Shortly after the war ended, it was revealed that a consortium of thirteen wealthy German American brewers had loaned Arthur Brisbane, Hearst's close ally and editor, $375,000 in 1917 so that he could purchase the Washington Times. A congressional investigation ensued to determine if Brisbane, and by extension Hearst, had been paid to act as the mouthpiece for these investors. The Times coverage of the war had paralleled that of the Hearst papers. When asked by a congressman if Germans dictated the content of the Hearst papers, Brisbane replied that nobody could tell the sovereign publisher what to print. Hearst's willingness to take wildly unpopular positions seems to bear this out.