death threats and an extortion attempt targeting the singer, as well as a copyright infringement lawsuit.
The FBI press office has no additional information on the 270-page file, it says, but Jenn Dize, founder of Courage News, said she obtained the records in a Freedom of Information Act request. The journalist, who says she "frequently report(s) on abuses of alphabet agencies, especially as related to the civil rights movement," requested the documents in 2018, she wrote in a Thursday tweet.
