Naming Names: Great Moments of Republican Hypocrisy.
By Curt_Anderson December 2, 2024 11:07 am Category: History (0.0 from 0 votes)
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John Parnell Thomas (January 16, 1895 – November 19, 1970) was an American stockbroker and politician. He was elected to seven terms as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey as a Republican, serving from 1937 to 1950.
After the 1946 elections, Thomas was appointed chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC)–during that period, also called the "Thomas Committee." These summonses led to the conviction and imprisonment for contempt of Congress of the "Hollywood Ten" who had refused to answer the Committee's questions.
In May 1947, Thomas traveled to Hollywood to meet with film industry executives with a view to exposing what he believed was Communist infiltration of motion pictures content by members of the Screen Writers Guild. Returning to Washington, D.C., he shifted the focus of the committee to what he called the "subversives" working in the film business.
In 1948, unrelated to his HUAC activities, Thomas was summoned to answer to charges of salary fraud before a grand jury. In a display of unmitigated hypocrisy, Thomas refused to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment rights, the most common stance for which he had criticized accused Communists.
Indicted, Thomas was tried and convicted of fraud, fined and given an 18-month prison sentence. He resigned from Congress on January 2, 1950. In an ironic twist, he was imprisoned in Danbury Prison where Lester Cole and Ring Lardner Jr., both members of the "Hollywood Ten" were serving time due to Thomas's inquiries into the film industry.
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John Parnell Thomas (January 16, 1895 – November 19, 1970) was an American stockbroker and politician. He was elected to seven terms as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey as a Republican, serving from 1937 to 1950.