800.01B11 Registration/8–1549
The Acting Attorney General ( Ford ) to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I refer to your letter of April 21, 1949 regarding the prosecution of Amtorg Trading Corporation for failure to register with the Department of Justice as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.
In your letter and in recent conversations with representatives of your Department and this Department, it has been pointed out that prosecution of Amtorg Trading Corporation may result in the dissolution of that group by the Soviet Union and the creation in its place of government purchasing commissions within the embassies of the U.S.S.R. and satellite states. I appreciate the fact that this Government may wish to avoid such a development and I am cognizant of the other problems which have been discussed by our Departments in connection with the prosecution of Amtorg.
On the basis of its activities subsequent to the withdrawal of the [Page 757] exemption provisions of Section 3(f) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act in September 1946, it is clear that Amtorg Trading Corporation is obliged to register with this Department. This fact has been pointed out to Amtorg officials, both by letter and in conferences with representatives of this Department. In the circumstances, it is my opinion that further efforts to contact Amtorg through the Ambassador in Moscow,1 or otherwise, would not only be futile but unnecessary.
An approach to the Soviet Government through diplomatic channels could accomplish little except to provide advance notification to Amtorg of the imminence of prosecution, and in view of its known activities as a cover agent for Soviet espionage in the United States, I believe you will agree with me that such a course would not be desirable Accordingly, this Department proposes to initiate appropriate proceedings in the very near future.
Sincerely,
- Vice Adm. Alan G. Kirk was Ambassador of the United States in the Soviet Union.↩