{
  "id": 16580789,
  "title": "Hidden In Plain Sight: What It Meant to Unearth My Father’s Decades-Old FBI File",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/hidden-in-plain-sight-what-it-meant-to-unearth-my-fathers-decades-old",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-26T09:09:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Literary Hub",
    "slug": "literary-hub",
    "url": "https://lithub.com/hidden-in-plain-sight-what-it-meant-to-unearth-my-fathers-decades-old-fbi-file/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "My father, Maurice Trescott Liu, had no desire for my mother or myself to ever know about any potential FBI investigations into his past. After his passing in 2007, I became curious and decided to search for any records related to him through a Freedom of Information Act request. In 2015, I received more than a hundred pages of heavily redacted FBI documents pertaining to my father. These files contained field reports, sworn affidavits, and telegrams signed by none other than J. Edgar Hoover. My father's life was a fascinating mix of identities, stemming from his unique heritage. Born in Shanghai in 1912, he was named Maurice by his French grandmother and Jialu by his Chinese grandfather. Upon moving to the United States, he took on various personas depending on the situation, ranging from his executive roles at the United Nations to his roles as a photographer, football player, and actor. Despite his reserved demeanor, my father was a deeply private person, rarely sharing details about his early life in China or his experiences in the United States. His meticulous nature and extensive collection of documents and records even extended to his personal habits, such as his peculiar hand-mangling tendency and his love for his Kent cigarettes. My childhood was filled with studying my father at work, copying his mannerisms, and learning about his various identities. My father never threw anything away, keeping a secret history hidden in plain sight.",
  "summary": "My father didn’t want to know what, if anything, the FBI had on him. Or at least that’s what my mother claimed. But after he died, as I sifted through his United Nations personnel documents and wartime correspondence to and",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}