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The FBI surveillance logs in question recorded the Soviet agent [[Lauchlin Currie|Currie]] talking to [[Thomas Corcoran|Corcoran]] about Service, telling him, "the important thing is to get him out"; Corcoran telling Service that he had informed Attorney General [[Tom Clark]] "about the understanding we had below about the cutting out of your name"; James McGranery, assistant to the Attorney General, telling Corcoran, "Your man is Service. I got it" (to which Corcoran replies, "Yeah. So that we can cut him out. OK?"); Service telling Corcoran that federal prosecutor Robert Hitchcock told his attorney "we want to have Service cleared"; Corcoran telling Service, "I have a flat deal like that you are going to be cleared"; etc. <ref>[http://education-research.org/PDFs/Recording_Summary-Jaffe-06.10.45-04.19.46.pdf FBI recording summary], May 31, 1950: Philip Jacob Jaffe, June 10, 1945-April 19, 1946 (with cover memorandum, Ladd to Hoover, June 30, 1952)</ref>

The FBI surveillance logs in question recorded the Soviet agent [[Lauchlin Currie|Currie]] talking to [[Thomas Corcoran|Corcoran]] about Service, telling him, "the important thing is to get him out"; Corcoran telling Service that he had informed Attorney General [[Tom Clark]] "about the understanding we had below about the cutting out of your name"; James McGranery, assistant to the Attorney General, telling Corcoran, "Your man is Service. I got it" (to which Corcoran replies, "Yeah. So that we can cut him out. OK?"); Service telling Corcoran that federal prosecutor Robert Hitchcock told his attorney "we want to have Service cleared"; Corcoran telling Service, "I have a flat deal like that you are going to be cleared"; etc. <ref>[http://education-research.org/PDFs/Recording_Summary-Jaffe-06.10.45-04.19.46.pdf FBI recording summary], May 31, 1950: Philip Jacob Jaffe, June 10, 1945-April 19, 1946 (with cover memorandum, Ladd to Hoover, June 30, 1952)</ref>

FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] later wrote, "in the event I had been asked at the time the arrests were made whether I thought we had an airtight case, I would have stated that I thought we had. Further, if I were asked today, I would have to so state."<ref>FBI Director J. Edgar [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Hoover%20to%20Ford%20-%2005.4.50.pdf Hoover to Peyton Ford], Assistant to the Attorney General, re Philip Jacob Jaffe, was., et al., Espionage, May 4, 1950 (FBI file: Amerasia, Section 54)</ref>

When congressional investigators asked why the Justice Department dropped the case, Hitchcock claimed that department attorneys were concerned that the case would be thrown out because the evidence had been obtained illegally. Asked why Justice had begun the prosecution, having known the origin of the evidence, MacInerney said, "I guess I was just overzealous." In fact, the courts in 1945 held that evidence obtained without a warrant, though inadmissible in court, could be used in investigation to develop other, admissible evidence. It would not be until the 1960s that the courts would adopt the so-called "tainted fruit" doctrine. According to Time magazine, "An FBI agent said flatly: 'The FBI secured no documents through any means … except incident to arrest. They were all legally obtained.'"<ref>"[http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,812633,00.html The Strange Case of Amerasia]," ''Time'', June 12, 1950</ref> FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] later wrote, "in the event I had been asked at the time the arrests were made whether I thought we had an airtight case, I would have stated that I thought we had. Further, if I were asked today, I would have to so state."<ref>FBI Director J. Edgar [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Hoover%20to%20Ford%20-%2005.4.50.pdf Hoover to Peyton Ford], Assistant to the Attorney General, re Philip Jacob Jaffe, was., et al., Espionage, May 4, 1950 (FBI file: Amerasia, Section 54)</ref>

According to Mirsky, Service would later confess that he had given Jaffe “a top-secret document revealing the Nationalist Order of Battle, which showed the exact disposition of the forces facing Mao's troops.”  Service admitted that he knew this might be regarded as treason, but said, "I want to get this off my chest."<ref>Jonathan Mirsky, “[http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704398304574598443437286438-lMyQjAxMDA5MDIwMTEyNDEyWj.html In Whose Service?]” ''The Wall Street Journal'', December 20, 2009</ref> As [http://www.uic.edu/depts/hist/Faculty/Fried.html Richard M. Fried] admits, "Conservative suspicions of a high-level fix were correct."<ref>Richard M. Fried, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=pVatMuvNTsoC Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective]'' (Oxford University Press, 1991) ISBN 0195043618, p. 61</ref>

According to Mirsky, Service would later confess that he had given Jaffe “a top-secret document revealing the Nationalist Order of Battle, which showed the exact disposition of the forces facing Mao's troops.”  Service admitted that he knew this might be regarded as treason, but said, "I want to get this off my chest."<ref>Jonathan Mirsky, “[http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704398304574598443437286438-lMyQjAxMDA5MDIwMTEyNDEyWj.html In Whose Service?]” ''The Wall Street Journal'', December 20, 2009</ref> As [http://www.uic.edu/depts/hist/Faculty/Fried.html Richard M. Fried] admits, "Conservative suspicions of a high-level fix were correct."<ref>Richard M. Fried, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=pVatMuvNTsoC Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective]'' (Oxford University Press, 1991) ISBN 0195043618, p. 61</ref>