The parallels to today’s revelations by Edward Snowdon and others about the NSA are clear, and Snowden’s actions inspired the burglers to go public now. “… there was absolutely no one in Washington — senators, congressmen, even the president — who dared hold J. Edgar Hoover to accountability,” said 80-year-old John Raines, one of the former burglars. “It became pretty obvious to us,” he said, “that if we don’t do it, nobody will.”
“The Burglary” Random House
NY Times article on the burglars and why they came forward in 2013