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MINUTES

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1953

UNITED STATES SENATE,
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met in executive session at 10 a.m.

Present: Chairman Wiley, Senators Smith, Hickenlooper, Tobey, Taft, Langer, Ferguson, Knowland, George, Green, Fulbright, Sparkman, Gillette, Humphrey and Mansfield.

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was present and testified on the nomination of Charles E. Bohlen, appointed as Ambassador to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Following the testimony of Secretary Dulles, Mr. Bohlen testified and replied to inquiries made by committee members.

Before the appearance of Secretary Dulles the chairman had consulted with the committee regarding the question of whether the meeting would be open or closed. It was decided to have it an executive session.

The nomination of Mr. Bohlen was ordered reported to the Senate by a vote of 15 to 0. Senator Hickenlooper who was not in the room when the vote was taken, later in the day notified the chairman that he joined with the other members in approving the reporting of Mr. Bohlen's nomination.

The committee agreed to have a printed record of the Bohlen nomination. The hearings will be available early next week.

The committee also considered the nomination of Robert D. Murphy of Wisconsin to be Assistant Secretary of State. This was approved by a voice vote.

The chairman advised the committee of letters of thanks received from Mrs. Elbert D. Thomas and Mrs. Robert M. LaFollette, Jr. upon the death of Senators Thomas and LaFollette.

The chairman also presented for the record of the committee an audit of expenditure of committee funds during the 82d Congress, made by the Senate Disbursing Office. This statement will be found in the original transcript of today's meeting.

For record of proceedings on the Bohlen nomination, see the printed hearings. For other proceedings, see official transcript. The committee adjourned at 2:30 p.m.

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MINUTES

TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 1953

UNITED STATES SENATE,
COMMITTE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met in executive session at 10 a.m. in the committee

room.

Present: Chairman Wiley, Senators Smith, Hickenlooper, Tobey. Ferguson, Knowland, Green, Fulbright, Sparkman, Gillette and Mansfield.

The chairman discussed a request that a portrait be painted of former Chairman Connally, to be hung in the committee room. Upon a motion of Senator Green, the matter was referred to a subcommittee of the Committee on Rules and Administration.

The committee discussed S. Res. 81, by Senator Langer, relating to Palestinian refugees. It was agreed to refer the matter to the Near East consultative subcommittee with the request that they report their findings at the next meeting of the full committee. The committee considered a request of Mrs. Clare Boothe Luce, Ambassador to Italy, that she be permitted to have a copy of the executive session transcript of the committee for the day her nomination was considered. It was agreed that this would be done.

The committee agreed to meet with the American Legion's Committee on Foreign Relations during the month of April.

The committee considered the nomination of Walter S. Robertson of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of State. Mr. Robertson appeared before the committee. It was not possible to report the nomination due to lack of a quorum at the time it was reached.

The situation on the Senate floor in connection with the nomination of Charles E. Bohlen as Ambassador to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was considered next. At the chairman's suggestion it was agreed that Senators Taft and Sparkman visit the Department of State to review the file on Mr. Bohlen, and to report to the Senate when it meets tomorrow to consider the nomination further. For record of proceedings, see official transcript.

The committee adjourned at 11:45 a.m.

NOMINATIONS (BOHLEN)—Continued 1

1

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1953

UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, Washington, D.C.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:00 a.m., in the Foreign Relations Committee room, U.S. Capitol Building, Senator Alexander Viley [chairman] presiding.

Present: Senators Wiley [chairman], Smith of New Jersey, Hickenlooper, Tobey, Taft, Ferguson, Knowland, Green, Fulbright, Sparkman, Gillette, and Mansfield.

Also present: Dr. Wilcox, Dr. Kalijarvi, Mr. Marcy, Mr. Cahn, and Mr. Holt, of the committee staff.

The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, can we come to order, please?

This is a special meeting called, as I understand, at the request of the designees who have a report to give us. Carry on, gentlemen, follow through as you desire.

Senator TAFT. Mr. Chairman, we went to the State Department yesterday afternoon at 2 o'clock, and left there at 5.

THE FBI SUMMARY

Mr. Dulles gave us to read the summary prepared by the FBI of the FBI files.

That document is a single-spaced typewritten document of about 30 pages. I think Mr. Dulles said here that it had 16 pages of so-called derogatory information. Senator Sparkman and I each read every word of that statement.

I requested from Mr. Dulles that we look at the raw files. He demurred somewhat although he indicated the objection was not his, but that of Mr. Hoover and the Attorney General.

I spoke to the Attorney General on the telephone two or three times and I spoke to Mr. Hoover on the telephone.

Mr. Hoover assured me that this summary was complete, it contained all derogatory information. He said he had seen that great care was taken in preparing it, and that he would give me his word that it had everything in it that was in any way bearing on the questions in which we are interested.

I said, "Well, we will read this summary and come back and discuss the matter later as to the files."

We read the summary. Now, I may say when I talked to Mr. Hoover, I asked him the direct question whether this investigation of Mr. Bohlen was a complete and full field investigation. He said, "Yes,

1 See note, p. 203.

it was a complete and full field investigation in all respects," and that the summary contained everything that was of importance that re lated in any way to Mr. Bohlen.

I also asked for a statement from Mr. [Scott] McLeod.1 We did not see Mr. McLeod, but I asked for and received a written statment from Mr. McLeod that he had never seen anything except what was in the summary and that was all of the information he had and all of the information that was before Mr. Dulles when Mr. Dulles made his decision on Mr. Bohlen.

Senator SMITH. And neither one had seen the raw files?

Senator TAFT. No, neither Mr. McLeod or Mr. Dulles had seen the raw files. Any difference that there was arose exactly from the same material that Senator Sparkman and I saw.

Senator TOBEY. May I interrupt for a question?
Senator TAFT. Yes.

REASONS FOR REFUSING ACCESS TO THE RAW FILES

Senator TOBEY. Did they tell you why it was that they did not want to let you see the raw files?

Senator TAFT. Well, I think, I do not know, but I have the feeling that if I insisted, they might have done it. The only thing is that the Atomic Energy Act, as Senator Hickenlooper pointed out, has the express provision that the members of the committee or the chairman of the committee should have full access to every paper relating to the

matter.

Of course, Mr. Hoover is anxious to protect his FBI. He does not want to have these things brought out any more than they have to be. He wants to eliminate as far as possible names of people who are informants, although those names are in this summary.

The Attorney General is also very loath to make it available. Now, I think that it is because they believe or have the feeling that if they give it to one Senator, then there is no reasonable ground on which they might not have to give it to others if a Senator asks for it and if that becomes the practice, they think it will destroy the entire value of the FBI. That is the argument made to me and I did feel under all the circumstances that I was satisfied that I would find nothing in the raw files which was not in the summary.

So, I finally yielded on it after I read the summary. There was not anything in the summary that led me to feel. "Now, I would like to see the testimony of this man in the raw files, that full, complete statement."

the

The statements in the summary were very complete, at least on matter about which we are primarily concerned, and I did not see anything, and if I had found such. I would have asked at least an opportunity to examine the evidence of those particular people. The evidence seemed to be complete as far as I could see.

ASSESSMENT OF THE "DEROGATORY PAGES"

That evidence consists of the so-called 16 derogatory pages. I would say that 10 pages of that or more relate to people who are opposed

1 Director, Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, Department of State.

very strongly to Mr. Bohlen's political views, who think he was too much involved in the Yalta matter, who said he was more responsible for it than he said he was responsible. It deals with that subject. I did not cover it particularly, but I would say no one of those people questioned the loyalty of Mr. Bohlen, and usually at the end-as a matter of fact, the people who testified derogatorily to his political views all affirmed that they considered him a man of high character and morality.

So, those two groups are two entirely different groups, and when You say 16 pages are derogatory information, it overstates the situation.

THE HOMOSEXUAL ISSUE

The actual study on the question of homosexuality relates to five situations, five cases plus one other matter I will refer to. There are two people who merely say that they think he is, with no evidence whatever. One of those Mr. Dulles referred to was a man who had a sixth sense, who had no basis or any justification as far as I could see in the statement.

One was this man. Another was a woman who had been in the office with Mr. Bohlen and who said that he always looked and acted effeminately and his tone of voice and expression was extremely effeminate except when he talked French. That seemed to me a rather curious qualification. [Laughter.]

But I certainly did dismiss those two.

INSTANCES OF ASSOCIATION

The other three instances are instances of association; I mean, it is simply because he knew these people and in some cases knew them. rather well, and because they were homosexuals in all probabilityone certainly and the other two in all probability-well, I would say two certainly and one in all probability-and that therefore he himself is suspect. That is the basis of the charge.

Senator HICKENLOOPER. What was the nature of the association? Senator TAFT. Well, I will tell you that entirely. I am not supposed to give names, although the names are almost so well known it could hardly be regarded as secret.

One man, known here in Washington, who has "confessed" and so forth. I don't know, but you probably have heard of him. He is a friend of a number of people, and as far as that is concerned, he is still quite active here, as far as I know.

Senator HICKENLOOPER. As far as I am concerned, I am not asking you to give any names unless you think it better.

Senator TAFT. That was one of the requirements Mr. Dulles made. Senator HICKENLOOPER. Well, what was the nature of the association?

Senator TOBEY. This particular man, the only association I can find is that when Bohlen and his wife went to Europe in 1948, that they invited him to stay at their house. They left a nurse and children home and he stayed in the house about 6 weeks when Bohlen and his wife were in Europe. That hardly seemed to me to even create a prima facie case of association. I could not see it myself.

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