Memorandum, Maxwell Rabb to James Hagerty

THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON October 23, 1956 Confidential MEMORANDUM FOR: Jim Hagerty FROM: Max Rabb This wire was not answered at the direct suggestion of the Department of Justice (Warren Olney) and the FBI (Lou Nichols) with whom I discussed this case personally. While it cannot be said openly, the FBI had definite knowledge that Mrs. Bradley permitted herself to be the instrument of the Communist party, which seized upon the case as a cause celebre and upon her as the means of making the race question a burning issue. Mrs. Bradley was taken around the United States by Communists as a prize exhibit and they pulled all the stops in their exploitation. While the facts in the case reflected discredit upon those who perpetrated the crime, Lou Nichols labelled Mrs. Bradley herself as a "phoney". Any recognition of her would have been used to further Communist causes in this country. Subsequently, Mrs. Bradley was discredited for using her son's death as a means of making a living. The boy's father, incidentally, was executed by the Army in Italy on a sex charge. For these reasons, it was felt inadvisable to make a courteous reply. Such a response would have been distorted to build up the Communist claim that this was another Willie McGee or Rosenberg case, (no 1) DECLASSIFIED Authority W. H. GUIDELINES By BJH NLE Date 1/24/03