McPhaul v. United States

We here review petitioner’s conviction under 2 U. S. C. § 1921 for willful failure to comply with a subpoena of the House of Representatives commanding him to produce certain records of the Civil Rights Congress before a Subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. The principal question presented is whether the evidence justified the trial court’s rulings that the records called for by the subpoena were in existence, subject to petitioner’s control, and pertinent to the Committee’s inquiry.

The relevant evidence was as follows. Having knowledge that the Civil Rights Congress…