Bridges

On the 25th day of May 1949 a criminal indictment was returned against defendants Harry Renton Bridges, Henry Schmidt, and J. R. Robertson. The indictment is in three counts and charges the defendants as follows, to wit:

(1) Count 1, based upon 18 U.S.C.A. § 88 , now 18 U.S.C.A. § 371 , charges the three named defendants with having conspired to defraud the United States by impairing the proper administration of its naturalization laws in the following manner : Defendant Bridges fraudulently petitioned for naturalization before the Superior Court of the State of California, by representing to the Court that he did not and never had belonged to the Communist Party, whereas in truth he belonged to and had been a member of the Communist Party; defendants Schmidt and Robertson signed as witnesses to the petition of defendant Bridges;

(2) Count 2, based on 8 U.S.C.A. § 746 (a) (1), now 18 U.S.C.A. § 1015 (a), charges that defendant Bridges willfully and knowingly made a false statement under oath with respect to his membership in the Communist Party when he appeared before the Superior Court of the State of California to receive his naturalization certificate on September 17,…