It's all pretty amazing, and a disgusting history of prosecutorial abuse. Ethel was added to the case in a clear example of extortion. Hoover may have ultimately oposed her execution because creating two young orphans by killing her too would be a "bad look" for the Bureau, but his intention was to pressure Julius to confess to save her, and she apparently boldly refused that option. There is such nobility in their story, and such depravity on the part of the FBI and the National Security and political apparatus, not to mention the bloodymindedness of the Cold Warriors in waiting who insisted on destroying almost hal a milllion people in two Japanese cities in an effort to intimidate the Soviet Union.
On Wed, Mar 13, 2024 at 12:36 PM Michael Meeropol <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Dave --- and all --- The evidence is now clear that the way the FBI > investigation of my father unfolded was that they knew of a spy code named > "Liberal" who had co-conspirators (forget their code names) and a wife > named "Ethel" who had recruited the wife's brother and sister-in-law === > code named Kalifr and Osa --- and that the brother worked at Los Alamos. > The goal was always to get "Liberal" to roll on his co-conspirators. > > ["Ethel" never got a code name which is why BLum who wrote about the NSA > decryptor Meredith Gardner and his FBI liaison Robert Lamphere emphasized > that they both thought she was if anything VERY PERIPHERALLY involved ... > and why J. Edgar Hoover was persuaded by Lamphere to recommend against the > death sentence for her] > > When Kalibr (David Greenglass) was arrested he fingered his wife and my > father --- (neither DG nor his wife fingered Ethel till much later) the > government decided they would make sure that he testified at the trial to > the seriousness of the technical information he had passed so that they > could justify a death sentence against my father --- Thus "Liberal" who was > a run of the mill military industrial spy when the VENONA intercepts began > to be decrypted was promoted to a major atomic spy in late 1950 - early > 1951. (WHiler Hall was still being pursued!) > > In effect, the government ended up with a "two-fer" --- they got the death > sentence so they hoped my father would rat out his friends who he had > recruited AND they got to CLAIM they had caught the "atomic spies" which of > course they had completely fluibbed. (THis was more clear once Hoover was > forced to back off) > > (In addition to having to ignore Ted Hall, the FBI completely missed a > Soviet citizen at Oak Ridge for years posing as an American. He was never > revealed till he died and Putin gave him an award!!) > > > > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29412): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29412 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/104899880/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
