(3 of 4)
No, Goldfine had not brought the records. What was more, he would refuse to answer questions about them on grounds of irrelevance. Then Lishman tackled Bernard Goldfine head on: The checks were relevant, he said, because the subcommittee had "incontrovertible proof" that similar checks had been given to 30-plus Capitol Hill employees. Among recipients of the checks, ranging from $25 to $150: Laura Sherman and Helen Colle, both White House secretaries under Sherman Adams; Eugene Kinnally. the administrative assistant to House Democratic Leader John McCormack of Massachusetts (Kinnally later said that Goldfine had given him only a basket of fruit); and several past and present employees of New Hampshire Republican Senator Styles Bridges, a longtime Goldfine friend.
As Lishman handed Witness Goldfine the list of names, lawyers gathered around Goldfine like trainers around the star quarterback who has just broken his leg—and Goldfine soon came up with a fractured-sentence explanation: "At Christmas time these are all checks that we have sent at different times to some of the poor workers who work in different offices at Christmas time." He added: "If that is something that is bad, I would like to be told about it."
Right & Wrong. With Goldfine refusing to add information about the rest of the $760,000-plus. Counsel Lishman changed subjects. In his prepared statement, Goldfine had said flatly: "The first difficulty that any of my mills ever had with the Federal Trade Commission was in November 1953 . . . Neither I nor anyone else in our companies had had prior experience with the FTC in matters of this type." Goldfine's point, crucial to his case, was that when the FTC accused one of his companies in November 1953 of mislabeling its textiles, he was so bewildered that he went to Sherman Adams to find out what it was all about.
But Lishman's questioning made it plain that Goldfine companies were old hands at mislabeling—and had so been charged. Goldfine companies had received FTC complaints in sheaves during the years 1942-1953—all about mislabeling their products, making them appear of higher quality than they were. Goldfine dismissed all these complaints as "minor matters" not likely to get to his level—and anyhow, not being much on paper work, he had known nothing about them. Finally, after further prodding, Bernard Goldfine began making a speech: "Mr. Lishman talked about cheating and everything else there . . . I think Mr. Lishman ought to confine himself to actual facts and not try to mislead people. It is not fair to me . . ." At that point Subcommittee Chairman Oren Harris, fed up with Bernard Goldfine in both his humble and insolent roles, broke in: "The chair will not put up with that continuously, now."
The hearing then broke up for the holiday weekend, with Bernard Goldfine, scheduled to return this week, proclaiming: "I'm looking forward to my return very much." So was the subcommittee.