Was This Well-Known State Department Official Actually a Communist?

Glenn Beck on Thursday told one of the stories from his new book "Dreamers and Deceivers: True Stories of the Heroes and Villains Who Made America."

"[It's an] amazing history story, perfect for Halloween, one that you probably don't know," Beck began on his television program. "The pro-communist bias of our media and our education system has kept this one pretty quiet. It's important that you know it, though, and I thought it was appropriate because of Halloween. It all happened in a pumpkin, believe it or not."

Beck began telling the story of former State Department official Alger Hiss.

"How easy it is to get what one wants, with nothing other than a simple omission of a key fact or two," Beck said. "That was one of the lessons a young Alger Hiss learned early on in his professional career, a career that made him a hero among the liberal establishment of the day. He was good looking. He was well dressed, well educated and well spoken. Hiss held several positions throughout the federal government and the State Department, which enabled him to create close relationships with Supreme Court justices and even the president of the United States."

Glenn Beck on Thursday discussed whether former State Department official Alger Hiss was a communist. (Photo via TheBlaze TV)

Beck said Hiss was involved in several key turning points in history, including the creation of the United Nations.

"The Ivy League grad, he was perfect on paper," Beck said. "The question has been ... was he actually working for the communists?"

Beck said the evidence was stacked against Hiss in the form of dozens of pages of government documents discovered on rolls of 35 mm film hidden in a pumpkin. The documents, saved by a man named Whittaker Chambers, came to be known as "the pumpkin papers."

"Chambers was a writer, he was an editor -- he was also a Communist Party USA member, a Soviet spy," Beck explained. "But he eventually soured on communism, especially when they started murdering Soviet spies who disagreed with Stalin."

"[Chambers] kept these 35 millimeter pumpkin papers, as they were called, as a life preserver," Beck continued. "But he eventually left the Communist party and he went into hiding. And after a year he resurfaced, and he went to work at TIME Magazine becoming one of their best, most well-known writers."

Beck said when Chambers testified against Hiss, "people went nuts."

"The liberal establishment ignored all of the evidence ... and instead called those going after him the real villains. 'They were on a witch hunt!'" Beck remarked. "Respected historians today now agree Hiss was indeed a spy for the Soviet Union, [and] did a lot of damage."

Beck said a number of prominent leftists today also agree Hiss was guilty, but "the real heavy partisans" still deny the claim.

"Last year during a radio interview, a former Hillary Clinton press secretary refused to admit Hiss was a Soviet spy. She hung up on the host!" Beck said. "The battle between truth and an agenda continues. And ironically, those playing politics often employ one of Hiss' earliest life lessons -- that if you really want to get something, all you have to do is leave out a few of the facts."

Complimentary Clip from TheBlaze TV

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