Louis J. Russell

About

Louis James Russell (December 16, 1911 – July 2, 1973) was an American special agent and investigator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the House Un-American Activities Committee, and a private detective agency involved in the Watergate scandal.

Russell graduated from the Catholic University of America, and joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation on June 7, 1937, as a special agent. Author Jim Hougan characterized Russell as an alcoholic and womanizer, and his resignation was requested in 1944, after misuse of an official automobile.

In 1945, Russell joined the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) as an investigator. Robert E. Stripling has Russell testify on what he knew about Gerhart Eisler and Hollywood industry people. He also testified about Leon Josephson and Alexander Koral.
By 1948, Russell was a HUAC senior investigator in the Alger Hiss–Whittaker Chambers case. In his memoir Six Crises, Richard Nixon recalled that Russell restrained Hiss when it seemed Hiss was about to strike Chambers. Russell served under Robert E. Stripling and his successor Frank S. Tavenner Jr. Investigators who…