In 1961, as Kennedy became Attorney General, the situation was as follows: (1) the FBI could wiretap only on the written authorization of the Attorney General; (2) state and local police taps, often stimulated by the FBI, went freely along as state law permitted; (3) the FBI bugged ad lib at the director’s discretion and without notice to Attorneys General; (4) the FBI indulged ad lib in surreptitious entry in order to install bugs or for other purposes, and did so without the knowledge of any Attorney General.*
