Alger Hiss

Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was a U.S. State Department official and Secretary General to the founding charter conference of the United Nations. Following accusations that he spied on behalf of the Soviet Union, Hiss was convicted of perjury.

Lowenthal rebuttal

"The other curious thing about the Hiss case is the psychology of believing that Hiss was a spy, which requires abandoning much of what we know about rational thought." - Molly Ivins, columnist.

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"Even Hiss's staunchest defenders no longer believe in his innocence. For many leftists the guiltlessness of those accused of espionage for the Soviet Union long ago became a central tenet of political commitment, and remains as a kind of catechism of identity, to be repeated mindlessly in the gathering gloom as they despairingly wait for a future that is already the past." - Eduard Mark, U.S. Air Force historian.

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John Lowenthal, a Hiss lawyer and longtime supporter, has made the argument that the Ales named in VENONA cable 1822 was not at the Yalta conference,

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• Ales was said in the message to have been active for 11 years, 1935 through the date of the message, 1945; Alger Hiss was accused by Chambers of spying in the mid-30's only up to 1938. Lownethal does not consider Venona material, or confuses 1943 Venona transcripts with Chambers' knowledge up to 1938, which became public in 1948. The period of 1934 to 1945 fits Hiss, though Lowenthal attempts to confuse Chambers testimony with Venona decryptions.
• Ales was said in the 1943 Venona transcript to be the leader of a small group consisting of his relations (Prisilla and Donald); Hiss was accused of having acted alone by Chambers, whose knowledge was pre-war and only went up to 1938, aside from his wife as a typist and Chambers as courier. And the references to Priscilla as "only a typist" is an obvious confusion of Ethel Rosenberg with Priscilla Hiss, who is largely considered as the motivating force behiond Alger Hiss actions.
• "The group and Ales himself work on obtaining military information only. Materials on the Bank (State Department) allegedly interest the Neighbors very little"; Alger Hiss was accused, based on Chambers knowledge up to 1938, of obtaining only non-military, pre-war, information, and the papers used against him were non-military State Department materials from the mid 1930s, that he allegedly produced on a regular basis.

This may explain Hiss's proposal on 7 September 1945, that the State Department create a new post, that of 'special assistant for military affairs' linked to his Office of Special Political Affairs. When Hiss was investigated in 1946 it was discovered he had obtained top secret reports "on atomic energy ... and other matters relating to military intelligence" that were outside the scope of his Office of Special Political Affairs, which dealt largely with United Nations diplomacy." {{NamedRef|OSPA|3}}

Related Topics:
7 September - 1945 - Atomic energy - Military intelligence

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