Chotiner was slated to play a major role in the Eisenhower/Nixon re-election bid. However, he had represented two Atlantic City clothing manufacturers, the Kravitz brothers, who had been fined and barred from further government contracts for fraud, and on April 25, 1956, a subcommittee of the Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations, looking into military procurement, subpoenaed him to appear before it. The senators wanted to inquire why a New Jersey firm which already had six attorneys would hire a California lawyer, especially one with close ties to Vice President Nixon.