The last surviving member of The Monkees is suing the Justice Department on Tuesday to get secret files from the FBI.
Micky Dolenz, the last surviving member of the 1960s rock band, sued the Justice Department after his attempts to get the records through the Freedom of Information Act were ignored, according to the legal papers. The documents from the FBI had compiled information on The Monkees’ use of their performances to protest the Vietnam War, according to Rolling Stone.
“This lawsuit is designed to obtain any records the FBI created and/or possesses on the Monkees as well as its individual members,” the filing reads.
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Some of The Monkees’ songs from the mid-1960s, such as “Ditty Diego-War Chant” and “Last Train to Clarksville,” featured anti-war messages.
The Monkees are the subject of only two files on the FBI’s website: a “1967 Los Angeles Field Office memorandum on anti-Vietnam war activities” and a second one that is redacted entirely. The former file stated it had looked into “four young men who dress as ‘beatnik types'” who played “subliminal messages” from the stage.
“These messages and pictures were flashed of riots, in Berkley, anti-US messages on the war in Vietnam, racial riots in Selma, Alabama, and similar messages which had received unfavorable response from the audience,” the file stated.
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Mark Zaid, Dolenz’s lawyer and a fan of The Monkees, said Dolenz did not know the redacted document existed until he told him to check whether the FBI had a file on him.
“Theoretically, anything could be in those files,” Zaid told the outlet. “We have no idea what records even exist. It could be almost nothing. But we’ll see soon enough.”
The Washington Examiner has contacted the Justice Department for comment.
