740.0011 Pacific War/1553
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary: The attached report89 of the F. B. I.90 relates to the activities of the Japanese Consulate in Hawaii and its complicity in the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
It will be noted that the F. B. I. wished to prosecute a number of the Japanese agents, first raising the question in the Summer of 1941. The Department of Justice consulted the State Department in July, 1941, and were advised that the State Department assented to the prosecution.
Prosecution of these agents never was carried out, owing to the objection of the War Department.
The record is important because it makes clear the fact that the position of the Department was at all times plain.