Gay blogger and activist Michael Petrelis, who's based in San Francisco, received an interesting letter in the mail yesterday. According to the FBI, he can buy Michael Jackson's FBI file, which is a whopping 591 pages, for $49.10.

"There is a duplication fee of ten cents per page," writes FBI section chief David Hardy. "The first 100 pages will be provided to you free of charge."

Who's bad?

​Petrelis publishes the FBI's response on his blog, The Petrelis Files. He received the letter after he sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI, asking for any of the agency's documents concerning Michael Jackson. Petrelis writes that he was surprised there was a sizable file, but maybe he shouldn't have been.

First of all, Michael Jackson fought off child molestation charges in 2005, which most probably brought the attention of the FBI. And rock stars throughout the decades have been targeted by FBI investigators.

The FBI, for example, gathered nearly 300 pages of information on John Lennon between 1971 and 1972, which later became material for a movie and a book, titled Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files.

If you check the FBI web site, you'll also see the feds took notes on Elvis Presley (650 pages), Jim Morrison (89 pages), Motown Records (24 pages), and Jerry Garcia (4 pages).

Tags:

domestic surveillance, Elvis Presley, FBI, Jerry Garcia, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Michael Petrelis, Patrick Range McDonald