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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."

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 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/PDFS/ED285187.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), p. 13</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 newspapers," according to Chambers<ref>[[#refChambers52|Chambers 1952]]: 710. "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/PDFS/ED285187.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), p. 13</ref>&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.}}