Petrelis Files

FBI Releases Liz Taylor's
154-Page Extortion Related File

Yesterday, I received a letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding my Freedom of Information Act request for the agency's file on the late actress and AIDS advocate Elizabeth Taylor. The feds said that due to the high volume of requests for her file, the FBI would be posting the file on their web site, but they omitted a release date.

I checked the FBI's FOIA reading room pages and Taylor's 154-page file was posted this morning. The records reveal she was subjected to extortion threats over several decades, and that the agents investigated who and how the threats were made. Taylor's file contains nothing else.

Since she led the colorful life of a diva, with much drama and controversy throughout her career and off-screen life as a great friend of many gay men and people with AIDS, I thought there might be gay or AIDS related content in her FBI records. The 154-pages made available for public inspection today show that my hunch was wrong.

Oh, well. Such is the life of FOIA requesters. We never know what may be in a file, and the only way to find out is to make FOIA requests.

It feels good having played a role in being part of the high volume of FOIA requests submitted to the feds, because it led to a rapid release of Taylor's file and the agency posting it to their electronic reading room.

Click here to read Taylor's FBI file.