CRUSADE, RFE OFFICIALS REFUSE TO ACCEPT TRUTH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP74-00297R000900080117-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 28, 2013
• Sequence Number: 117
• Publication Date: January 23, 1958
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified and Approved For Release @ 50-Yr 2013/10/28 : CIA-RDP74-00297R000900080117-9
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CAPITAL REPORT: CLOSING TH-EIR EYES
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LiFE Ofikialt
By FULTON tEWIS; JR.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22.?The
deeper I delve- into the affairs
and management of the Cru-
sade for Freedom and Radio
Free Europe, the more flabber-
gasted I become with the atti-
tude of its sponsors and direc-
tors.
My own organization is small.'
'..Even so, if some stranger were.
to stop me on the street and tell
that members of my staff.
,.were indulging in improprieties
tiand misrepresentations, 1 would
immediately make independent
inquiries to determine whether
? there were anY truth to the ac-
cusations..
It would seem, then,- that the
officials .and sponsors of these
t w o organizations; can f ronted
with the mass of derogatory int
formation which I as a trained,
and experienced reporter, haNle
? presented, would have conscien-
tious interest in making their
own independent inquiry as to
'the accuracy of these charges.
The normal expectation is,
. that, as men of caution and re-
sponsibility, jealous of their
good names and feeling a sense, '
of ?duty in the positions they
hold, they would be interested
in examining the documentation
' I have at hand. If I were in
their position, I would arrange
? an immediate, independent, un-
biased investigation for my own
protection.
I not only'have not been ap-
proached with any, request for
evidence or documentation; the
officers and sponsors of the
- Crusade and Free Europe will
? not 'even sit down with me, at ,i
my request, and let me show?
what I have.
I HAVE ..BEEN trying, since
; early November to get an ap-
pointment with'- Lt. Gen.. Willis 1
',-C,r4,ttenberger; .presidentrOf the: !
,-Free Europe Committee, and I
: have, yet to be able to do so, 1
even to the extent of talking to
him by telephone.
In the course of trying to get'
'information from the Free Eu-.
"V".?
fuse td AOce
rope Committee, to insure the
accuracy of my continuing re-
ports, all inquiries are routed
to fisemt2LS:rittetOstzsggf,, of-
fice and 'ffierenrey remain. I?
I.Q.ve. yet to receive answers to ?
any of these formal inquiries.
? It seems less than becoming
on the part of a public welfare
operation, which subsists on
contributions it solicits from
the citizenry at large. It .be- .
comes the more so when his or-
ganization refuses to make any
public financial statement or
accounting, has been disapprov-
ed by -the National Information -
Agency, the national clearing
house for fund-raising opera-...
tons, and. has not even - made.
an annual report of it activities.
and operations since 1955. ? .
,IN TIIE? light of these circum-
. stances, the responsibility for
the operations and policies of
the organizations falls with
greater impact than ever on the
shoulders of those who have al-
lowed their names to be used
. to afford it prestige and dignity
In the public eye. They are in-
- deed, the insurance for the pub-
lic that all is well In the opera-
tion. " ?
, Instead of -seeking the truth,
however they hide behind a wall
of secretaries and executive as-
sistants, and content themselves
with the self-justifying "an-
swers" that they are supplied
. by the accused. "
These men are, in effect,
trustees. Is this effective trus-
teeship? - '
(61 1958, by Xing Features SYnd,, rani
Declassified and Approved For Release @50-Yr 2013/10/28: CIA-RDP74-00297R000900080117-9