The Subpoenaed Ledgers

The executive secretary of a refugee-aid committee had custody of its records. A House committee investigating un-American activities subpoenaed her to bring all books, ledgers and papers on the group's receipt and spending of money, and its correspondence with foreign contacts, from the start of the previous year. She appeared on the appointed day but did not produce the records, saying the committee had no constitutional power to demand them. Prosecutors charged her with wilfully defaulting on a congressional subpoena. At trial, raising the point for the first time, her defence argued that a quorum of the committee had not been present when she appeared, so no valid demand had been made of her and she could not have committed a default.