The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-08-01
STATEMENT OF Ohm L. sp1vAK.


this Congressional Commission few days
which attacked my integrity as news
man, / asked this committees permission
opear before it with evidence to show that
Whalen's accusations are unfounded. l am
eful to you for extending me this courtesy.
r. Whaen charged first, ! am a Commu-
and second, that / attempted to bride one
'ge Djamgaroff, of 655 Fifth Avenue, to
that the so-called Red documents were for
IS.
lie alleged Red documents released to the
by Mr. Whalen play an important part in
investigation into Communist activities. If
IN be established that / am a Communist,
ITS may be cast upon my motive in uncover
the fact that they are forgeries. So 1 shall
take up the accusation that 1 am Com
list.
No Evidence
should like to call to the committees at
ion that Mr.. Whalen, Police Inspector Ly-
nor the secret monarchist agent, DIAM
off, were able to produce evidence proving
assertions They contented themselves
merely making accusations. They offered
proof. Djamgaroff's press agent, Captain
mes, high-powered publicity man, made
same accusation when my first story ap-
red exposing the Whalen documents as for
es. He made this charge, asserting that
ame from Djamgaroff, to Martin Weyrauch,
publisher of the Graphic, and to Howard
mn, managing editor of this same paper, in
presence. At that time insisted upon evil
ce, that l am Red Names said that he
not have it, but Whalen, according to Diam
off, did and | insisted that this be checked
IS result, Mr.. Weyrauch and Mr.. Joseph
zen, associate publisher of the Graphic, met
Whaen and Inspector Lyons to hear what
lence they had against me. Neither Whalen
Lyons were able to produce any.
nevertheless, we find Whalen, Lyons, and
,mgaroff still making charges before this
Y which they cannot support. / most re-
ctfully urge that this committee compel Mr..
allen to prove the charge that am Com
mist.
second, Mr.. Whalen asserts on the word of
Czarist monarchist agent that l offered
be to say that the documents were forgeries.
Whalen in a statement from Djamgaroff
ngs in the name of one Koran, spelled Horn
this testimony, as also having approached
a. | shall deal with Mr.. Horan's part in
expose later on.
want to go on record as unequivocally de-
ing that | ever offered George Djamgaroff
anyone else a bride to say that the docu-
nts were forgeries. l interviewed Mr.. DIAM
rolf twice, the details of which will be given
their proper place in the story of uncovering
forged documents.
Documents Forged
Mr.. Whalen, in his usual broad way of as
ting things without offering proof, testified
der oath, before the committee, that Max
1Ot II 4 .g..I
letterheads upon which the photostatic cop
of the forged documents were made. Never
sless, the fact remains that Wagner signed
nfession that he did print these documents;
at Wagner produced blank letterheads of the
cuments which Mr.. Whalen said came from
)scow.
The printing on these blank letterheads
allied exactly with the printing on the forg-
d documents released to the press by the
hen commissioner of police.
Considerable light is cast upon the reliability
I'd accuracy of Mr.. Whalen's informant, by
he George Djamgaroff, his statements, and
haIen, upon the strength of Djamgaroff's
ord, said "Spivak was at one time Moscow
.ess representative and while so employed
as put up in castle by the Soviets." l was
Moscow correspondent for the international
emit put me up in castle can best be testi-
ed to by the Honorable Chairman of the
ommittee, with whom I had the pleasure of
.nching at the Savoy Hotel in Moscow, where
lived during my stay in Russia. I am Wiling
} let Mr.. Fish testify whether the Savoy was
castle. That statement alone gives the COM
littee an idea of Djamgaroff's accuracy.
Questioned Documents
Whom the then comui ssioner of notice of
lew York so cheerfully handed out copies of
hotostatic documents to the press with assur-
noes that they were genuine, doubt was i'm
raised as to their authenticity, not
My by the officials of Amtorg Trading Cor
grafton, but by experience with similar al
ged documents in Europe.
When Mr.. Howard Swain, managing editor
of the Graphic, told me to get at the bottom
of these forgeries, recollected the forgeries
about Senator Borah, the English fOrgeries
that wrecked Prime Minister MacDonalds
regime, and the other forgeries exposed time
after time and shown to be the work of Rus
sian monarchists seeking to get money for
them or to create antagonisms against the
Soviet government
The first thing tried to do was to see the
originals of these documents. wanted to see
he paper on which they were written, the type
m it's letterheads, the typewriting In the let
err, etc. At my request, Joe Cohen, the asso-
late publisher of the Graphic and formerly its
political correspondent, called upon Mr.. Whalen
With the request that be permitted to see the
originals. Whalen refused to show the origi-
lals, saying that criminal investigation was
,eing conducted because of them, and that he
vas going to appear before this committee in
executive session in Washington, after his APP
,earance before the committee, he would let
Mr.. Cohen know whether could see the origi-
nal documents.