The Associated Press has reported that a federal judge ordered the FBI to release notes from a phone conversation and two letters about John Lennon. U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Q. Robbins made the ruling Friday. According to the FBI, 10 pages of John's file were withheld at the request of a foreign government that had given the FBI the documents. Peter Eliasberg, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, said he believes the request to block the release came from British intelligence officers. The release of the documents was prompted by author and historian Jon Wiener, who filed a federal Freedom of Information Act request in 1983 to obtain all U.S. government documents on Lennon.

"We don't think that the national security is really at stake here," Weiner said. "We think this is 30-year-old, trivial information about the activities of a dead rock star." Wiener's book, "Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files," was published in January by The University of California Press in Berkeley. The book reproduces 100 pages of FBI files on John that have been released, including some that were entirely blacked out for security reasons. The ACLU, which joined Wiener's attempt to obtain the files, said the FBI under the Nixon administration used surveillance in an attempt to deport John due to his opposition to the Vietnam War.

Federal attorney Thomas Caballero said at the hearing that he would probably appeal against the judge's decision.

SPECIAL NOTE: Be watching for "The Nation" magazine next week for more complete and accurate information about this story!!

Read about Jon Wiener's "Gimme Some Truth" Book

Visit Jon Wiener's Lennon FBI Files web site

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