The Malmedy Massacre Trial-- Part 6: The Senate Subcommittee and Sen. Joseph McCarthy

It was not yet over, however.  Eventually, the U.S. Senate decided to investigate.  Ultimately the case was entrusted to the Committee on Armed Services.  The investigation was done by a subcommittee of three senators, chaired by  Raymond E. Baldwin (R-Ct)  The subcommittee was set up 29 March 1949 and its members went to Germany and heard from no fewer than 108 witnesses.

Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wi) obtained permission to attend the hearings.  McCarthy's state, Wisconsin, had a large number of people of German heritage, and there were allegations that McCarthy was politically motivated to work on behalf of the Malmedy German defendants.  As usual, he used an extremely aggressive questioning style.

McCarthy's actions further inflamed a split  between the American Legion, which took a hardline position and wanted to uphold the death sentences, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars who supported more lenient penalties.

The last clash took place on May 1949, when McCarthy asked  that Lt.  William R. Perl be given a polygraph test.  This had already been objected to by Baldwin, whereupon McCarthy left the session claiming that Baldwin was trying to whitewash the American military.

--GreGen