Evening star., 1948-08-11

she said she relayed to Russian
agents
White to Testify Friday.
On Friday, Mr.. Thomas said, the
committee will hear Harry Dexter
White, former Assistant Secretary
OF the Treasury, and Lauchlin Cur
rie, former administrative assistant
to the late President Roosevelt.
Both have been named as helpful
to the Communist ring. And both
have denied any Communist con-
nections. Other witnesses that day
will be Frank Coe, Bella Gold and
Donald Hiss.
Miss Bentley has said Frank Coe
and a William Gold and his wife
were members of the groups with
which she dealt during the war.
Donald Hiss as well as Kramer have
been named by Mr.. Chambers, who
calls himself reformed Commu-
mist, as members Of prewar Red
underground" in Washington.
Yesterdays witnesses denied out
right the charges made against them
by Miss Bentley. thereby eliciting
demands from committee members
for the Justice Department to pros
ecute somebody for perjury.
Will Act After Inquiry.
Asked whether this demand will
be referred to the Justice Depart
ment, Mr.. Thomas told reporters
that the committee will come to a
decision on what action should be
taken at the end of the current In
quiry. He has previously announced
that he would ask for special
grand jury to investigate espionage
mong Government employees.
Whether he will make the perjury
request, too, he said, will depend on
the outcome of the hearings.
Robert T. Miller, former State
Department official, fatty denied to
the committee yesterday he had
ever furnished information to Miss
Bentley, as she had charged. He
admitted knowing her socially, but
told the committee he stopped see
ing her early in 1914 when she be-
came q nuisance" and took to
drink.
He also denied he had ever been
a member of the Communist Party
In U. s. Service Until 1946.
I He worked for the Government
he said, from 1941 until 1946, first
as head Of political research in the
Office of the Co-ordinator OF Inter-
American Affairs and later as assist
ant chief of the State Departments
division of research and publications
He said he quit the Government
and went into the public relations
business after being questioned
about his Moscow visit and his
newsletter. He said he was ready
to resign, anyhow, and did so when
it appeared untrue things" were
being said about him.
Mr.. Stripping read into the record
parts of report which he said was
a memorandum from r. L. Branner-
man of the State Department Office
of Controls to Assistant Secretary OF
State Donald Russell.
Security Risk Charged.
Mr. STRIPPING quoted the memo
randum as saying that information
obtained from the FBI supports
the conclusion that the continued
presence (of Miller constitutes a
strong risk to the security of de-
partmental functions" The re-
port recommended that Mr.. Miller
be fired as security risk.
/ Mr.. Miller said he was not aware
such report was in the files. Asked
what he thought of the report, he
replied:
Il regret it very greatly and I
don't consider it justified"
Earlier, William Ludwig Ullmann,
former Army Air Forces major sta
toned at the Pentagon, fatty denied
he had ever given Miss Bentley any
secret information. But he refused
to identify Miss Bentley when she
stood up in the hearing room on
the ground it might incriminate
him.
He also stood on his constitu-
tional rights and refused to answer
when asked if he was member
OF the Communist Party.
In prepared statement, Mr..
Ullmann called Miss Bentley a
liar He added:
Il am and always have been a
loyal American citizen. I never
nave betrayed any confidence re-
posed in me by my Government.
am not and never have been a
spy or an agent of foreign gov
ernment. I have never photo
graphed any Government docu-
ments."
Dea~R&