(Testimony of Mark Lane Resumed)
Mr. Lane.
all of the information which I have had available to you? I understand fully your position, Mr. Chief Justice.
Mr. Rankin.
Mr. Lane, what did you come down to tell us or inform the Commission about? You say you came here of your own volition in order to help us, and to give us information. Now what information in light of the fact that I wrote you and asked you for two specific things--whatever information you had in any recorded form concerning your interview with Helen Markham, and secondly, the name of the informant, neither of which you are willing to disclose or have said anything to help the Commission on.
Mr. Lane.
I came here at your request that I interrupt my trip in Europe to come back and testify before you. And I have done that.
The Chairman.
By denying--by refusing to answer either question.
Mr. Lane.
I think that--well, I have given you the reasons why I cannot answer the question. With reference to Mrs. Markham, I should tell you this, that I am hopeful that in the very near future I will be able to make that document available to you by securing permission from my client. But she has informed me at the present time that she is herself involved in securing some information relative to this whole matter, which you are familiar with, Mr. Rankin, and that she wishes there to be no discussion at all at this point about this matter.
Frankly, quite frankly, matters which have been given to this Commission in utmost confidence have appeared in the daily newspapers, and one cannot feel with great security that giving information to this Commission, even at secret hearings, means that the information will not be broadcast, and this is the problem which confronts us at the present time.
The Chairman.
You know, do you not, that you and other witnesses have been free to discuss their testimony before the Commission with the public, and you, yourself, have done that, and that is one of the reasons that things that were said before the Commission have been divulged. You, yourself, have discussed fully your testimony before the press and the radio and the television.
Mr. Lane.
Yes; I have.
The Chairman.
Other witnesses have done the same thing. No witness is under compulsion to keep his testimony secret. Naturally, some things would come out.
Mr. Lane.
Well, it seems to me that when the transcript of my--the transcript of my testimony was sent to me dealing with the portion in executive session, every page had been marked "Top Secret." In fact, it bore a legend across it saying that my testimony, which consisted almost solely at the outset of my request that the hearings be open to the public, was in fact related to the national defense of the United States and it was a violation of the espionage laws for me to discuss those matters publicly.
The Chairman.
Well, Mr. Lane. you know that you came right down from your testimony, and I think in this very room, or at least on this floor of this same building, discussed your testimony with the press and the radio and the television.
Mr. Lane.
Oh , I most certainly did. My testimony was open to the public. My testimony was unlike the rest of the testimony before the Commission.
The Chairman.
Well, now, that is your judgment. Every witness knows that he is under no compulsion to keep his testimony secret. They have not done it. And many of them have come down here after their testimony upstairs and have appeared on radio and television and have discussed matters with the press.
Mr. Lane.
Yes; I know that that may very well be so, Mr. Chief Justice. I was only making reference to matters such as the diary which has been marked Top Secret, which has been published, and the press conferences in which members of the Commission reported to the press the testimony before them.
Mr. Rankin.
Mr. Lane, when I wrote you, do you recall that I offered to have the Commission pay your expenses to come back from Europe in order to testify before the Commission at this time?
Mr. Lane.
Yes; you did.
Mr. Rankin.
Are you asking that you be paid those expenses?
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