Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-25

paper ever discussed OF was lnCt
turnabout witness Harvey Matus
Alfred Friendly made the
the trial Of Paul H. Hughes, who
grand jury investigating Matu-
sow. Hughes allegedly told the
jury he heard executives of the
Post discuss payments for Ma
tusow with Joseph r. Rauh, jr.,
a Washington lawyer and ma
tional chairman of the pro-New
Deal Americans for Democratic
Action.
Earlier in the Federal Court
trial, Mr.. Rauh also denied any
such discussion.
Not Interested in Story
Mr.. Friendly said the Post had
not been interested in the Ma
tusow story. because I'VE were
convinced from the very Begin
ming that Matusow was a revolv-
ing liar"
MatuSow, a former Govern
ment witness who later recanted
anti Communist testimony. is
now under $4,000 bail pending
a perjury trial next month.
Asked if the Post would have
been willing to help and en-
courage" Matusow, Mr.. Friendly
said:
IF Matusow had come to us,
we might have been willing to
listen to him and assign a re-
porter to check out his story,
and if it was true, we probably
would have printed it. But be-
cause Of my low opinion of
MatuSow and because I consid-
cred him a chronic liar, I believe
we would not have been inclined
to give him very much help"
Had Bogus Evidence
The Hughes trial has brought
out testimony by Mr.. Rauh and
Mr.. Friendly that they came to
know Hughes when he brought
them bogus evidence derogatory
to Senator Mccarthy, Republican
of Wisconsin. They said the
Hughes documents purported to
show illegal acts by Senator Nc
Carthy's staff while he was
chairman of the Senate Perma-
nent Subcommittee on Investiga-
tons.
Mr.. Friendly said the Post
planned to publish Hughes
story. but gave up the project
when his evidence proved to be
false.
Hughes. a 35-year-old Air
Force veteran of Alexandria, Va,
had posed as an investigator on
the private payroll of Senator
Mccarthy, Mr.. Friendly said.
Senator Mccarthy is sched-
uled to testify at the trial to-
morrow.
There was previous testimony
in the trial that Hughes OBJ
tanned $500 from Mr.. Rauh
and $4,000 in loans arranged by
Mr.. Friendly before his evidence
was found to be false.
Suspected He Was Plant
Mr.. Friendly said yesterday,
"There was a suspicion by all Of
us that Hughes was a Mccarthy
plant. That he was a confidence
man we never surmised, but took
him at face value because of Mr..
Rauh's belief that he was on the
level"
Mr.. Friendly testified that he
believed Clayton Fritchey. dep
uty chairman of the Democratic
National Committee, was the
''big wheel in the Democratic
Party" to whom Hughes said he
had given his material.
II assumed that If a political
investigation was going on in
which the Democratic Party was
interested, that Mr.. Fritchey
would be in on it because of his
newspaper experience and the
position he held" Mr.. Friendly
said.
There was no indication in the
testimony that the Democrats
made any use of the alleged
smear material.
Both Mr.. Rauh and Mr..
Friendly denied defense claims
that the enemies of Senator
Mccarthy were so anxious to
get derogatory information on
him that they knowingly &C
cepted Hughes story.
Marder Testifies
Murrey Marder. reporter for
the Post, testified he was as
signed to check Hughes docu-
ments and that he had been I'M
able to find any of the persons
named in them. After this the
newspaper dropped the story
and returned Hughes material