Summaries of Telephone Conversations

Washington, D. C. October 22, 1945 CO SUMMARY 12:35 PM TOM CORCORAN to DONALD RUSSELL at State Department, asking if RUSSELL has heard from "our friend in Madison" (LEO CROWLEY). RUSSELL said no. CORCORAN said that CROWLEY is worrying because he couldn't get the two Republicans he wanted (for Export-Import Bank). CORCORAN asked if RUSSELL has any ideas. RUSSELL said no. 5:10 PM BILL YOUNGMAN in Boston to TOM CORCORAN. They discuss the effect of the Saturday Evening Post articles concerning CORCORAN. They continue: BY - SHEEDY (phonetic) and he (KAISER) were plotting a PONZI game with government money. TC - Well, that's what I'm going to say. BY - Yeah. Which also happened to be true, didn't it? TC - Yeah. I may want ELIOT (JANEWAY of Fortune magazine) to get in touch wi th KAISER and tell KAISER, I think you'd better handle this. You tell ELIOT I think he ought to get in touch with KAISER and say very quietly if KAISER doesn't get in touch with me and offer me a letter--to make a public letter to me, which he and I will have to agree on, throwing this story down completely-- something I can publish direct to the Saturday Evening Post, that I will say exactly that, and I will also say what's the truth. And that is, that so-called lobbying before Secretary KNOX was not over a contract; it was because Mr. KAISER had bribed a naval contractor to get that bid. And the problem was that there was a naval court going on which would have disqualified KAISER forever from bidding on anything. I didn't try to get his contract back. I did try, in name of his capacity for the war effort, to get the Navy not to put him on the black list. BY - How about HAVENSTRITE? TC - HAVENSTRITE was KAISER. He was CHAD CALHOUN's brother-in-law, and it was on KAISER's account. BY - Yeah. That's what JANEWAY said. TC - That's right. But, I mean, somebody has got to make contact with KAISER for me. BY - Well, I'll talk to JANEWAY. TC - And I also want you to have JANEWAY tell KAISER that CORCORAN is up talking to the tops. And that either Mr. KAISER comes through and knocks this story down, which was obviously planted by CALHOUN, or that Mr. CORCORAN is going to start from CALHOUN right down. And particularly he's sore about this idea of the fee was to have been deducted. Because he knows the row about the fee was that I didn't put it in shape where KAISER could deduct it from the govern- ment. And so they were all going to town to have Mr. KAISER's PONZI game just thrown open higher than a kite down here. O.K? And also say that Mr. CORCORAN has something to say about political contributions down in Los Angeles which Mr. KAISER has forgotten.