Bud Abbott : Abbott and Costello and the FBI?.

I've heard these two linked together. I'm wary of reading something that may be fabricated or at least exagerrated. Can someone shed some light on what went on between the duo and the FBI?

Maybe you mean the IRS, since they did have tax problems in the 50's that hurt them.

No I know about the IRS and all that. There is a website about Bud Abbott and his conversations with J. Edgar Hoover. Information coming from a website is a dubious source so I had to question it.

The IRS hounded poor Abbott until his death.

I've looked into it and "found" that the FBI investigated Abbott and Costello concerning alleged espionage in coded words on their 1943 radio show. A woman from Illinois compiled a 5b4 list of supposed words that she thought had a hidden meaning and sent them to J. Edgar Hoover. Go to the search engine and type 'Bud Abbott, FBI' and you'll see what I mean.

I should point out that these charges were groundless and that the woman from Illinois had just lost her husband and was emotionally distraught. I've never heard their radio broadcasts so I can't go into any kind of detail, but for example when Abbott and Costello used words like "Two Sides" she thought it was code for "Submarine".