But the burglary inaugurated a spate of whistle-blowing that undermined the FBI’s credibility over the next few years. Congressman Hale Boggs, the House Majority Leader, compared the FBI to the “secret police,” conceding that even Congress lived in fear of them, and that they’d “hastened the growth of a vine of tyranny.” Lawsuits brought under the Freedom of Information Act forced the attorney general to reveal more incriminating FBI files.
