Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

Joint Congressional Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack: Part 1 651
At the close of the session, reporters crowded around. Th e
Washington Times-Herald’s story, headlined “‘Spy’ Identifi ed at
Pearl Harbor Probe,” had a four-column photo of me seated at
the committee table next to Ferguson with Senators Lucas and
George in the background. New York’s PM referred to me as “Th e
mysterious ‘sixth Senator’,” whose
Incognito is Punctured When He Chuckles Out of Turn.
. . . Th ere were some lifted eyebrows at his presence at the
Committee table, but his general busy-ness and the impressive
aspect of the documents he lugged to and from the sessions
gave him status as some sort of functionary.
Th e next day PM described a dispute between Ferguson and
Barkley: “It Seems Idea Was To Get GOP’s Greaves Out of the
Headlines.”
When Brewster returned to Capitol Hill a few days later, he
told the committee that my position was “not a matter about which
there need be any mystery;” he had announced my appointment
at a press conference in his offi ce some weeks ago. My duties
consisted of reading and analyzing the voluminous documents,
fi les, and exhibits presented to the committee, and searching the
record for leads to persons who might be called as witnesses. Each
evening I studied the background of scheduled witnesses and the
materials pertinent to the next day’s hearings. Th en each morning
before the hearings started, I briefed the minority members,
suggesting possible lines of inquiry.
Brewster said he was “sorry that the committee hadn’t found
it practicable to allow the minority some assistance,” so he had
“secured Mr. Greaves.” I was Brewster’s assistant and was being
paid by him. Brewster wanted to make it clear that I had “not had
for many months any connection whatsoever with the Republican
National Committee.” He considered me “a very competent man.
. . . [He] is my assistant. . . . I hope he may continue.” Neither he