the hearings. James Finucane, an official of the National Council for the Prevention of War, heard that Van Roden "had made some shocking statements" at a meeting of the Federal Bar Association, and when Finucane approached Van Roden to verify the report, Van Roden invited him to hear him speak on the same subject at the Rotary Club. The National Council for the Prevention of War made a press release on December 18, 1948 publicizing this speech, which the editor of The Progressive asked to run as an article under Van Roden's byline. After Finucane spoke with Van Roden by telephone to get his permission and discuss revisions to the article, it ran in the February 1949 issue of the magazine. The press release and article greatly inflamed the public scandal, especially with the statement that "all but two of the Germans in the 139 cases we investigated had been kicked in the testicles beyond repair. This was standard operating procedure with our American investigators." Finucane later testified that that was what he understood Van Roden to have said, though he had used "the Army language, which a person like he would use," and that he had read the statement back to Van Roden over the telephone and Van Roden had not corrected it. Van Roden refused to commute the six remaining death sentences, including Peiper's, but the executions were postponed. By 1951, most of the men were released and the only remaining death sentences, those of Peiper and five others, were commuted. Sepp Dietrich was paroled in 1955. Joachim Peiper was paroled in 1956. In 1956, Dietrich was re-arrested for his role in the Night of the Long Knives. In 1957, he convicted of being an accessory to manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. After his appeals failed, Dietrich reported to prison in August 1958. He was released on health grounds in February 1959. The Senate Subcommittee and Sen. Joseph McCarthy Eventually, the United States Senate decided to investigate. Ultimately, the case was entrusted to the Committee on Armed Services over the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments. The investigation was entrusted to a subcommittee of three senators chaired by Raymond E. Baldwin (R-CT). The subcommittee was set up on 29 March 1949. Its members went to Germany and during its hearings, the commission heard from no fewer than 108 witnesses. Joseph