September 10, 2013 — Washington, D.C. Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) and two additional former members of the United States Senate will go "on trial" in Washington, DC, for their alleged roles in the 1954 suicide of a colleague. Senators Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin), Styles Bridges (R-New Hampshire) and Herman Welker (R-Idaho), all deceased, are "charged" with a criminal conspiracy to blackmail Wyoming's U.S. Senator Lester Hunt. Hunt died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his senate office in 1954.
A mock trial of the three senators will be held at All Souls Church Unitarian on October 23rd beginning at 7:30 PM in the church sanctuary. All Souls Church Unitarian is located at 1500 Harvard Street NW @ 16th in Washington, DC.
The "trial" is a readers' theater presentation based on the biography of Senator Hunt. Dying for the Sins of Joe McCarthy-The Suicide of Wyoming Senator Lester Hunt, was written by Rodger McDaniel and published by WordsWorth Publishing Co. The Mattachine Society of Washington, DC. is sponsoring the event.
Charles Francis, Mattachine Society President said, "What these men did to Lester Hunt was not just sharp-elbowed politics. This is the true story of a long covered-up criminal conspiracy to blackmail a sitting U.S. Senator and take over the leadership of the United States Senate. It is time for this conspiracy to go before a jury—-even in a mock trial—- in Washington, D.C."
Retired Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Michael Golden will preside. Former US Senator Alan Simpson will also participate. Trevor Potter, the Washington attorney behind the creation of the Colbert Super PAC and general counsel to two Presidential campaigns—-that of Senator John McCain and President George H.W. Bush, will play the part of the prosecuting attorney. Mindy Daniels, a prominent Washington criminal defense lawyer and a former President of the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance (GLAA) of Washington, D.C. will serve as defense counsel for the three former Senators.
A jury of local citizens will hear the case and render a historic verdict. The public is invited to attend free of charge. McDaniel's book will be available for purchase.
Lester Hunt, a Democrat, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1948. He was twice elected governor and twice elected Secretary of State after serving in the Wyoming legislature. He took his own life on June 19, 1954, a year after his son and namesake was arrested in Lafayette Park for soliciting sex from an undercover policeman. The "defendants" McCarthy, Bridges, and Welker attempted to leverage young Hunt's arrest into Senator Hunt's resignation at a time when the shift of one seat would give control of the senate to the GOP.
Senator Simpson wrote the foreword for McDaniel's book, saying, "When Lester Hunt arrived in Washington in 1949, he witnessed the rising tide of McCarthyism. His was one of the few early voices to call it for what it was." Speaking of the events leading to Senator Hunt's suicide Simpson wrote, "What was done to Lester Hunt passed all boundaries of decency and exposed an evil side of politics most would always seek to avoid."
McDaniel said, "Holding the mock trial in Washington finally allows long-hidden senate history to be revealed. Homophobia combined with the stigma of suicide to hide the facts surrounding Senator Hunt's suicide for six decades. The legacies of Senators Bridges, Welker and McCarthy are incomplete unless the shameful history of the scar they inflicted on the integrity of the United States Senate is told in the nation's capitol where these events took place in 1953 and 1954."
Senator Simpson said, "This book finally offers Lester Hunt's remaining family some form of justice — though belated." McDaniel acknowledged the encouragement and help he received from the 87 year-old Lester Hunt, Jr. while researching and writing the book. "The truth of what happened to Senator Hunt and his son Buddy Hunt could never have been told without the decency and integrity of Lester Hunt, Jr. and his determination that the truth finally be told."
