Post details: Rehnquist's FBI file made public under FOIA; some surprises

01/07/07

Permalink 03:13:11 pm, by fourth, 394 words, 1166 views   English (US)
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Rehnquist's FBI file made public under FOIA; some surprises

Late Chief Justice Rehnquist's FBI file was released more than a year after his death under FOIA, and there are a few surprises. See Law.com's Tony Mauro, Rehnquist FBI File Sheds New Light on Drug Dependence, Confirmation Battles:

The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist's Senate confirmation battles in 1971 and 1986 were more intense and political than previously known, according to a newly released FBI file that also offers dramatic new details about Rehnquist's 1981 hospitalization and dependence on a painkiller.

The FBI file on Rehnquist, released last week under the Freedom of Information Act, reveals that in 1971, as Rehnquist's confirmation hearings for associate justice approached, the Nixon Justice Department asked the FBI to run a criminal background check on at least two potential witnesses who were expected to testify against Rehnquist. Then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover approved the request.

As interesting, and as troubling in a different way, is the FBI investigation into Rehnquist's drug dependence from his back injury in anticipation of his 1986 confirmation as Chief Justice:

Also in 1986, the FBI conducted an intensive investigation into Rehnquist's dependence on Placidyl, a strong painkiller that he had taken since the early 1970s for insomnia and back pain. Rehnquist's bout with drug dependence had been made public in 1981, when he was hospitalized for his back pain and suffered withdrawal symptoms when he stopped taking the drug.

The FBI's 1986 report on Rehnquist's drug dependence was not released at the time of his confirmation, though some Democratic senators wanted it made public. But it is in Rehnquist's now-public file, and it contains new details about his behavior during his weeklong hospital stay in December 1981. One physician whose name is blocked out told the FBI that Rehnquist expressed "bizarre ideas and outrageous thoughts. He imagined, for example, that there was a CIA plot against him."

The doctor said Rehnquist "had also gone to the lobby in his pajamas in order to try to escape." The doctor said Rehnquist's delirium was consistent with him suddenly stopping his apparent daily dose of 1400 milligrams of the drug -- nearly three times higher than the 500-milligram maximum recommended by physicians. The doctor said, "Any physician who prescribed it was practicing very bad medicine, bordering on malpractice."

Such is the price one pays for asking for a high profile job in the government: The FBI Agent as proctologist, and even your doctors will violate confidentiality.

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