Wheezy Pinwheel

"I am waiting to hear what the defenders of Harry Hopkins would say," declared Lieut. General Leslie Groves cryptically, when Radiorator Fulton Lewis Jr. set off former Major G. Racey Jordan's atomic fireworks (TIME, Dec. 12). With that come-on, the general assured himself of a S.R.O. audience.

Last week, before three members of the House Un-American Activities Committee, General Groves (now vice president of Remington Rand) abruptly doused cold water over the whole show. Hopkins had never tried to get any maps or plans away from him or his officers of the Manhattan Project. Said Groves: "At no time did I ever meet Harry Hopkins, talk to him on the phone, receive a letter from him or write to him, or have any dealings with anyone who claimed to speak for him."

One Cup. What about Fulton Lewis' charge that Vice President Wallace had "overruled" Groves's protests and insisted on sending atomic material to the Russians? "At no time did he ever bring any pressure on me and at no time was I ever aware of any indirect pressure on the people that worked with me. He divorced himself from this project," said Groves. "The only time I took a report to him I had to wait quite a while to see him. It was annoying. I didn't think the people he was seeing were very important to the war effort. I decided that was the last time I was going to show him a report."

Groves also explained that several shipments of uranium compounds to Russia had been authorized with his approval in 1943, partly because to stop them might tip off the Russians to what the U.S. was doing. In any case, the amount was negligible: "This would be like trying to make something in the kitchen when you need three cups of flour and only had one."

All week, Racey Jordan and Radiorater Lewis continued to throw off charges like a wheezy pinwheel. Jordan called a press conference in his Manhattan office at the American Pacific Industrial Corp., a construction engineering firm. At his side sat Sponsor Lewis. When an hour's questioning brought forth no fresh sensation, Jordan's freckled face began to sweat. He put down his much-displayed war diary and said: "Well, there was the time in 1943 when I ripped the secret radar out of the planes the Russians were getting from us." Fulton Lewis clapped both hands to his face and made as if he would fall off his chair. "Oh, my God, I missed that angle," he cried.

As before, every one else concerned flatly contradicted Racey Jordan. His former superiors at Great Falls, Mont, declared they knew nothing about it, and why hadn't Jordan reported to them if all this was going on? Jordan, who had come to the Army Air Forces from a fidgety career as quick-shot pressagent and advertising man for three beer companies, had been considered an "eager beaver" and, if anything, overfriendly with the Russians. In fact, Russian Colonel Anatoly Kotikov had recommended him for his major's leaves and pinned them on himself. Major Jordan had been declared "surplus" in the summer of 1944, a full year before war's end, and was given a discharge.

Second Thought. After listening to Groves, Missouri's Morgan M. Moulder, said: "Jordan may be sincere, but he has an exaggerated suspicion and imagination." Snapped Virginia's Burr P. Harrison: "Inherently incredible."

General Groves was aghast. He had not meant to "absolve" anyone, he confided to newspapermen. "If different questions had been put to me, I think a clearer picture might have been presented to the American people. I would hate to see Congress close its inquiry now."

This suggested an odd conclusion: General Groves, having proved that there was nothing much to Racey Jordan's charges, still wanted to keep them around for display purposes.

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