The probe began after a tip to the bureau’s Chicago office, but the tipster’s identity was redacted from the files before their release. On June 3, 1958, Brown and another agent went to the Playboy office to speak with him. The agents’ investigation, the case notes concluded in July 1958, “fails to reflect a violation” of federal laws dealing with obscenity. The Chicago office flagged the magazine’s nationwide circulation as possibly making it a federal matter. An internal discussion in Washington branded the charge “ridiculous,” but the Chicago office was told to keep an eye on how the prosecution unfolded.

Source: National Post June 13, 2019 23:26 UTC