A VALUABLE PRISONER
While von Rintelen, after his strenuous days in America, was resting comfortably in a luxurious prison camp at Donington Hall, England, the American authorities were busily delving into his record. Mr. Sarfaty presented witness after witness and thousands of documents to the Federal Grand Jury. Von Rintelen and Meloy were indicted, first, for the fraudulent passport conspiracy; and Meloy finally made a confession to the Government authorities. Von Rintelen’s agent, called before the Grand Jury and refusing to answer, was adjudged in contempt of court and spent a night in the Tombs prison. Another agent, summoned before the Grand Jury and asked about his dealings with von Rintelen, refused to answer on the ground that it might tend to degrade and incriminate him, but he afterwards was arrested on a firebomb charge.
Von Rintelen was indicted on the charge of forgery on the passport application, and upon that as a basis, application was made to the English authorities for his extradition. After months of investigation, indictments finally were filed against von Rintelen, Lamar, and his associates on a charge of conspiring to restrain foreign trade.
The moment a United States District-Attorney, equipped with a mass of documentary evidence, telegrams, letters, minutes of secret meetings, and the statements of hundreds of witnesses, laid facts before the Grand Jury who brought an indictment against a Congressman, the House of Representatives, without waiting for the trial of the defendant, immediately ordered an inquiry which in substance amounted to a fishing expedition by the sub-committee to ascertain just what evidence Mr. Marshall and Mr. Sarfaty had dug up against one of their members. Congress did not take any action, and finally, after a spectacular play, decided to let the matter drop.