Internal FBI documents declassified in 1996 show that the agency took an active interest in Sevareid's reporting and activities in the 1940s and the early 1950s. A March 1953 document, "Security Information", is one of several to chronicle Sevareid's activities during the 1940s. It refers to unsubstantiated reports that Sevareid, while he was attending the University of Minnesota in 1941, was alleged to have associated with communists. The files also alleged that while working for the school newspaper at the university, Sevareid participated in an active campaign against the ROTC. The files also noted his involvement in an awards banquet held by the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, which had been designated a communist organization by Executive Order 9835. The files note a May 17, 1945 report in the "Daily People's World", which stated Sevareid was a scheduled speaker at the Committee's banquet. The FBI called the "Daily People's World" a West Coast communist newspaper and claimed that Sevareid was identified as a radio commentator in its reports.