The Mafia had its birth in the United States as the invention of the Kefauver Congressional Committee in 1950. Backed by agents from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the Kefauver hearings failed to produce evidence of the secret society referred to as the Mafia. Journalists also contributed to the Mafia myth by describing how the Mafia began in Sicily and became firmly entrenched in the United States. The investigation of Joseph Valachi in the 1960's did not produce any evidence of the Mafia's existence. In the course of Valachi's trial, investigators either disregarded the facts or simply forced the facts to fit their case. The author concludes that government investigations and journalists serve to reinforce each other in creating and sustaining the Mafia myth.