His methods might have been crude, even cruel, but a few real rats were, in fact, caught in the trap.
Nothing is ever black and white.
And his methods, as crude as they were, smeared some innocent people (esp in the Army/McCarthy hearings), and as such, hurt the cause of anti-Communism far more than his methods helped it.
Ask yourself this: If a much more responsible yet equally anti-Communist Senator, dedicated to the truth rather than to grabbing headlines, had been in charge of the investigations, wouldn't things have gone a lot better?
The Chairman. Mr. Crouch, there is something we have often wondered about, and maybe you can enlighten us. In the trial of this Scientist X, as I recall, you had considerable information and evidence on him. Why weren't you called by the Justice Department in that case, if you know?
Mr. Crouch. I was called as an expert witness in rebuttal, but was not permitted to describe my knowledge of him as a member of the party, or to describe the closed meetings of the Communist party I had attended. And my wife [Sylvia Crouch], who was under subpoena in the trial, was not called at all, and I was advised informally to the effect that it was impossible for us to give our testimony without bringing in the name of an internationally famous scientist who was also a member of the Communist party, who had been present at the meetings with Scientist X.
The Chairman. Who in the Justice Department told you you could not be used to testify about your knowledge of Scientist X, his Communist activities?
Mr. Crouch. Mr. Cunningham, of the Justice Department, and Mr. Hitz, assistant United States attorney, advised me that I would not be questioned because our testimony would bring in his name.
The Chairman. Bring in the name of Robert Oppenheimer?
Mr. Crouch. Yes, sir. Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer.
The Chairman. Both you and your wife, I understand, then, were available; the Justice Department knew you had attended Communist party meetings with Scientist X, and one of the issues was whether or not he was a Communist?
Mr. Crouch. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. And the jury found him not to be a Communist, ultimately?
Mr. Crouch. They found him not guilty due to lack of sufficient identifying witnesses who had been in closed meetings with him, that is, witnesses who could testify to that effect.
The Chairman. Just for the record, was he being tried for perjury?
Mr. Crouch. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. And one of the counts was that he committed perjury when he said he was not a Communist?
Mr. Crouch. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. And because of lack of evidence, he was acquitted?
Mr. Crouch. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. And both you and your wife, when members of the Communist party, had attended these closed Communist party meetings with him, and you were informed by two Justice Department lawyers that you would not be used because if you were used and you were examined as to who else was there, you would have had to identify Robert J. Oppenheimer; is that it?
Mr. Crouch. To that effect, yes, sir.
The Chairman. Did they say who had given them those instructions?
Mr. Crouch. No, sir, they did not, they did not indicate it in any way.
The Chairman. When was this trial held?
Mr. Crouch. Last year. The Chairman. What was the date of that trial, Roy? Mr. Cohn. I don't know the exact date.
The Chairman. And Scientist X, who has been identified, as Scientist X, what is his name again?
Mr. Crouch. Dr. Joseph Weinberg.
The Chairman. Is there any doubt in your mind that Oppenheimer was a member of the Communist party?
Mr. Crouch. No, sir, none whatever. I met him in a closed meeting of the Communist party in a house which was subsequently found to have been his residence at the time, although I did not know it then, and following that I met him at quite a number of Communist party affairs in Alameda County.
The Chairman. I noticed with some interest Oppenheimer's articles in regard to the H-bomb, for example; he vigorously opposed our proceeding with any experimentation in the development of the H-bomb. When he lost out in that, he now has taken the position that we should not have an air force capable of delivering that bomb. Maybe I am simplifying it a bit, but in fact that is his argument. His argument has been that we should build a screen of defense around this nation.
From your knowledge of the working of the Communist party, do you know whether or not that was the policy of the Communist party at that time?
Mr. Crouch. His position, in substance, his efforts have corresponded with the efforts of the Communist press throughout this period. The Communist press has sought to prevent the development of the H-bomb. They have sought to obtain a U.S. pledge not to use the atomic bomb, first in time of war, and their policy has coincided with the public statements of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and the authoritative press accounts of J. Robert Oppenheimer's position as appeared recently in Fortune magazine, Life, and others.
The Chairman. Just to refresh my recollection and to get the record straight on this, is it correct that after you notified the FBI that you had attended a closed Communist meeting with Oppenheimer that they drove you around the city of Los Angeles to find the house in which you had attended that meeting?
Mr. Crouch. Not Los Angeles--in Berkeley, California.
The Chairman. In Berkeley?
Mr. Crouch. Yes, sir. FBI Agent Brush, and another FBI agent----
The Chairman. Brush?
Mr. Crouch. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. B-r-u-s-h?
Mr. Crouch. Yes.
The Chairman. Do you know his first name?
Mr. Crouch. I don't recall.
The Chairman. Do you know the other agent's name?
Mr. Crouch. Modehouse, or a similar name.
The Chairman. In any event, they drove you around Berkeley to see if you could find the house in which you had attended the meeting with Oppenheimer; is that correct?
Mr. Crouch. That's right.
The Chairman. And you drew a diagram for them of the inside of the house?
Mr. Crouch. Exterior and interior, before the house was located.
The Chairman. So that before the house was located you gave them a drawing of the interior of the house in which you attended the meeting, and you described the exterior of the house; you didn't know the address, so they drove you around until you found the house?
Mr. Crouch. That's correct. All I knew was the house was in the hills around Berkeley, overlooking the bay. That's all I knew. I gave these drawings to the FBI and to the California Un-American Activities Committee.
The Chairman. Now, when someone from the FBI later went into this house, did they find that your drawing of the interior was an accurate drawing of the house?
Mr. Crouch. I don't know whether the FBI went into the interior or not, but they told me they had obtained information regarding the interior, and that the interior corresponded to my drawings and description.
The Chairman. Was it discovered then also that at the time the meeting was held in this house, the meeting which you attended, that he was living in that house?
Mr. Crouch. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. In other words, that was his home?
Mr. Crouch. That was the first information I obtained that that was the home of J. Robert Oppenheimer, was from the FBI, from Agent Brush.
The Chairman. How many Communist meetings would you say you attended with Oppenheimer?
Mr. Crouch. I attended one closed meeting restricted only to party members, where I gave an official report. I attended a number, at least six, social affairs arranged by the Communist party, where he was present, one being at the home of Kenneth May, one being an affair arranged to raise funds for the Spanish Communists.
Incidentally, I talked with Dr. Oppenheimer last year in the presence of Justice Department officials and Dr. Oppenheimer recalled one of these occasions, the one to raise funds for Spain, and placed the date of it as the night before Pearl Harbor, in the presence of Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Hitz. As for the other affairs, he said, in substance, he attended so many Communist-arranged affairs, he couldn't recall how many; he might well have been at the one at Kenneth May's home. He could not recall the closed meeting at his own home or my report there. He did recall one meeting at which Mr. William Schneiderman was present in 1941.
The Chairman. Now, there are two Oppenheimers, both rather famous, and I think we should have the record clear that you are speaking about the Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Mr. Crouch. Yes, I knew both. I knew his brother, Frank as a Communist, also, and identified Frank as a Communist in testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in May of 1949. . . .
There are many other Communists who were employed by Dr. Oppenheimer and also, according to the California committee's information, Dr. Oppenheimer was active in urging atomic scientists to join a Communist espionage apparatus called the FAECT--Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians--headed by Marcel Scherer, who had been trained in the espionage schools in Moscow and who had been in charge of infiltration of scientists since 1928, to my personal knowledge.
The Chairman. This FAECT was headed by a man who went to the Moscow School of Espionage and Sabotage?
Mr. Crouch. Yes.
The. Chairman. That is the Lenin school?
Mr. Crouch. Yes.
The Chairman. Where is he now, do you know?
Mr. Crouch. He is in New York City at the present time. The Chairman. Is he connected with atomic work now, do you know?
Mr. Crouch. I don't know.
The Chairman. What is his name?
Mr. Crouch. Marcel Scherer.
The Chairman. Oh, yes.
Mr. Crouch. I personally participated in discussions that set up this apparatus for scientific espionage in 1928 and was present at discussions between Scherer and William Z. Foster, and Scherer and Communist international representatives from Moscow, when this project was approved.
The Chairman. That will be all, then, for today.
gosh...this sounds just like mr n mrs bill klinton... n their communist administration sharing with the chiCOMM's