Tuhia tētahi tohutoro mō tēnei wāhanga - I noho a Burdett i tana mahi tuatahi, i te "Brooklyn Daily Eagle", mō ngā tau e rima. I a ia e mahi ana i te "Eagle" i mahi a Burdett hei kiriata, whare tapere me te kaitohutohu pukapuka. I uru tuatahi a Burdett ki te Rōpū Kaunihera i te 1937 i a ia e mahi ana i te "Eagle", na roto i tetahi roopu i reira e hono ana ki te American Newspaper Guild (ANG). I whakatata atu a Nathan Einhorn ki a ia mo te tutei. I hiahia a Einhorn, he kairipoata me te kaitiaki whakahaere o te New York ANG rohe, kia tutaki a Burdett ki a Joseph North, te etita o "New Masses", te niupepa o te Communist Party USA. I te hui, i whakaaro a North ki tetahi misioni tutei, a ka whakauruhia ia ki tetahi tangata kaore i whakahuatia. I tētahi atu hui i Union Square i New York, ka mōhio a Burdett kei Finland tana mahi. I whawhai a Finland ki te whakaekenga a te Soviet i te tau 1939
ki te tū tū. I muri iho, i kitea e Burdett i roto i tētahi whakaahua tōna whakapā i Union Square, ko Jacob Golos, te hononga i waenganui i te CPUSA me te KGB.