How would you interpret ‘on whose authority’? Artie sighed. “I have a client. A former president of a prestigious southern college. Served on the War Labor Board. Currently president of the Southern Human Welfare Conference. A very celebrated guy, consulting fees and public speaking provide most of his income. Suddenly, he has no income. He has protestors. This antisegregation outfit over which he presides has turned up on the attorney general’s list, one of these ninety so-called Communist front organizations.” “On whose authority? Loren Matus?” “The HUAC in its infinite wisdom has devised what they call an acid test for revealing an organization’s true colors. You want to hear their criteria? Any one of the following is sufficient. Number one: it shows unswerving loyalty to the Soviet Union. Or, two: it has refused to condemn the Soviet Union. Or three: it has gained accolades from the Communist press. Or four: it has displayed an anti-American bias, despite professions of love for America.”How would you interpret ‘on whose authority’ in the second passage? Does it mean on whose testimony? PS: Loren Matus was the man who had given up his former associates(who were Communists) to the HUAC. Thanks! And it’s from The Lacuna by Kingsolver.