The FBI Chief at the time was J. Edgar Hoover who distrusted Popov deeply. Hoover’s obvious dislike of the man was constantly evident. In one episode Popov took a girl from New York to Florida on one of his many sensual forays, and Hoover threatened him with the Mann Act. The Mann Act was a law that prevented ‘the interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”‘, designed to curtail prostitution. So there was obviously no love lost between these two individuals.
Hoover decided not to pass the Pearl Harbour information on to anyone. Many have questioned the intention of this non-communication, but it was a move the US would regret. Well over 2,000 Americans were killed and more than 1,000 injured.
Popov said on a chat show after the release of his memoirs “one of the central questions I ask in my book is did Hoover pass my intelligence onto President Roosevelt, I gave them this information a good eight months before the attack, and yet many lives, young lives were needlessly lost, as well as American mastery of the Pacific for some years”.
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