◆ SpookStack

* a “ . 4 a, oR dat ee The following is an excerpt from the broadcast of Boake Carter, September 22, 1937. 6:45 p.m. Well, in the last week or go there has been a growing editorial c¥iticism directed against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and it is- based in general upon these lines: That the FBI must be a,pretty poor out- fit if, after investigating the record of Mr. Justice Hugo¥Black, they gave him & clean bili of health and then’ to have a newspaper come along and make some very startling revelations about the new Associate Justice and his alleged connection with th » That criticism has been based on absolutely no knowledge of facts. This was made clear today by Attorney General Cummings in Washington. His attention was drawn to these criticisms of tne Department of Justice, but he flatly declared today that the Department of Justice had made no investigation of Hugo Black either before or after Mr. Roosevelt named the ex-Senator to the High Court, and this editor is in a position to know be~ yond the question of a doubt from other and equally reliable sources direct that whatever may have occurred within the Attorney General's Office, at least no rejuest was ever made to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to examine Mr. Black's qualifications, and as those close to the picture say, the FEI cannot be blamed for any negligence regarding Mr. Bleck, for it not only didn't investigate him, but wasn't asked to investigate him, *Whatever the politics followed, the FBI is usually requested by the Attorney General to make a re~- port on the candidates for Federal Judgeships, .U, S. District Attorueys, U. 5. Marshals, and other similer offices coming under the Department of Justice's jurisdiction. This has been a standing practice for many years but it would be the height of impertinence for the Department of Justice to blendly in- vestigate Supreme Court Justiccs, for theX Supreme Court is an independent body with no connection whatsoever with the Department of Justice. As Mr. Cuvrings pointed out, no investigations were ever made of any of the present senbers .Of the Supreme Court with the exception of the Associate Justiceltone and only then when he was a candidate for tne Attorney Generalship and not for the Court. Thus, in the light of the facts, it becomes clear that to blame the FBI for not presenting the facts of Mr. Black's purported Klan connections is un- warranted and misdirected for the reason that the FBI uas not even requested to make any such investigation in the first place. * The recording was very indistinct here and the first part of this sentence is not written verbatim. 2 ake t cen ee wey? ae at