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==Hiss' suit against Chambers==

==Hiss' suit against Chambers==

In a pre-trial "discovery" deposition for the suit, Hiss's attorneys told Chambers to produce "any correspondence, either typewritten or in handwriting" from Hiss. Chambers retrieved the packet he had given his wife's nephew in 1938, which had been hidden in a dumbwaiter shaft. Three days later, Chambers turned over to Hiss' attorneys 43 typewritten documents (65 pages) and five handwritten memoranda, some so sensitive that for security reasons they could not safely be made public, even a decade after having been written.<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html ''United States v Alger Hiss'', 185 F. 2d 822] (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, December 7, 1950)</ref> Hiss conceded that the typed pages appeared to be copies of authentic State Department documents, and and admitted that four of the handwritten memos appeared to be in his handwriting.<ref>FBI "By Special Messenger": SAC, Washington Field to Hoover, December 1, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref>

In a pre-trial "discovery" deposition for the suit, Hiss's attorneys told Chambers to produce "any correspondence, either typewritten or in handwriting" from Hiss. Chambers retrieved the packet he had given his wife's nephew in 1938, which had been hidden in a dumbwaiter shaft. Three days later, Chambers turned over to Hiss' attorneys 43 typewritten documents (65 pages) and five handwritten memoranda, some so sensitive that for security reasons they could not safely be made public, even a decade after having been written.<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html ''United States v Alger Hiss'', 185 F. 2d 822] (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, December 7, 1950)</ref> Hiss conceded that the typed pages appeared to be copies of authentic State Department documents, and admitted that four of the handwritten memos appeared to be in his handwriting.<ref>FBI "By Special Messenger": SAC, Washington Field to Hoover, December 1, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref>

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Donegan told the FBI that Assistant Attorney General Alexander M. Campbell, head of the Criminal Division at Truman Justice, “now wants to institute perjury charges against Chambers” for not revealing the documents before this. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's handwritten addendum comments, “I wonder why they don't move against Hiss also.”<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, November 23, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref> The Truman administration's determination to indict Chambers rather than Hiss was unusual, as two leading scholars of the case note:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Donegan told the FBI that Assistant Attorney General Alexander M. Campbell, head of the Criminal Division at Truman Justice, “now wants to institute perjury charges against Chambers” for not revealing the documents before this. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's handwritten addendum comments, “I wonder why they don't move against Hiss also.”<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, November 23, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref> The Truman administration's determination to indict Chambers rather than Hiss was unusual, as two leading scholars of the case note: