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But Oppenheimer “was not simply a casual Popular Front liberal who ignorantly bumped up against the [[CPUSA]] in some of the areas in which it operated," according to John Earl Haynes, a Soviet espionage expert in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress:<ref>Patricia Villamil, "2009-2010 Kluge Staff Fellow," [http://www.loc.gov/loc/kluge/newsletters/KlugeNewsletteFall2009.pdf ''Newsletter'', the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, Vol. 2, No. 2 (November 2009)], p. 6</ref> "He was, in fact, a concealed member of the CPUSA in the late 1930s,” write Haynes, Emory University Professor Harvey Klehr and ex-[[KGB]] agent Alexander Vassiliev.<ref>[[#refHKV09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 58</ref> “Robert Oppenheimer was a member of a so-called closed unit of the Communist Party's professional section in Berkeley, from 1938 to 1942,” agrees Gregg Herken, a former senior Historian at the Smithsonian Institution.<ref>Gregg Herken, [http://www.brotherhoodofthebomb.com/bhbsource/documents.html Documents], Brotherhood of the Bomb</ref> Stanford University historian Barton Bernstein, an expert on Oppenheimer, concurs that "it seems to me far more likely than not from the amalgam of evidence that Oppenheimer was a member, at least covert, for a few years."<ref>Charles Burress, "[http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-04-23/news/17423704_1_communist-party-oppenheimer-uc-berkeley The Oppenheimer Riddle: New evidence of Communist membership debated by scholars of Berkeley scientist]," ''The San Francisco Chronicle'', April 23, 2004</ref>

But Oppenheimer “was not simply a casual Popular Front liberal who ignorantly bumped up against the [[CPUSA]] in some of the areas in which it operated," according to John Earl Haynes, a Soviet espionage expert in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress:<ref>Patricia Villamil, "2009-2010 Kluge Staff Fellow," [http://www.loc.gov/loc/kluge/newsletters/KlugeNewsletteFall2009.pdf ''Newsletter'', the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, Vol. 2, No. 2 (November 2009)], p. 6</ref> "He was, in fact, a concealed member of the CPUSA in the late 1930s,” write Haynes, Emory University Professor Harvey Klehr and ex-[[KGB]] agent Alexander Vassiliev.<ref>[[#refHKV09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 58</ref> “Robert Oppenheimer was a member of a so-called closed unit of the Communist Party's professional section in Berkeley, from 1938 to 1942,” agrees Gregg Herken, a former senior Historian at the Smithsonian Institution.<ref>Gregg Herken, [http://www.brotherhoodofthebomb.com/bhbsource/documents.html Documents], Brotherhood of the Bomb</ref> Stanford University historian Barton Bernstein, an expert on Oppenheimer, concurs that "it seems to me far more likely than not from the amalgam of evidence that Oppenheimer was a member, at least covert, for a few years."<ref>Charles Burress, "[http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-04-23/news/17423704_1_communist-party-oppenheimer-uc-berkeley The Oppenheimer Riddle: New evidence of Communist membership debated by scholars of Berkeley scientist]," ''The San Francisco Chronicle'', April 23, 2004</ref>

If Oppenheimer was not a Communist, he fooled Communist Party officials into thinking he was. Paul Crouch, Communist Party organizer for Alameda County in 1941, testified that Oppenheimer had been a Communist at that time, and even described the interior layout of his home:<ref>[[#refBird-Sherwin|Bird, Sherwin 2006]]: 440</ref>

 

 

 

If Oppenheimer was not a Communist, he also fooled Communist Party officials into thinking he was. Paul Crouch, Communist Party organizer for Alameda County in 1941, testified that Oppenheimer had been a Communist at that time, and even described the interior layout of his home:<ref>[[#refBird-Sherwin|Bird, Sherwin 2006]]: 440</ref>

{{cquote|Chairman: Is there any doubt in your mind that Oppenheimer was a member of the Communist Party?

{{cquote|Chairman: Is there any doubt in your mind that Oppenheimer was a member of the Communist Party?

Crouch: No, sir, none whatever. I met him in a closed meeting of the Communist Party in a house which was subsequently found to have been his residence at the time... and following that I met him at quite a number of Communist Party affairs in Alameda County.<ref>Crouch, Paul (1953-09-15). United States Senate, "[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Volume3.pdf Executive Sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, Vol. 3], 83d Cong., 1st sess., 1953, pp. 1837 (PDF p. 37)</ref>}}

Crouch: No, sir, none whatever. I met him in a closed meeting of the Communist Party in a house which was subsequently found to have been his residence at the time... and following that I met him at quite a number of Communist Party affairs in Alameda County.<ref>Crouch, Paul (1953-09-15). United States Senate, "[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Volume3.pdf Executive Sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, Vol. 3], 83d Cong., 1st sess., 1953, pp. 1837 (PDF p. 37)</ref>}}

If Oppenheimer was not a Communist, he not only convinced the Communist Party he was, he convinced Soviet intelligence itself. A 1944 report by [[NKVD]] [[San Francisco]] ''[[rezident]]'' (station chief) [[Grigory Kheifetz]]<ref>Robert L. Benson, ''[http://www.nsa.gov/about/_files/cryptologic_heritage/publications/coldwar/venona_story.pdf The Venona Story]'' (Fort George G. Meade, Md.: National Security Agency, Center for Cryptologic History, 2001), p. 41</ref> states: “According to 'Uncle' ([[Isaac Folkoff]]),<ref>[[#refHaynes08|Haynes 2008]]: 56</ref> both brothers [Robert and Frank Oppenheimer] were associated with the fellowcountrymen,"<ref>Alexandr Vassiliev, [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.1_Translated1.pdf White Notebook #1] (tr. Steve Shabad), p. 138</ref> [[NKVD]] code name for the [[Communist Party]].<ref>[[#refHaynes08|Haynes 2008]]: 36</ref>  That year, [[NKVD]] agents [[Gaik Ovakimian]] and Andrei Graur reported to NKVD chief Boris Merkulov, identifying the code name "Chester" as "Robert Oppenheimer, b. 1906, an Amer. Jew, secret member of the fellowcountryman org., a professor at the U. of California, works on ‘En-s’,"<ref>Vassiliev Yellow Notebook #1 ([http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/Yellow_Notebook_No._1_Original.pdf Orig.]), PDF p. 6; ([http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/Yellow_Notebook_No.1_Translated.pdf Trans].), p. 10. Cf. [[#refHKV09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 45</ref> i.e., 'Enormoz,' Soviet code name for the [[Manhattan Project]].<ref>[[#refHerken|Herken 2003]]: 87</ref> Merkulov, reporting in turn to Soviet Commissar for Internal Affairs [[Lavrenty Beria]], identified “one of the leaders of scientific work on uranium in the USA, Professor R. Oppenheimer,” as “an unlisted member of the apparatus of Comrade [[Earl Browder|Browder]],” General Secretary of the [[CPUSA]].<ref>[http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=va2.document&identifier=5034E2FB-96B6-175C-967BCF8290DD3AD9&sort=Collection&item=Intelligence%20Operations%20in%20the%20Cold%20War Merkulov to Beria, 2 October 1944], Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars</ref>

If Oppenheimer was not a Communist, he not only convinced the Communist Party he was, he convinced Soviet intelligence itself. A 1944 report by [[NKVD]] [[San Francisco]] ''[[rezident]]'' (station chief) [[Grigory Kheifetz]]<ref>Robert L. Benson, ''[http://www.nsa.gov/about/_files/cryptologic_heritage/publications/coldwar/venona_story.pdf The Venona Story]'' (Fort George G. Meade, Md.: National Security Agency, Center for Cryptologic History, 2001), p. 41</ref> states: “According to 'Uncle' ([[Isaac Folkoff]]),<ref>[[#refHaynes08|Haynes 2008]]: 56</ref> both brothers [Robert and Frank Oppenheimer] were associated with the fellowcountrymen,"<ref>Alexandr Vassiliev, [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.1_Translated1.pdf White Notebook #1] (tr. Steve Shabad), p. 138</ref> [[NKVD]] code name for the [[Communist Party]].<ref>[[#refHaynes08|Haynes 2008]]: 36</ref>  That year, [[NKVD]] agents [[Gaik Ovakimian]] and Andrei Graur reported to NKVD chief Boris Merkulov, identifying the code name "Chester" as "Robert Oppenheimer, b. 1906, an Amer. Jew, secret member of the fellowcountryman org., a professor at the U. of California, works on ‘En-s’,"<ref>Vassiliev Yellow Notebook #1 ([http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/Yellow_Notebook_No._1_Original.pdf Orig.]), PDF p. 6; ([http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/Yellow_Notebook_No.1_Translated.pdf Trans].), p. 10. Cf. [[#refHKV09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 45</ref> i.e., 'Enormoz,' Soviet code name for the [[Manhattan Project]].<ref>[[#refHerken|Herken 2003]]: 87</ref> Merkulov, reporting in turn to Soviet Commissar for Internal Affairs [[Lavrenty Beria]], identified “one of the leaders of scientific work on uranium in the USA, Professor R. Oppenheimer,” as “an unlisted member of the apparatus of Comrade [[Earl Browder|Browder]],” General Secretary of the [[CPUSA]].<ref>[http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=va2.document&identifier=5034E2FB-96B6-175C-967BCF8290DD3AD9&sort=Collection&item=Intelligence%20Operations%20in%20the%20Cold%20War Merkulov to Beria, 2 October 1944], Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars</ref>

===="Closed" unit====

====Cover-up====

During 1938-42, throughout the [[Hitler-Stalin pact]], Oppenheimer was a member at Berkeley of what he called a "discussion group,"<ref>Ted Morgan, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=4ijWhgff9XEC Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America]'' (Random House, Inc., 2004) ISBN 081297302X, p. 267</ref> which was later identified by fellow members [[Haakon Chevalier|Chevalier]]<ref>[http://www.brotherhoodofthebomb.com/bhbsource/document1.html Chevalier to Oppenheimer, July 23, 1964] (Robert Oppenheimer papers, Library of Congress); Barbara Chevalier, "[http://www.brotherhoodofthebomb.com/bhbsource/new_evidence_2.html Robert Oppenheimer and Haakon Chevalier: From the Memoirs of Barbara Chevalier]," excerpts (brotherhoodofthebomb.com)</ref> and Gordon Griffiths<ref>Gordon Griffiths, "[http://www.brotherhoodofthebomb.com/bhbsource/new_evidence_3.html Venturing Outside the Ivory Tower: The Political Autobiography of a College Professor]," excerpts</ref> as a “closed” (secret)<ref>Jessica Mitford, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=8KUEAQAAIAAJ A fine old conflict]'' (Knopf, 1977) ISBN 0394499956, p. 67</ref> unit of the Communist Party for Berkeley faculty. If Oppenheimer was not a Communist, he was the only member of this group who was not.<ref>S. S. Schweber, “[http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/a-puzzle-of-a-man A Puzzle of a Man],” ''American Scientist'', Vol. 2, No. 5 (September-October 2004)</ref>

 

 

 

===="Unlisted member"====

In April 1942 Oppenheimer's name was formally submitted for security clearance for the [[Manhattan Project]]; the following month, observed William L. Borden, executive director of the congressional Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (JCAE), Oppenheimer "either stopped contributing funds to the Communist Party or else made his contributions through a new channel not yet discovered."<ref>[[#refAECH|AEC Hearing]]: 837 (PDF 849)</ref> Oppenheimer "appears to have dropped out of the party in early 1942,” write Haynes, Klehr and Vassiliev.<ref>[[#refHKV09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 58</ref> According to Jerrold L. Schecter, spokesman for the National Security Administration in the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] administration, “Robert Oppenheimer’s long time membership in the Communist Party of the United States was made secret in 1942.”<ref>[http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.publications&doc_id=43900&group_id=13349 Was Oppenheimer a Soviet Spy? A Roundtable Discussion with Jerrold and Leona Schecter, Gregg Herken and Hayden Peake], Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars</ref>

In April 1942 Oppenheimer's name was formally submitted for security clearance for the [[Manhattan Project]]; the following month, observed William L. Borden, executive director of the congressional Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (JCAE), Oppenheimer "either stopped contributing funds to the Communist Party or else made his contributions through a new channel not yet discovered."<ref>[[#refAECH|AEC Hearing]]: 837 (PDF 849)</ref> Oppenheimer "appears to have dropped out of the party in early 1942,” write Haynes, Klehr and Vassiliev.<ref>[[#refHKV09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 58</ref> According to Jerrold L. Schecter, spokesman for the National Security Administration in the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] administration, “Robert Oppenheimer’s long time membership in the Communist Party of the United States was made secret in 1942.”<ref>[http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.publications&doc_id=43900&group_id=13349 Was Oppenheimer a Soviet Spy? A Roundtable Discussion with Jerrold and Leona Schecter, Gregg Herken and Hayden Peake], Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars</ref>