The good news is we found Frank Wilkinson’s 132,000 page Federal Bureau of Investigation file. The bad news is you probably won’t get a chance to read it.

When we first requested the 132,000 page Federal Bureau of Investigation file for activist Frank Wilkinson, the FBI first claimed they couldn’t find it, then directed us to the National Archives and Records Administration. But when NARA tracked down the file, it turned out to be empty. So where is it?

With nationwide protests calling for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and countercharges alleging that such movements are the work of sinister foreign agents intent on sowing discord, it’s worth revisiting a similar period in American history when the Federal Bureau of Investigation framed opposition to House Un-American Activities Committee as Communist agitation - and faced pushback even within its own ranks.