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Trying to explain Chambers' charges, Hiss had suggested that his accuser was crazy, asking, "is he a man of consistent reliability, truthfulness and honor?... Indeed, is he a man of sanity?"<ref>[[#refHUAC48|HUAC 1948]]: 1164 (PDF 674)</ref> Now, Hiss demanded that the committee ask Chambers if he had ever been treated for a mental illness. The committee obliged, and Chambers answered: "[http://www.thenation.com/article/case-alger-hiss I have not, period]." Truman aide George Elsie wrote to White House Counsel [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/un/large/general_assembly/general_assembly3-1.jpg 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' [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 confinement in a mental institution]."<ref>[[#refBW96|NSA/CIA 1996]]: 117. On August 20, [[J. Edgar Hoover|Hoover]] reported to [[Attorney General]] [[Tom Clark]], "With regard to [[Whittaker Chambers]], there is nothing indicated in the files of the [[FBI|Bureau]], or in the files of the New York office that Chambers has been institutionalized." [[#refEvans07|Evans 2007]]: 322</ref> (Again, no suggestion was made that Hiss's 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>[[#refHK99|Haynes, Klehr 1999]]: 15</ref>

Trying to explain Chambers' charges, Hiss had suggested that his accuser was crazy, asking, "is he a man of consistent reliability, truthfulness and honor?... Indeed, is he a man of sanity?"<ref>[[#refHUAC48|HUAC 1948]]: 1164 (PDF 674)</ref> Now, Hiss demanded that the committee ask Chambers if he had ever been treated for a mental illness. The committee obliged, and Chambers answered: "[http://www.thenation.com/article/case-alger-hiss I have not, period]." Truman aide George Elsie wrote to White House Counsel [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/un/large/general_assembly/general_assembly3-1.jpg 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' [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 confinement in a mental institution]."<ref>[[#refBW96|NSA/CIA 1996]]: 117. On August 20, [[J. Edgar Hoover|Hoover]] reported to [[Attorney General]] [[Tom Clark]], "With regard to [[Whittaker Chambers]], there is nothing indicated in the files of the [[FBI|Bureau]], or in the files of the New York office that Chambers has been institutionalized." [[#refEvans07|Evans 2007]]: 322</ref> (Again, no suggestion was made that Hiss's 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>[[#refHK99|Haynes, Klehr 1999]]: 15</ref>

Hiss also [[#refWard88|dared]] Chambers to repeat his charges outside of the immunity afforded in congressional hearings, so Hiss could sue him, adding, "and I hope you will do it [[#refHUAC8-17-48|damned quickly]]." Within ten days,<ref>[[#refWhite04|White 2004]]: 61</ref> on NBC's ''Meet the Press,'' Chambers called Hiss's bluff, saying, "[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17982730/page/5/ Alger Hiss was a Communist] and may be now."

In an act of supreme hubris, Hiss [[#refWard88|dared]] Chambers to repeat his charges outside of the immunity afforded in congressional hearings, so Hiss could sue him, taunting, "and I hope you will do it [[#refHUAC8-17-48|damned quickly]]." Just two days after their public testimony,<ref>Stephen D. Easton, ed., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=BwtJgD-stVIC The Irving Younger Collection: Wisdom and Wit from the Master of Trial Advocacy]'' (American Bar Association, 2010) ISBN 1604426004, p. 533</ref> Chambers called Hiss's bluff on NBC's ''Meet the Press,'' saying, "[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17982730/page/5/ Alger Hiss was a Communist] and may be now."

Embarrassment mounted among Hiss's supporters as weeks dragged by and still no suit was filed.<ref>[[#refHK06|Haynes, Klehr 2006]]: 103</ref> The New York ''Daily News'' asked, "Well Alger, where's that suit?"<ref>[[#refChambers52|Chambers 1952]]: 281</ref> Even the ''Washington Post''&mdash;"the most implacable of the pro-Hiss<ref>"The ''Post''... seemed to redouble its pro-Hiss efforts as the goal of finding him legally guiltless was receding." Marvin N. Olasky, "[http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/cc/75.pdf Liberal Boosterism and Conservative Distancing: Newspaper Coverage of the Chambers-Hiss Affair, 1948-1950]," Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (70th, San Antonio, TX, August 1-4, 1987)</ref> newspapers," [http://www.aim.org/aim-report/aim-report-media-wont-give-up-on-red-spy-alger-hiss-july-b/ according to Chambers]&mdash;began to have doubts,<ref>[[#refWeinstein78|Weinstein 1978]]: 162</ref> writing:

Embarrassment mounted among Hiss partisans as weeks dragged by with no suit filed.<ref>[[#refHK06|Haynes, Klehr 2006]]: 103</ref> The New York ''Daily News'' asked, "Well Alger, where's that suit?"<ref>[[#refChambers52|Chambers 1952]]: 281</ref> Even the ''Washington Post''&mdash;"the most implacable of the pro-Hiss<ref>"The ''Post''... seemed to redouble its pro-Hiss efforts as the goal of finding him legally guiltless was receding." Marvin N. Olasky, "[http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/cc/75.pdf Liberal Boosterism and Conservative Distancing: Newspaper Coverage of the Chambers-Hiss Affair, 1948-1950]," Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (70th, San Antonio, TX, August 1-4, 1987)</ref> newspapers," [http://www.aim.org/aim-report/aim-report-media-wont-give-up-on-red-spy-alger-hiss-july-b/ according to Chambers]&mdash;began to have doubts,<ref>[[#refWeinstein78|Weinstein 1978]]: 162</ref> writing:

{{cquote|As yet, no formal action to initiate a suit for slander has publicly been taken by Mr. Hiss ... Mr. Hiss himself has created a situation in which he is obliged to [http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,888461,00.html put up or shut up] ... Mr. Hiss has left himself no alternative. And each day of delay in making it known that he will avail himself of the opportunity Mr. Chambers has accorded him does incalculable damage to his reputation.}}

{{cquote|As yet, no formal action to initiate a suit for slander has publicly been taken by Mr. Hiss ... Mr. Hiss himself has created a situation in which he is obliged to [http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,888461,00.html put up or shut up] ... Mr. Hiss has left himself no alternative. And each day of delay in making it known that he will avail himself of the opportunity Mr. Chambers has accorded him does incalculable damage to his reputation.}}