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'''Lee Pressman''' was an [[United States|American]] government official and [[Communist]] sympathizer during the mid-20th century.

'''Lee Pressman''' was an [[United States|American]] government official and secret [[Communist]].<ref>Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, United States Congress, [http://ia360643.us.archive.org/3/items/hearingsregardin195002unit/hearingsregardin195002unit_bw.pdf Hearings Regarding Communism in the United States Government&mdash;Part 2] (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1950), p. 2850 (PDF p. 16)</ref>

Pressman was assistant general counsel of the [[Agricultural Adjustment Administration]], from 1933 until 1935, appointed by Secretary of Agriculture [[Henry A. Wallace]]. Then he was general counsel in the [[Works Progress Administration]] from 1935, appointed by [[Harry L.  Hopkins]].  Later in 1935 he was general counsel of the Resettlement Administration, appointed by [[Rexford G. Tugwell]]. After leaving government in June 1936 he became general counsel for the [[Committee for Industrial Organization]] (CIO) and for the [[United Steel Workers of America|Steel Workers' Organizing Committee]]. In March 1937 he became General Counsel for the Textile Workers' Organizing Committee.

Pressman attended Harvard Law School with [[Alger Hiss]], and served as editor of the ''Harvard Law Review'',<ref>Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, United States Congress, [http://ia360609.us.archive.org/1/items/hearingsregardin1948unit/hearingsregardin1948unit_bw.pdf Espionage in the U.S. Government]: Hearings under Public Law 601 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1948), p. 643 (PDF p. 153)</ref> later joining (together with Hiss)<ref>G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 27</ref> the International Juridical Association (IJA), which "consistently followed the Communist Party line."<ref>"[http://ia360638.us.archive.org/2/items/reportonnational1950unit/reportonnational1950unit.pdf Report on the National Lawyers Guild, Legal Bulwark of the Communist Party]," Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, United States Congress (1950), p. 12</ref>

 

In 1933, Secretary of Agriculture [[Henry A. Wallace]] appointed Pressman assistant general counsel of the [[Agricultural Adjustment Administration]]; Pressman subsequently recruited [[Alger Hiss|Hiss]] and [[Nathaniel Witt]] into that office.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YRyoAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978) ISBN 0394495462, p. 133</ref> AAA administrator George Peek resigned in protest, writing, that "in the legal division were formed the plans which eventually turned the AAA from a device to aid the farmers into a device to introduce the collectivist system of agriculture into this country."<ref>George N. Peek with Samuel Crowther, “In and Out: the Experiences of the First AAA Administrator,” ''The Saturday Evening Post'', May 16, 1936, p. 5</ref>

 

Pressman would eventually testify that he had at the time been a member of the [[Ware group]], an underground group of Communists in the Federal government.<ref>HUAC 1950, pt. 2: 2850 [PDF 16]; cf. [http://ia360610.us.archive.org/0/items/instituteofpacif1952unit/instituteofpacif1952unit_bw.pdf S. Rpt. 2050, 82d Cong., 2d sess., Serial 11574], Report of the Committee on the Judiciary Pursuant to S. Res. 366 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1952), Appendix, p. 5503 (Exhibit No. 1402)</ref>Pressman would also corroborate [[Whittaker Chambers]]' identification of Witt, [[John Abt]] and [[Charles Kramer]] as members of this Communist cell (Whittaker Chambers, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=xrqbAAAACAAJ Witness]'' (Washington: Regnery, 1952) ISBN 0895267896, p. 612), and admit under oath that he recognized Chambers.<ref>Gilbert J. Gall, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=xCYoLnaWXdoC Pursuing Justice: Lee Pressman, the New Deal, and the CIO]'' (Albany, N.Y: SUNY Press, 1999), ISBN 079144103, p. 553)

 

Then he was general counsel in the [[Works Progress Administration]] from 1935, appointed by [[Harry L.  Hopkins]].  Later in 1935 he was general counsel of the Resettlement Administration, appointed by [[Rexford G. Tugwell]]. After leaving government in June 1936 he became general counsel for the [[Committee for Industrial Organization]] (CIO) and for the [[United Steel Workers of America|Steel Workers' Organizing Committee]]. In March 1937 he became General Counsel for the Textile Workers' Organizing Committee.

In the 1930's Pressman was also a member of the [[Harold Ware|Ware group]], a group of American citizens employed in the [[United States government]] who considered Marxist ideologies a solution to the Great Depression, while secretly working for Soviet intelligence. As communists, Pressman and the members of the group were pledged to the violent overthrow of the United States government.  In 1950 Pressman admitted to having been a secret member in 1934-35 and an ideological ally thereafter.

In the 1930's Pressman was also a member of the [[Harold Ware|Ware group]], a group of American citizens employed in the [[United States government]] who considered Marxist ideologies a solution to the Great Depression, while secretly working for Soviet intelligence. As communists, Pressman and the members of the group were pledged to the violent overthrow of the United States government.  In 1950 Pressman admitted to having been a secret member in 1934-35 and an ideological ally thereafter.