Matthew Cvetic (March 4, 1909 – July 26, 1962) was a Pittsburgh native who was a spy and informant working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation inside the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) during the 1940s.
At various points he claimed to have attended "prep school or college," although during a hostile cross examination in 1954 was forced to admit that he had only completed the tenth grade.
[1] Before his employment with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cvetic worked a series of jobs, including various sales positions as well as briefly serving at the Pennsylvania State Department of Labor and Industry.
The marriage proved to be a tumultuous one, as Barsh claimed that he was physically and verbally abusive with her as well as unfaithful, leading to a separation followed by a divorce in January, 1946.
[4] In April 1942, Cvetic came to the attention of the FBI which offered him the opportunity to penetrate the American Communist Party as part of their broader anti-communist efforts.
"[8] In addition, Cvetic had difficulty maintaining his cover and, by his own admission, had admitted to several people that he worked for the FBI, including his brother, his psychiatrist, and "more than one girl.
However, while Cvetic was considered a reliable witness when testifying in front of friendly audiences, hostile cross-examinations often left him at a loss for words, unable to remember key details and often refusing to answer questions on the grounds that he did not wish to give away FBI secrets to the communists.
On July 14, 1950, Cvetic was featured in the television series We the People, a half-hour program hosted by Dan Seymour detailing his alleged activities while operating as an FBI informant.
One character, closely modeled on Party leader Steve Nelson remarks with contempt after a rally aimed at blacks "boy, those niggers really ate it up, didn't they?"
[17] This coincided with continued FBI concerns regarding Cvetic's embellishment of the facts, including one instance in which he claimed to have defused a Nazi spy plot single-handedly.
[20] In 1960, Cvetic became involved with the John Birch Society as well as the Christian Crusade, a strongly anti-communist organization led by Reverend Billy James Hargis.
On July 26, 1962, Cvetic suffered a heart attack and died at age 53 while waiting to take a driver's license exam in Los Angeles, California.