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167 THE ALGER HISS TRIAL
On August 5 Hiss testified: "I am not and never have been a member of the Communist party. To the best of my knowledge, none of my friends is a Communist. To the best of my knowledge I never heard of Whittaker Chambers until 1947,
Hiss at HUAC hearing when twQ pgj men
asked me if I knew him. I said then I did not know him. So far as I know, I have never laid eyes on him."
Hiss was calm and relaxed as he spoke. Most reporters thought his dignified manner showed how absurd the charges were and that the committee owed him an apology. Most HUAC members wanted the investigation dropped because it was making HUAC look bad. But Richard Nixon, a first-time Republican representative from California, and Robert Stripling, HUAC's chief investigator, pressed to continue. Nixon took over the investigation.
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