Ep. 44 John Berresford, The Hiss-Chambers Espionage Case

The first ever televised congressional hearing was on August 3, 1948. The first witness was a man who said he didn't want to be there. He had been subpoenaed to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). His name was Whittaker Chambers, an American who had been a Communist spy for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. We spoke to DC-based attorney John Berresford, who has spent years studying Chambers and the story and trial of the man Chambers accused of also being a Communist spy, Alger Hiss. Mr. Berresford has presented the story of the Hiss-Chambers espionage case in a series of 38 lectures on YouTube.  

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