 Prosecutor John McGohey did not assert that the defendants had a specific plan to violently overthrow the US government , but rather alleged that the CPUSA 's philosophy generally advocated the violent overthrow of governments . The prosecution called witnesses who were either undercover informants , such as Angela Calomiris and Herbert Philbrick , or former communists who had become disenchanted with the CPUSA , such as Louis Budenz . The prosecution witnesses testified about the goals and policies of the CPUSA , and they interpreted the statements of pamphlets and books ( including The Communist Manifesto ) and works by such authors as Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin . The prosecution argued that the texts advocated violent revolution , and that by adopting the texts as their political foundation , the defendants were guilty of advocating violent overthrow of the government . 
