Evening star., 1955-02-20
About Liors?
Uncle Sam Will Hove His Hands Full to Jail
Witnesses Who Switch Stories Under Doth
By Phil Yeoqer and John Stark

obvious that somebody was telling
untruths. but the problems involved
in determining the guilty ones were
so great that nothing was done
about it.
In Matusow's case the situation Is
also ticklish. He has said in his
recent affidavit that he lied in his
earlier testimony. But did he? Or
did he lie in the af1davit-again to
attract attention or for whatever
motive? The Justice Department
must prove which was the case.
Those most likely to know about
the truth or falseness Of Matusow's
statements are the Communists
themselves, and anything they
might say would be Of questionable
validity since truth is Of minor
significance in the Red code. II
Matusow should plead guilty, these
troubles would be obviated.~ But
in view Of his past performances. no
attorney would be happy coming
into court in reliance on a mere
signed confession. 1t might be
repudiated at the trial. OF course.
the same problems apply to Mrs.
Natvig and Mr.. Watson. ..
Contempt Chorges
How about contempt?
In Federal law the giving Of false
information is form of contempt,
as well as perjury. Contempt Of
court is misdemeanor, punishable
with relatively small fines. and i'm
prisonment up to six months. It
applies whether the false informa-
ton is given in court, before Con-
gressional committee or an admini-
strative body-so long as 1t is given
under oath.
Might not the current crop of liars
be convicted on this score?
The answer is that they very well
might be, unless the statute of limi-
tations gets in the way. The statute
is one year for contempt cases, three
for perjury. In Matusow's case.
If his first statements were the
false ones, he could not be reached
on contempt charges since they were
made more than year ago. If his
recent confessions are false ones.
he might be.
The statute has not yet run in
regard to Matusow on perjury
counts, but the deadline is not too
far away. Once it passes, the legal
barrier to prosecution is quite firm.
Just recently, the Justice Depart
ment tried to get around the statute
in the case of U. S. .. Lunt with
a novel idea. Government lawyers
asked the defendant if his prior
statements question were true,
more than three years having inter-
vened since they were made. They
certainly were, the defendant said.
So the Government hauled him into
court on the basis of having given
false testimony. However, the plan
backfired when the New York F'eder-
al Court ruled less than a month
ago that the Governments methods
were mere trickery and could not
be used to overcome the statute Of
limitations.
COINS Position
AS indicated, the current snarled
situation also includes persons ac-
cused of having encouraged the liars
to lie. Among those involved are
Roy Cohn, former assistant United
States attorney and onetime lieu
tenant of Senator Joseph McCarthy's
Investigations committee; Walter r.
Powell. former FEC lawyer and now
an attorney for the National Associ-
alton of Radio and Television
Broadcasters; plus officials of the
FBI.
If these people actually solicited
falsehoods from the former Com
munist witnesses, as claimed. they
would be open to subornation of
perjury charges. However, the
same rigid conditions apply to proof
of subornation as apply to perjury.
Those charged vigorously deny the
charges. And considering the char
acter of their accusers it would not
appear that they have too much
to worry about.
If the members of this new Liars
Club get away without punishment.
it will be irony OF high degree. While
this does not appear likely. it should
be understood how difficult conv!c-
tions may be.