The Canwell Files

Book excerpt: Court-certified expert on Soviet Communism and controversial figure in the Pacific Northwest, Albert Canwell, born in Spokane, Washington, followed his father (one-time Pinkerton detective), with his brother Carl (Spokane Public Safety Commissioner) and nephew David (CIA), into law enforcement. He married the daughter of a prominent Harvard-educated surgeon and raised six children at Montvale Farms on the Little Spokane River. Elected Washington State representative, Canwell was aptly chosen to investigate the notorious Democratic Capitol Club, and served as appointed chairman of the states un-American activities committee. After unsuccessful campaigns for Congress, Canwell established the American Intelligence Service providing material from his personal files to private parties, businesses, and government agencies (FDA, FBI, INS). His life, effective activism, and network (security experts J.B. Matthews, Louis Budenz, and Whittaker Chambers; legislators, and U.S. presidents) were a lightning rod for approbation and condemnation by friends and enemies. Repeated smear campaigns, professional agitation, and uninformed pseudohistorians, left a wake of disinformation and historical inaccuracies about his career and data contained in his files. As political historian and biographer, Kienholz shares the contents of his files and corrects a web of distortions and propaganda promoted by adherents to Soviet Communism.