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In OTL there were rumours that both Joe McCarthy and J Edgar Hoover were gay.
If the general public believed that it would of course have been pretty bad for their careers
There was however an even more devastating rumour around relating to Joe McCarthy.
It was that he had sexual relations with young girls. It was also said that Hoover had files about this. This is mentined in Curt Gentry's biography of Hoover.
I should say that as a matter of fact in OTL I believe that Hoover likely had a gay orientation though I have no idea whether he did anything with them. I do not know about McCarthy's sexuality.
However suppose things happened to make most Americans
a) Believe the more devastating rumour re McCarthy
b) That Hoover knew of this and ensured that nothing was done.