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Hiss demanded that the committee ask Chambers if he had ever been treated for a mental illness. The committee obliged, and Chambers answered: "I have not, period."<ref>Thomas Sanction, "[http://www.thenation.com/doc/19480904/sanction The Case of Alger Hiss]," ''The Nation'', September 4, 1948</ref> Truman aide George Elsie wrote to White House Counsel [[Clark Clifford]], "Justice should make every effort to ascertain if Whittaker Chambers is guilty of perjury." No suggestion was made that Justice make any effort at all to ascertain if ''Hiss'' might be guilty of perjury, but a handwritten insertion advised "Investigation of Chambers' confinement in a mental institution."<ref>George M. Elsey, [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/21.gif Memorandum for Mr. Clifford], 16 August 1948, Harry S. Truman Library, Clark M. Clifford Papers, "Loyalty Investigations," box 11</ref> (Again, no suggestion was made that Hiss' mental health history might be subject to investigation.) In falling for the fiction that Chambers had been committed to an insane asylum, the Truman administration was "taken in by disinformation being spread by the American Communist party and Alger Hiss's partisans."<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, p. 15</ref>

Hiss demanded that the committee ask Chambers if he had ever been treated for a mental illness. The committee obliged, and Chambers answered: "I have not, period."<ref>Thomas Sanction, "[http://www.thenation.com/doc/19480904/sanction The Case of Alger Hiss]," ''The Nation'', September 4, 1948</ref> Truman aide George Elsie wrote to White House Counsel [[Clark Clifford]], "Justice should make every effort to ascertain if Whittaker Chambers is guilty of perjury." No suggestion was made that Justice make any effort at all to ascertain if ''Hiss'' might be guilty of perjury, but a handwritten insertion advised "Investigation of Chambers' confinement in a mental institution."<ref>George M. Elsey, [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/venona-soviet-espionage-and-the-american-response-1939-1957/21.gif Memorandum for Mr. Clifford], 16 August 1948, Harry S. Truman Library, Clark M. Clifford Papers, "Loyalty Investigations," box 11</ref> (Again, no suggestion was made that Hiss' mental health history might be subject to investigation.) In falling for the fiction that Chambers had been committed to an insane asylum, the Truman administration was "taken in by disinformation being spread by the American Communist party and Alger Hiss's partisans."<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, p. 15</ref>

Hiss also dared<ref>Geoffrey C. Ward, “[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1988/7/1988_7_18.shtml Unregretfully, Alger Hiss,” ''American Heritage Magazine]'', Vol. 39, Issue 7 (November 1988)</ref> Chambers to repeat his charges outside of the immunity afforded in congressional hearings, so Hiss could sue him. On August 27, on NBC's ''Meet the Press,'' Chambers called Hiss' bluff, saying, "Alger Hiss was a Communist and may be now."<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17982730/page/5/ Meet the Press Transcript for April 8, 2007, p. 5]</ref> Embarrassment mounted among Hiss' supporters as a month dragged by and still no suit was filed. Even the ''Washington Post'' began to have doubts.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 162</ref> Finally, on September 27, Hiss filed his long-threatened slander suit against Chambers.

Hiss also dared<ref>Geoffrey C. Ward, “[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1988/7/1988_7_18.shtml Unregretfully, Alger Hiss,” ''American Heritage Magazine]'', Vol. 39, Issue 7 (November 1988)</ref> Chambers to repeat his charges outside of the immunity afforded in congressional hearings, so Hiss could sue him. On August 27, on NBC's ''Meet the Press,'' Chambers called Hiss' bluff, saying, "Alger Hiss was a Communist and may be now."<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17982730/page/5/ Meet the Press Transcript for April 8, 2007, p. 5]</ref> Embarrassment mounted among Hiss' supporters as a month dragged by and still no suit was filed. Even the ''Washington Post'' began to have doubts,<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 162</ref> writing:

Finally, on September 27, Hiss filed his long-threatened slander suit against Chambers.

==Hiss' suit against Chambers==

==Hiss' suit against Chambers==