Sixty-Eight Unanswered Questions

A national officer of an electrical workers' union was called before a subcommittee of a House committee investigating un-American activities. He declined to answer 68 questions: eight about alleged Communist Party membership and activities, two about membership in groups described as Communist fronts, and 58 about whether he knew named people and their positions in the union. In refusing he relied, in his words, 'primarily' on the First Amendment, 'supplemented by the Fifth'. Prosecutors charged him with 68 counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to answer pertinent questions. The defence argued that he had invoked his privilege against self-incrimination, and that the committee never overruled his objections or directed him to answer, so his refusals were not a wilful contempt.