FBI file on Steve Jobs reveals he was considered for White House position

The public document is now available to view in its entirety at the FBI's official website. The document, first highlighted by Gawker, reveals that Jobs was considered for appointment to the President's Export Council by the George H.W. Bush administration in 1991.

A level III background investigation on Jobs was conducted at the request of the White House as he was being considered for the position. The file, author John Cook noted, includes an uncharacteristically high number of derogatory comments for an FBI investigation.

"Often the agents only interview employers and people who are suggested by the candidate," Cook wrote. "It's obviously unclear who these quoted folks are, but if they were among the people Jobs referred the agents to, then he didn't know his friends very well."

The names of the people who made the comments are redacted, but they include numerous statements characterizing Jobs as "deceptive," and having "questionable" moral character. One person said that "Mr. Jobs has integrity as long as he gets his way."

The documents also reveal a bomb threat that was called into Apple's headquarters on Feb. 7, 1985, in which an unnamed caller claimed to have placed "devices" to go off in the homes of certain individuals. The person said that a million dollars must be paid to them or they would detonate the bombs.

In response, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office canine unit made sweeps of the victims' residences and vehicles. No bombs were located.

The FBI's San Francisco Division maintained contact with Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., but no additional threatening calls were placed to the company. With no new information obtained, the case was considered closed as of August of 1985.