
THE SPECIAL REPORT
This appears to be a two page report created for the Red Channels publication. Red Channels was a booklet that listed the names of 151 people in the entertainment industry who were known to be, or suspected to be, Communists. Accompanying each name was a run-down of that person's alleged wrong-doings. Two of the men involved with Red Channels had close ties to Bureau. Both Theodore Kirkpatrick and Kenneth Bierly were former FBI agents. The other key member of the group was a right-wing television producer named Vincent Hartnett. Bierly would later admit that a significant portion of the "evidence" they had gathered on these 151 individuals had not been verified for accuracy. With full knowledge that the reports they were using were erroneous, or out-and-out fabrications, they still trumpeted the charges as absolute gospel.
There is no date given, no particular addressee, no signature and no specific letterhead. The words "SPECIAL REPORT" are typed at the top and a cartoonish looking "CONFIDENTIAL" is stamped on an angle in the upper left. This report details which Communist-fronts Judy Holliday was reportedly associated with. This report would eventually be sent to both the New York and Los Angeles offices of the FBI and be the basis for instituting an investigation of Judy Holliday. The FBI had this report in their hands at least 8 days prior to the publication date of Red Channels.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this document is the final paragraph, where the author questions her intelligence. That type of confusion between the real Judy Holliday and the "Billie Dawn" character would lay the groundwork for her testimony before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in 1952.
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