I seem to remember reading that after having denied the existence of the Mafia for years,Hoover had his nose rubbed in it after the Apalachin bust.As the story goes,in order to save face and continue the myth of the ever-vigilant Bureau,Hoover stated that the Apalachin attendees were actually members of a criminal organization called La Cosa Nostra ,not the Mafia,and of course,the FBI had been monitoring them for years.

Up to this point,the term "Cosa Nostra" had never been used in law enforcement circles,and it remains the term of choice for the Feds to use.

Anybody else hear this? Is it true that the term Cosa Nostra was basically invented by Hoover to perpetuate the illusion of a crime syndicate that only the FBI was able to expose.

Supposedly when Hoover overheard guys on wiretaps saying "this thing of ours",he used this as proof that they were discussing this "new" secret society, thereby demonstrating both the FBI's amazing power,as well as the need for increased funding to fight this new "menace".

Anybody wanna weigh in? Have you heard this about the term LCN before?