362.1121 Simpson, Lawrence/284: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Germany (Dodd)
121. The Associated Press reports that Simpson has confessed to distributing Communist literature and was given a sentence of 3 years minus the 15 months already served. You are requested, if the Associated Press report is accurate, to communicate orally with the German authorities and to make strongest possible representations to get the unserved portion of sentence suspended with the understanding that Simpson be deported at once. You should add that the basis for this recommendation is that he has already been sufficiently punished and that he appears to be of defective mind in that he has previously refused counsel and that he has refused to accept the offers of assistance of his father and friends, and any other reasons you may have.
Please telegraph developments.