American Business Consultants

American Business Consultants, Inc. was formed in 1947 by several former agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This organization established itself as a source of information regarding allegedly subversive organizations and individuals, particularly those suspected of affiliation with the Communist Party. In May 1947, A.B.C. began publishing Counterattack (1947-1973), a weekly anti-communist newsletter primarily designed for employers and personnel managers, and Red Channels : The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television (1950). A.B.C. was one of a number of research enterprises which amassed information regarding Communist-related organizations, but it was also an entrepreneurial enterprise which sought to turn a profit. The founders of Counterattack, including former FBI agent John G. Keenan, who became Counterattack's President, solicited subscriptions from "Security Officers, Personnel Directors, Employment managers and all sorts of people whose business requires them to know the facts about the background of organizations and/or individuals." Headquartered in New York, Counterattack's orientation was primarily, but not entirely, New York-based, reflecting the geographical concentration of the CPUSA.

A.B.C. formed one segment of a larger network, which included the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Since A.B.C.'s membership was composed of former FBI agents, it had access to the files of HUAC. The connection between these two agencies was made manifest in 1950, when Counterattack published a booklet entitled Red Channels. It listed possible "subversives" in the world of radio and television, and the number of times each person had been cited by the FBI or HUAC. The potential of "guilt by association" involved in this publication resulted in a series of libel suits filed against Counterattack by various film and radio personalities. Although Counterattack eventually defended itself against these libel suits, the financial cost of litigation resulted in the organization disbanding in 1968.

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