tee ?
Mr. Ukald. Assistant counsel with the subcommittee.
Mr. IVIoRGAX^. In tlie course of your work as assistant counsel with
the subcommittee, did 3^ou have occasion to interview Mr. Joseph
Grew?
Mr. Hkald. I did.
JNIr. MoRGAx^. And as a result of that interview, did you obtain from
Mr. Grew a statement ?
Mr. Heald. I did.
Mr. MoRGAX'. Will you read tlie statement for our records, now,
please?
i\Ir. Heald. This is liis statement, dated May 20, 1950.
(Tlie statement was read, as follows:)
Statement for the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee
In accordance with the request of Mi-. Robert L. Heald, assistant counsel of
the subconiinittee, I have prepared the followinji statement concerning my recol-
lection of the facts relative to tlie so-called Amerasia case, which occurred
when I was Acting Secretary of State.
The first time that I recall the case coming to my attL-ntiou was when (General
Holmes, one of the Assistant Secretaries of State, called on me in the spring
of 1945. He stated that the F'ederal Bureau of Investigation had evidence of the
theft of documents from tlie Navy and State Departments. He wanted my
authority to cause the arrest of the men involved, some of whom wei-e State
Department employees. I specifically requested (ieneral Holmes not to give
me the names of any of the individuals involved until my decision had been
taken, as I believed there should be no discrimination in the administration of
justice. I a.>=;ked (ieneral Holmes only two questions: (1) Did the Fedtn-al Bur-
eau of .Investigation have adequate (wideuce to support tlie charge; and (2)
did (ieneral Holmes believe that pro.secution wouhl almost certainly result in
conviction? When (ieneral Holmes answered both of these questions in the
affirmative I authorized the arrests. I seem to recall that (ieneral Holmes stated
he had consulted with the State Department legal adviser who had advised him
that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had a good case.
After the arrests, I was informed of the iiaiiies and was shocked to hear
that Mr. .Tohn S. Service was among the six. However, when ^Iv. Service was
not indicted, I wrote him a letter advising him that in my opinion he was com-
pletely cleared and was being reinstated to duty without any blemish on his fine
record. It is my understanding that Secretary of State Byrnes also wrote Mr.
Service to this elTect.
I do not r. 'member evei- having been contacted by the ^^'llite House in regard
to this case, nor do I recollect ever having discussed tlie matter of the arrests
with the President, although I may have done so as a matter ot routine infor-
mation. I do not have any personal knowledge that the White House was even
aware of this matter prior to the arrests. I have no other knowledge of the
Amerasia case inasmuch as after the authorization for the arrests had been
given, the matter was entirely out of my hands.
Mr. Heald has asked me to state the facts surrounding my resignation from
the State Department and specifically whether I was forced to resign. In
this regard. I can say categorically that I was not forced to resign as Under
Secretary of State. For .some time I had desired to retire. The war was over;
I was past the retirement age: and I was facing the iirosjiect of a ma.ior opera-
tion. At the time that Secretary I'.yrnes was appointed. I advised him that
I believed each Secretary should apixiint his own Under Secretary of State
because of the confidential relationship betw^n the two posts. Secretary Byrnes
1180 STATE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE LOYALTY IN^^ESTIGATION
asked me, however, to remain in office until the end of the Potsdam Conference,
which I did. At that time I renewed my request to be allowed to resign, and
Secretary Byrnes agreed.
There is attached hereto a copy of a letter which I sent to Mr. Service, at his
request, stating my position in the Amerasia case and containing my reply to the
allegations that I was forced to resign as Under Secretary of State.
Respectfully submitted.
Joseph C. Grew.
Senator Ttdings. The story has been told on the Senate floor and
in the press that he was forced out.
JVIr. Morgan. Off the record.
(There was discussion off the record.)
Mr. Morgan. Back on the record, please.
Mr. Chairman, there is an attachment to the statemoiit of Mr. Grew
which I request to be spread on the record at this point.
Senator Tydings. An attachment?
Mr. Morgan. Namely, his letter relative to Mr. Service.
Senator Tydings. Yes ; put it all in the record.
Mr. Morgan. And we will have it spread on the record at this point.
(The letter referred to is as follows :)
Ouchy-Lausanne, Switzerland,
Ap7-il n, 1950.
Dear Mr. Service : Tour letter of April 13 has this moment reached me and I
hasten to reply without delay.
My letter to you in August 1945, and that of the then Secretary of State,
Mr. Byrnes, after the grand jury had cleared you in the Amerasia case, should
be sufficient to clarify your position at that time and to substantiate the fact that
you had been completely cleared, by the process of law, of the charges against
you. My recollection is that I further stated that you would be reinstated
in the Foreign Service without any implication of an adverse nature against
your fine record, although I have not now the text of that letter before me other
than the part you have quoted. That is the way democracy works.
There are inaccuracies In the public statements quoted in your letter.
I did not "insist on your prosecution" apart from that of the other five persons
involved. Having been informed as Acting Secretary of State by supposedly
reliable authority that an agency of our Government had what it considered
complete evidence of guilt, I quite properly ordered the arrests, which, of course,
presumed prosecution. I did not at that time know the names of the persons
involved, including yours, and I did not wish to know them until the order had
been carried out, for justice must not discriminate. When I learned that you,
who stood so well in the Foreign Service, were one of those charged with the
theft of official documents, I was, as I later wrote you, inexpressibly shocked.
It was a great relief to me when you were cleared by the grand jury, and a great
satisfaction to see you reinstated in the Foreign Service with no stigma whatever
on your record.
I was not "forced to resign" as Under Secretary of State. Myths about this
have arisen. For some time I had wished to retire. The war was then over,
I had completed 41 years of service, I had passed the usual age limit, and I was
at that time in 111 health and was facing a possible major operation. It was
therefore entirely on my own initiative that I insisted on retiring, even though
Secretary Byrnes strongly urged me to continue in service.
Those are the facts, and you may use this letter in any way you wish.
With the best of wishes to you,
Very sincerely yours,
Joseph C. Grew.
Senator Tydings. Well, I think we will recess now until Friday at
10 o'clock for our next meeting here.
Mr. MoRHTS. Is anything scheduled for tomorrow ?
Senator TniiNos. No; because we had Mr. Van Beuren and he has
begged several times, so we have given him another day.
(Whereupon, at 12: 10 p. m., the subcommittee stood in recess until
Friday, June 9, 1950, at 10 a. m.)
STATE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE
LOYALTY INVESTIGATION
THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1950
United States Senate,
Committee on Foreign Relations,
Subcommittee Appointed Under Senate Resolution 231,
Washington, D. C.
executlvt: session
The subcommittee met at 2 : 30 p. m. in room G-23, United States
Capitol, pursuant to notice. Senator Millard E. Tydings (chairman
of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present : Senators Tydings. Green, and Lodge.
Also present : Mr. Edward P. Morgan, chief counsel of the subcom-
mittee.
Senator Tydings. All right, the subcommittee will please be in order.
Mr. Vardaman has requested permission to appear before the sub-
committee and give a statement.
All right, Mr. Vardaman, will you please be sworn and give your
full name.
TESTIMONY OF JAMES K. VAEDAMAN, JR.
Mr. Vardaman. My name is James Kimble Vardaman, Jr.
Senator Tydings. And your age?
Mr. Vardaman. Fifty-five. sir.
Senator Tydings. Your address?
Mr. Vardaman. Business, sir?
Senator Tydings. Either one.
Mr. Vardaman. Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D. C.
Senator Tydings. Mr. Vardaman, you have read the accounts that
were published in the newspapers?
Mr. Vardaman. Yes. sir.
Senator Tydings. Have you any statement you desire to make in
regard thereto?
Mr. Vardaman. If it please the chairman, I would like to read a
statement.
Senator Tydings. Is it long?
Mr. Vardaman. No, sir ; about 3 or 4 minutes.
Senator Tydings. Go on and do it.
Mr. Vardaman. Of course, I am at the committee's disposal for any
questions that you may want to ask.
Senator Tydings. All right.
1181
1182 STATE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE LOYALTY INVESTIGATION
Mr. Vardaman. This is a statement of James K. Vardaman, Jr.^
with reference to the Amerasia case at the time he appeared before
the subcommittee of the United States Senate investigatino; charges
of communism in the State Department at 2 : 30 p. m., on Tliursday,
June 8, 1950.
The committee did not deem it advisable to grant my request that
my testimony in this matter be heard in open session, but has consider-
ately granted me permission to state publicly the substance of my
testimony, which was as follows:
This is in accordance with the discussion with JNIr. Morgan.
Senator Tydings. Yes. Go right aliead.
Mr. Vardaman. I reported to the White House as naval aide to
the President about the 6th of May 1945, having come direct from 90
days' combat duty in the Philippines and the initial assault and
occupation on Okniawa. Prior to that time I had spent 3 years in
hospital and on combat duty in north Africa, Tunisia, Sicily, and
Italy. I make this statement to indicate why I was neither inter-
ested in nor acquainted with matters, other than my naval and Army
duties.
Immediately after reporting to the Wliite House, I was assigned
the duty of supervising the operations of the map room, of receiving
and transmitting to the President all dispatches, both secret and other-
wise, and briefing the President morning, noon, and evening on the
events of the war then going on in Europe and the Pacific. I was
also responsible for the operation of tlie Presidental yacht, the Presi-
dential mountain camp, and the administi'ation of the naval aide's
office, and liaison between the Presidency and the Department of the
Navy on naval matters.
So far as the so-called Amerasia case is concerned I repeat the state-
ments which I made to the press on yesterday to the effect that I knew
nothing about it at that time, nor do I recall having taken any notice
of it until the last several weeks when I had been headlined in the
press.
Senator Green. You mean the past several weeks?
Mr. Vardaman. Yes, sir ; the past several weeks. That is, since this
has been brought out.
Senator Tydings. Wliy don't you say "recent several weeks" and
that will make it plain?
:Mr. Vardaman. The "previous" instead of the "last" ?
Senator Tydings. All right, anyway you wish so that it may be
clearly understood.
Mr. Vardaman. All riglit. Will you change that to the "previous"^
several weeks.
Senator Tydings. All right.
Mr. Vardaman. At no time then or now have I discussed the Amer-
asia case with anybody except informally during the last several days.
At no time have I ever contacted by telephone, by letter, or otherwise
any civilian or military officer of the Government in any department
regarding this case. To be more specific. I have not at any time con-
tacted, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Navy
Department, the State Department, the Department of Justice, or
the FBI with reference to this case or any similar case.
My M'ork as naval aide was extremely taxing, requiring constant
duty on the jobs pertaining to the office and I did not have at any time
STATE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE LOYALTY INVESTIGATION 1183
diirinir my service ;is naval aidi- to tlie President any authority or in-
clination to participate in or interfere Avith any worlv other than the
specific chities for which (he na\al aide was responsihle.
If, as reported in the press. Brigadier General Holmes testified that
he was under tlie impression that I had anythins: wliatsover to do with
tliis case, all I have to say is that such an inii)ression was not correct
and nnist have been based on misinformation. I am not questioning
General Holmes' intentions or his sincerity, but I simply want to make
quite clear that I had nothing whatever to do with this case at any
lime.
Sen.ator Tydings. Thank you. I don't think we have any questions,
unless the committee members desire.
Senator Lodge. So you never did anj'thing to delay prosecution or
action on the Amerasia case in any way, shape, or manner. Is that
correct ?
Mr. Vardaman, I did not. I did not know of the existence of the
case.
Senator Lodge. Thank you.
Senator Tydixgs. Senator Green.
Senator Green. You are basing your statement entirely on news-
paper reports. Have you seen the record of the hearing?
Air. Vardamax. No, sir; I have not seen the record of the hearing.
Senator Green. AVould you like to see the record of the hearing?
Mr. Vardaman. Well, wait. I said I didn't see it. I did see one
copy but I didn't read it carefully. Some ncAvspaper reporter brought
it into my office, but I didn't examine it carefully.
If the Senator thinks I should, I will.
Senator Green. Xo; but I thought you might have.
Mr. Vardaman. I wonld like to get the whole story as to the con-
clusion of any
Mr. Morgan (interposing). I would like to be sure our record is
clear here. May I interrupt your statement a moment?
Mr. Vardaman. Yes, sir.
Mr. Morgan. Have you seen a record of our proceedings here?
Mr. Vardaman. Xo.^ Only the Congressional Record. I haven't
seen the committee report.
Senator Tydings. At any rate, you deny in toto any connection in
any manner, shape, or form, to any degree or to any extent, any contact
with this case other than reading the press recently?
Mr. Vardaman. Absolutely.
Senator Tydings. Well, I think we could recess at this time. That
is all. I wanted to give you an opportunity so you could deny it.
Mr. Vardaman. I a])preciate that very much.
Senator Tydings. Mr. Grew sent up .Yesterday a statement, wliich
consisted of a ]iage or a page and a half that deals only with inci-
dental matters. On recollection, he remembers now what he could
not remember yesterday comi)letely. He has sent up a little state-
ment correcting his previous statement. Do you want to hear it read,
or do you simply wish to put it in the record ?
He simply says "I could not remember we had gone to the White
House." and now he does. Is that correct, Mr. Morgan?
Mr. Morgan. Yes, sir.
1184 STATE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE LOYALTY IIsTVESTIGATION
Senator Tydings. And today he says he remembers he did go to
White House, and he supports General Hohnes' statement he went
over there.
Senator Lodge. The full text will be put in the record ?
Senator Tydings. Yes, so both will be in conformity.
Mr. Morgan. I suggest it be spread on the record.
Senator Tydings. All right, it will be put in the record.
(The statement of Hon. Joseph C. Grew, referred to, follows:)
Supplementary Statement for the Senate Foreign
Relations Subcxdmmittee
(June 7, 1950)
In my statement of May 20, 1950, to Mr. Robert L. Heald, Assistant Counsel
to the subcommittee concerning my recollection of the facts relative to the so-
called Amerasia case I told Mr. Heald that since 5 years had gone by since the
case was brought to my attention and since at that time and thereafter I was
intensively occupied as Acting Secretary of State with difficult problems at a
time of turmoil in various parts of the world, I could not guarantee that my
present recollection of the detailed facts in the case was complete. The points
in my statement were, however, as complete and accurate as at the moment of
my first talk with Mr. Heald I could recall.
In a further talk today with Mr. Heald I informed him of my refreshed
recollection that in early June, 194.5, a report was brought to our attention in
the State Department that the Department of Justice had given orders to de-
lay the prosecution of the six persons under suspicion until the termination of
the San Francisco Conference ; that on learning of this report I went to the
President, accompanied by Brig. Gen. Julius C. Holmes, then Assistant Secre-
tary of State, and that the President on receiving this information immedi-
ately, in our presence, telephoned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
gave orders that the prosecution of these persons should proceed without delay.
One further point in my original statement is that "I authorized the arrests."
It has correctly been pointed out to me that the arrests could be undertaken
only by the Department of Justice and that my action in the matter was simply
to give the green light for the arrests so far as the State Department was con-
cerned.
Senator Tydings. We will adjourn until 10 o'clock a. m., tomorrow.
(Whereupon, at 2 : 50 p. m., the subcommittee adjourned until 10
a. m. Friday, June 9, 1950.)
STATE DEPAETMENT EMPLOYEE
LOYALTY INVESTIGATION
FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1950
United States Senate,
CoMMiiTTiE ox Foreign Relations,
Subcommittee Appointed Under Senate Resolution 231,
Washington^ D. C.
executive session
Tlie subcommittee met at 10 a. m. in room G-23 United States Cap-
itol, pursuant to adjournment on Thrusday, June 8, 1950, Senator
Millard E. Tydings (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present : Senators Tydings, McMahon, and Hickenlooper.
Also present: ]\Ir. Edward P. Morgan, chief counsel to the sub-
committee; R. P. HepjMier, Esq., counsel to Mr. Van Beuren.
Senator Tydings. Will you stand up and hold up your right hand ?
Do you solemnly promise and declare that the evidence you shall
give in the pending matter before this committee shall be the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. Van Beuren. I do.
Senator Tydings. Have a seat, sir.
TESTIMONY OF AECHBOLD VAN BEUREN
Senator Tydings. Will j^ou give us j'our name ?
Mr. VAN Beuren. Archbold van Beuren.
Senator Tydings. Your age ?
Mr. VAN Beuren. I was born on December 21, 1905. I am 44.
Senator Tydings. And your present occupation ?
Mr. VAN Beuren. President of Cue Publishing Co., Inc., publisher
of Cue Magazine.
Senator Tydings. And your address?
Mr. VAN Beuren. My legal residence is Indian Avenue, Middletown,
R. I. I also maintain a residence at 640 Park Avenue, New York City.
Senator Tydings. Mr. van Beuren, what was your occupation on
January 1, 1945?
^Ir. VAN Beuren. On January 1, 1945, I was Security Officer of the
Office of Strategic Services.
Senator Tydings. And you had been for some time j)rior thereto?
Mr. VAN Bei'ren. I had Iioen Security Officer, Chief of Branch, since
about August of the preceding year.
Senator Tydings. How long did j^ou contimie in that office after
January 1,1945?
Mr. VAN Beuren. Until September, 1945.
1185
1186 STATE DEPARTMElSrT EMPLOYEE LOYALTY IXVESTIGATION
Senator Ttbings. Mr. Frank Bielaski, at our request, came before
tlie committee and gave us an account of his assignment by General
Donovan to look into this Amerasia matter. He likewise detailed the
work that he did in connection therewith, going in the place and find-
ing documents and bringing some of them to Washington and turning
them over to General Donovan and to you. He testified that General
Donovan then told him to do no more in the case, and took it up with
the State Department, as I recollect. He was told he took it up with
the State Department. His connection with the matter then stopped.
The State Department then, as we have had subsequent testimony
to substantiate, turned the matter over to the FBI, who took hold
of tlie case and in due time made arrests. I tell you that so you will
have some general idea of wliat the record shows up to the present time.
I would appreciate it if, first, you would tell us what your connec-
tion with the matter was after Mr. Bielaski came back and reported
the results of his findings to you and to General Donovan.
Mr. VAN Beuren. Well, sir, Mr. Bielaski came back and reported
his findings to me on the morning, during the morning, of March 11,
1945.
Senator Tydings. He reported to you first, did he ?
Mr. VAN Beuren. That is correct, first. Mr. Bielaski did not see
General Donovan in person.
Senator Tydings. I believe he testified he did report to you.
Mr. VAN Beuren. He handed me at that time a bunch of documents
and told me that he had obtained them the night before in the Amer-
asia office in New York, and described to me that there were many other
documents there of a similar nature, that this was a very small sample
of the total group. He laid the documents on my desk one by one, and
I became more and more amazed as I heard him describe the cir-
cumstances under which he had found them and saw the documents
themselves.
I then requested General Donovan, or ratlier one of General Dono-
van's legal assistants, a Maj. J. J. Donovan, to come down to my office
and talk with me and with Mr. Bielaski, to view the matter about
which he had just tokl me. We decided that the documents were of
such importance and the circumstances under which they had been
found were of such importance that we should report the matter to
General Donovan at the earliest possible moment.
Mr. Bielaski spent possibly an hour or two in my office, and then
returned to New York.
Major Monigan and I saw the General at his earliest convenience,
which was some time later on the same day, and went over with him
the facts and gave him a chance, an opportunity, of looking over the
documents and considering the import of the situation.
General Donovan decided that since all tlie documents bore the im-
print of the Department of State, the seal of the Department of State,
as having been received by it in such cases where they were not docu-
ments originally prepared by the Department of State, Mr. Stettinius
shoukl hear of the matter as soon as possible. It was then mid-
evening, and Geueral Donovan called Mr. Stettinius at his apartment
at the Wardman Park and asked whether he could come up and see
him at once. He suggested to tlie Secretary of State that if he could
get hold of him he might ask Assistant Secretary General Holmes, and
STATE DEPARTMENT E.MPLOYEE LOYALTY INVESTIGATIOX 1187
also Mr. Frederick B. Lyons, to be present. The Genersil, Major
Monigan. and I went up to the AVanhnan Park in the (JeneraPs ear,
and arrived m Mr. Stettinius' apartment. By "we" I refer to the
General, Major Moniiian, and myself.
Senator Tydings. How long after Mr. Bielaski reported was this?
Mr. VAN Beuren. This was about 10 o'clock in tlie eveninjr of the
same day, the 11th of March, 1045.
Senator Tydings. That :Mr. Bielaski reported and showed you the
result of what he had found up in the Amerasia oflices?
Mr. VAN Beueen. That is correct.
Senator Tydixcjs. Now uo ahead.
Mr. VAN Beueen. The Secretary, who had been roused out of bed for
this meeting, because he had had an early evening and was probably
getting some much needed rest, was in his dressing gown and informal
attire.
Senator Tydings. That was Stettinius?
Mr. VAN Beuren. Yes, sir. General Holmes was also present.
Secretary Stettinius said, as I recall, that he had been unable to reach
Mr. Lyons, so that he was not there.
General Donovan had the documents -vhirh ^Ii . B. elaski had brought
down in an envelope with him, and he said, "Gooi evening." They
were on a first-name basis : ''Good evening, Ed. I have got sometWn'^
here that will be of great interest to you."
He walked over and placed the documents in the Secretary's lap,
and as the Secretary went through them explained the circumstances
under which they had been found and the events leading up to that
moment.
The Secretary, after looking through the documents, turned to
General Holmes, who was right beside his chair, and said, "Good
God, Julius, if we can get to the bottom of this we will stop a lot of
things that have been plaguing us.""
There were then some further questions and a discussion of the
circumstances surroundijig the event, and some discussion of possible
ways and means of carrying out or taking subsequent steps. I