Advising Government Clients: Robert H. Jackson and the FBI Suicide Squad

Date

2014

Authors

Casto, William

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

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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