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STANDARD FORM NO. 64
CONFIDENTIAL
(2)
Office Memorandum
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
TO
:
A - Mr. Peurifoy
DATE: June 20, 1950
FROM : DP - Arch K. Jean
SUBJECT: Report of meeting with Mr. Flannagan, Senate Investigations Staff
As you requested, I met with Mr. Flannagan of the Senate
Investigations Staff this morning and found him to be a personable
individual who knows that he has a disagreeable job to perform and
is searching for ways and means to accomplish his task without fan-
fare and without embarrassment to the agencies or the people involved.
We talked for approximately an hour and a half, more or less at random,
so it is difficult to relate accurately the conversation. Nonetheless,
here are the important matters that were discussed. They are not given
in their order of importance necessarily.
1. He attempted to rationalize his position with respect to
release of agency files to the Committee. He stated
definitely that we would be formally requested to give our
files to the Committee for such use as they may deem proper
and necessary. I told him that I believe the President's
order on release of confidential personnel information would
preclude our complying with such a request, but that in the
final analysis only the White House could make that determination.
It was his view that unless the files were released to the
Committee the investigation would reduce itself to a fiasco,
and in such event, the Department of State specifically would
suffer in the eyes of the public. I expressed no opinion of
my own on this point, other than to say that I could foresee
the possibility of their conducting a meaningful investigation
without the use of the investigation files. It seems to me
that names of individuals and circumstances surrounding their
DECLASSIFIED.
E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-402
State Dept. Guideline, June 12, 1979
By NLT- NARS, Date 5-10-12
cases would not necessarily help them in determining a procedure
to be followed by all agencies in the handling of the problem.
2. Mr. Flannagan stated that we should be prepared to state our
views with respect to the security risk involved in the employ-
ment of a homosexual. Likewise we should be prepared to tell
the Committee how we view homosexuals from the sociological
standpoint.
3. Flannagan asked me who in the Department I would consider to
be well informed on the subject and therefore who the Committee
might call to testify. In this connection he stated that he
was aware of the part Finlator has played. In answer to this
question I told him that in my personal opinion you, as well
as Sam, Pete, Don, Don Smith, and myself are all conversant
and of like mind with regard to the subject.
Finlata is an musting tor who has ben working M this problem 4. He asked
Mn Boykin hud of offin of Controls
mn Martin
"
Phssmed ONE IDENTIAL
m Smith
Forlign Show Revenuel
m. Nicholsm
Security Devision
CONFIDENTIAL
-2-
4. He asked whether or not the following statistical data
could be supplied him at an early date: Since July 1, 1945,
(if a later date would save the Department a great deal of
research and effort, he would agree to another point of
departure) how many employees were allowed to resign, how
many were dismissed, and how many suspects do we now have
under investigation. With respect to those who resigned
or were dismissed, how many were suspects and how many
were admitted homosexuals.
5. He asked about the procedure we followed from the point of
first knowledge or suspicion to the conclusion of the case.
I described the procedure stressing that the decision was
always an administrative decision though sometimes related
to security.
6. He also asked if we might be able to cite examples of homo-
sexuals' tendency to locate employment with others of their
kind in the same agencies. I told him that we have first-
hand knowledge of the fact that such a tendency exists and,
as a matter of fact, it has lead us to cases which we were
not aware of.
Mr. Flannagan discussed at some length the desires of the Committee
and of the Staff to keep the investigation on a high plane and to conduct
most, if not all, of the hearings in executive session. He thought it
might be necessary to hold at least one session in public to satisfy
some of the more politically minded members of the Committee. He was
hoping, nevertheless, to convince the Committee that such would not be
desirable. He also described the lengths one of his staff members was
going to in developing the medical side of the problem.
All in all, I was convinced of his sincerity to conduct an intelligent,
non-political investigation and I told him that I was sure he could count
on the State Department's cooperation. I got the impression, however, that
Flannagan has already concluded that homosexuals should not be employed
in government under any circumstances and that doubt should always be
resolved in favor of the government.
It was my opinion that we should supply the statistical date requested.
I believe our only meaningful data, however, would date from January 1947.
I promised to let him know shortly whether or not we were going to comply
with his request.
cc: CON - Mr. Boykin
FP - Mr. Smith
PER - Mr. Martin
SY - Mr. Nicholson
CONFIDENTIAL
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"ocrText": "STANDARD FORM NO. 64\nCONFIDENTIAL\n(2)\nOffice Memorandum\nUNITED STATES GOVERNMENT\nTO\n:\nA - Mr. Peurifoy\nDATE: June 20, 1950\nFROM : DP - Arch K. Jean\nSUBJECT: Report of meeting with Mr. Flannagan, Senate Investigations Staff\nAs you requested, I met with Mr. Flannagan of the Senate\nInvestigations Staff this morning and found him to be a personable\nindividual who knows that he has a disagreeable job to perform and\nis searching for ways and means to accomplish his task without fan-\nfare and without embarrassment to the agencies or the people involved.\nWe talked for approximately an hour and a half, more or less at random,\nso it is difficult to relate accurately the conversation. Nonetheless,\nhere are the important matters that were discussed. They are not given\nin their order of importance necessarily.\n1. He attempted to rationalize his position with respect to\nrelease of agency files to the Committee. He stated\ndefinitely that we would be formally requested to give our\nfiles to the Committee for such use as they may deem proper\nand necessary. I told him that I believe the President's\norder on release of confidential personnel information would\npreclude our complying with such a request, but that in the\nfinal analysis only the White House could make that determination.\nIt was his view that unless the files were released to the\nCommittee the investigation would reduce itself to a fiasco,\nand in such event, the Department of State specifically would\nsuffer in the eyes of the public. I expressed no opinion of\nmy own on this point, other than to say that I could foresee\nthe possibility of their conducting a meaningful investigation\nwithout the use of the investigation files. It seems to me\nthat names of individuals and circumstances surrounding their\nDECLASSIFIED.\nE.O. 12065, Sec. 3-402\nState Dept. Guideline, June 12, 1979\nBy NLT- NARS, Date 5-10-12\ncases would not necessarily help them in determining a procedure\nto be followed by all agencies in the handling of the problem.\n2. Mr. Flannagan stated that we should be prepared to state our\nviews with respect to the security risk involved in the employ-\nment of a homosexual. Likewise we should be prepared to tell\nthe Committee how we view homosexuals from the sociological\nstandpoint.\n3. Flannagan asked me who in the Department I would consider to\nbe well informed on the subject and therefore who the Committee\nmight call to testify. In this connection he stated that he\nwas aware of the part Finlator has played. In answer to this\nquestion I told him that in my personal opinion you, as well\nas Sam, Pete, Don, Don Smith, and myself are all conversant\nand of like mind with regard to the subject.\nFinlata is an musting tor who has ben working M this problem 4. He asked\nMn Boykin hud of offin of Controls\nmn Martin\n\"\nPhssmed ONE IDENTIAL\nm Smith\nForlign Show Revenuel\nm. Nicholsm\nSecurity Devision\nCONFIDENTIAL\n-2-\n4. He asked whether or not the following statistical data\ncould be supplied him at an early date: Since July 1, 1945,\n(if a later date would save the Department a great deal of\nresearch and effort, he would agree to another point of\ndeparture) how many employees were allowed to resign, how\nmany were dismissed, and how many suspects do we now have\nunder investigation. With respect to those who resigned\nor were dismissed, how many were suspects and how many\nwere admitted homosexuals.\n5. He asked about the procedure we followed from the point of\nfirst knowledge or suspicion to the conclusion of the case.\nI described the procedure stressing that the decision was\nalways an administrative decision though sometimes related\nto security.\n6. He also asked if we might be able to cite examples of homo-\nsexuals' tendency to locate employment with others of their\nkind in the same agencies. I told him that we have first-\nhand knowledge of the fact that such a tendency exists and,\nas a matter of fact, it has lead us to cases which we were\nnot aware of.\nMr. Flannagan discussed at some length the desires of the Committee\nand of the Staff to keep the investigation on a high plane and to conduct\nmost, if not all, of the hearings in executive session. He thought it\nmight be necessary to hold at least one session in public to satisfy\nsome of the more politically minded members of the Committee. He was\nhoping, nevertheless, to convince the Committee that such would not be\ndesirable. He also described the lengths one of his staff members was\ngoing to in developing the medical side of the problem.\nAll in all, I was convinced of his sincerity to conduct an intelligent,\nnon-political investigation and I told him that I was sure he could count\non the State Department's cooperation. I got the impression, however, that\nFlannagan has already concluded that homosexuals should not be employed\nin government under any circumstances and that doubt should always be\nresolved in favor of the government.\nIt was my opinion that we should supply the statistical date requested.\nI believe our only meaningful data, however, would date from January 1947.\nI promised to let him know shortly whether or not we were going to comply\nwith his request.\ncc: CON - Mr. Boykin\nFP - Mr. Smith\nPER - Mr. Martin\nSY - Mr. Nicholson\nCONFIDENTIAL"
}