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Ce tote ee por hg cinated by how long these investigations go, and when, if ever, they are stopped. Apparently they never come out of the files, whatever is found. But Senator Mondale raised the point of a suspicion that in the Martin Luther King case, that he was getting advice from & per son who had or was thought to have Communist leanings. And s0 without using the name, because we are trying to protect privacy as we conduct this investigation—— gett. Apama. I think we have a little more problem than that, too, nator. ‘ The Cuaracan. I am using a Mister X in place of the name. What I am trying to get at is what the criteria is for pursuing an investiga- tion, and this is the kind of a statement that leaves me so perplexed. This has to do with a reply to the New York office by headquarters here in Washington. The part I read to you is as follows: The Bureau does not agree with the expressed belief of the New York office that Mr. X is not sympathetic to the party cause. While thete may not be acy direct evidence that Mr. K is a Communiat, neither is there any substantial evidence that he is anti-Communist. And 0 the directions are to continue the investigation of this matter. In cases of this kind, do you pursue the investigation until you prove the negativet Mr. Apams. No. I believe in that particular case, if it is the one 1 am thinking about, that there was evidence that at one time he had a Communist and that there was @ question of whether the office felt—well, it’s like we have had some situations where a person comes out and publicly disavows their former leanings. Do-you take them at words right away after they have been engaged in violent activities, or do you wait until you determine that they really have carried through the disavowed practice? That's a gray area. This one seems that on the wording itself, would seem like an extreme philoso- phy, leaning toward everyone has to prove in the United States they are not a Communist, and I can assure that is not a policy of the Bureau and does not fit into the criteria of our general investigative matters. I just feel that there is more to it than just that brief paragraph. The Cuamuan. That particular kind of philosophy has come up in our life from time to time. I remember during the days of Mc- Carthyism in this country, we came very close to the point where people had to prove that they were not now nor ever been a Com- munist in order to establish themselves as patriotic citizens. Mr, Apansa. That’s right. That's true. . The Cuamosan. And when I see standards of this kind or criteria of this kind emerging, it worries me very much. I have no further questions. I want to thank you both. If there are no further questions, I want to thank you both for your testimony this morning. It has been very helpful to the committee, and the committee will stand adjourned until 2 p.m. We will stand adjourned in public session. Our next public session will be 2:30 tomorrow afternoon for purposes of press questioning on the assassination report. [Whereupon, at 1:07 p.m. the committee adjourned, to reconvene at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, November 20, 1975.] oe: a . La . . te) of . . vate GE BES tea i RR aN Re Le oO ee . a a i iS eee Soe | oes