Further damage was done to McCarthy when he presided over a televised inquisition of a much respected American institution. The result was widely regarded as inconclusive. Which institution was this?

There had been a previous 'Red Scare' in the USA just after the Great War. The fear of Communism that swept the country after the Second World War was more serious. From 1950 to 1954 Senator Joseph McCarthy (after whom McCarthyism is named) conducted a powerful campaign against alleged Communists at the heart of the American government.