Advising Government Clients: Robert H. Jackson and the FBI Suicide Squad
Date
2014
Authors
Casto, William
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In 1941, Attorney General Robert H. Jackson learned that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had given an informal green light to the creation of an FBI "suicide squad" that would act outside the law to ferret out foreign agents who were fomenting work slow-downs in the defense industry. Jackson immediately wrote this President a memorandum advising against the project. Although he noted in passing that the project was illegal, his advice was predominately based upon policy. He doubted the wisdom of the project. Jackson's advice to his President epitomizes the occasional duty of an attorney adviser to go beyond the law and provide policy advice to a government client.
Description
Keywords
suicide squad, Robert H. Jackson, Robert Patterson, communists, spies, pulp fiction magazines
Citation
22 The Pub. Law. 3