22. Running Afoul of J. Edgar Hoover
Edgar Hoover did not pass Popov’s Abwehr questions on to American military authorities – particularly the ones asking about Pearl Harbor’s defenses. After the Japanese attack wrecked the US fleet there a few months later, Hoover’s oversight should have wrecked his career. However, Hoover was himself an expert at the art of deception when he wanted to be. He buried his mistake deep in the FBI’s secret archives, and it did not come out until after his death.
In the meantime, the prissy FBI Director, whose private life was even more scandalous than Popov’s, got moralistic about the double agent’s playboy antics. Hoover even threatened to have Popov arrested under the Mann Act for travelling with a woman across state lines “for immoral purposes”.