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Hiss was sentenced to two concurrent five-year terms in [http://www.orwelltoday.com/hisscuffs2.jpg federal prison]. Secretary of State Dean Acheson provoked outrage by commenting, "Whatever the outcome of any appeal which Mr. Hiss or his lawyer may take, I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss."<ref>While Acheson defended this statement in public, privately he admitted "it was not one of the smartest things that I ever did in my life." Horace G. Torbert, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?mfdip:16:./temp/~ammem_JLez:: Interview with Jack K. McFall], Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, May 9, 1988</ref> Eleanor Roosevelt added to the furor with her comment, "It seems rather horrible to condemn someone on the word of someone else who admits to guilt." ''Time'' magazine commented that she "obviously had not been paying much attention," being "unaware of, or [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811795,00.html determined to ignore], the [[corroborating evidence]] introduced by the Government."

Hiss was sentenced to two concurrent five-year terms in [http://www.orwelltoday.com/hisscuffs2.jpg federal prison]. Secretary of State Dean Acheson provoked outrage by commenting, "Whatever the outcome of any appeal which Mr. Hiss or his lawyer may take, I do not intend to turn my back on Alger Hiss."<ref>While Acheson defended this statement in public, privately he admitted "it was not one of the smartest things that I ever did in my life." Horace G. Torbert, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?mfdip:16:./temp/~ammem_JLez:: Interview with Jack K. McFall], Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, May 9, 1988</ref> Eleanor Roosevelt added to the furor with her comment, "It seems rather horrible to condemn someone on the word of someone else who admits to guilt." ''Time'' magazine commented that she "obviously had not been paying much attention," being "unaware of, or [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811795,00.html determined to ignore], the [[corroborating evidence]] introduced by the Government."

By that June, the U.S. Army was persuaded that [[#refMoyComA|Ales was Hiss]]. General of the Army Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informed President Truman that Venona had "positively identified" Hiss and [[Harry Dexter White]] as Soviet agents.<ref>[[#refSchecter02|Schecter 2002]]: 149</ref> According to Bradley, Truman said, "That G&mdash;D&mdash; stuff. Every time it bumps into us it gets bigger and bigger. It's likely to [[#refRusher04|take us down]]."

By that June, the U.S. Army was persuaded that [[#refMoyComA|Ales was Hiss]]. General of the Army Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informed President Truman that Venona had "positively identified" Hiss and [[Harry Dexter White]] as Soviet agents.<ref>[[#refSchecter02|Schecter 2002]]: 149</ref> According to Bradley, Truman said, "That G&mdash;D&mdash; stuff. Every time it bumps into us it gets bigger and bigger. It's likely to [[#refRusher04|take us down]]." So fearful of the implications was the President that [http://www.aim.org/aim-report/aim-report-media-wont-give-up-on-red-spy-alger-hiss-july-b/ Truman ordered the Venona documents destroyed]--an order that, fortunately for historians, was disobeyed.

Hiss appealed, but in December 1950 his [[#refMHSL|conviction was affirmed]] by the [[#refHissAppellate|U.S. Court of Appeals]]. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] twice denied him ''certiorari'',<ref>Asked if they had “one shred” of evidence to back their thesis in seeking a new trial, the Hiss lawyers answered, “No, your Honor.” Ralph de Toledano, "[http://www.mmisi.org/ma/22_04/toledano.pdf Towards a Higher Imperative]," ''Modern Age'', Fall 1978, p. 412 (PDF p. 1)</ref> and later denied his petition for a writ of error ''coram nobis'',<ref>The Supreme Court rejected Hiss's appeal three times, the [http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hiss--guilty-as-charged-8090 last time in 1983].</ref> orchestrated by<ref>Eric Breindel, "The Faithful Traitor," ''National Review'', February 10, 1997</ref> long-time Communist Party member<ref>Rabinowitz claimed to have joined the Party in 1942, adding "There was no formal act marking the end of the relationship.... though I continued to meet with party members to discuss both political and legal matters for many years thereafter." (Victor Rabinowitz, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iMaVigHoraAC Unrepentant Leftist: A Lawyer's Memoir]'' [Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1996] ISBN 025202253X, pp. 73, 87). Rabinowitz' law partner (representing Cuba's Communist Castro regime) was [http://www.thepostemail.com/2009/09/26/declassified-fbi-report-exposes-communist-seedbed-for-obama-associates/ Leonard Boudin], [http://lawvibe.com/leftist-lawyer-victor-rabinowitz-passes-away-at-96/ father of convicted Weather Underground terrorist Kathy Boudin], whose son was [http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/09/us/from-a-radical-background-a-rhodes-scholar-emerges.html?pagewanted=all adopted and raised] by self-proclaimed "communist" (Ron Chepesiuk, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=hqbM4eyLyx8C Sixties Radicals, Then and Now: Candid Conversations with Those Who Shaped the Era]'' [McFarland, 1995] ISBN 0899507786, p. 102) [[William Ayers]], political [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/us/politics/04ayers.html?pagewanted=all booster of Barack Obama].</ref> Victor Rabinowitz.

Hiss appealed, but in December 1950 his [[#refMHSL|conviction was affirmed]] by the [[#refHissAppellate|U.S. Court of Appeals]]. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] twice denied him ''certiorari'',<ref>Asked if they had “one shred” of evidence to back their thesis in seeking a new trial, the Hiss lawyers answered, “No, your Honor.” Ralph de Toledano, "[http://www.mmisi.org/ma/22_04/toledano.pdf Towards a Higher Imperative]," ''Modern Age'', Fall 1978, p. 412 (PDF p. 1)</ref> and later denied his petition for a writ of error ''coram nobis'',<ref>The Supreme Court rejected Hiss's appeal three times, the [http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hiss--guilty-as-charged-8090 last time in 1983].</ref> orchestrated by<ref>Eric Breindel, "The Faithful Traitor," ''National Review'', February 10, 1997</ref> long-time Communist Party member<ref>Rabinowitz claimed to have joined the Party in 1942, adding "There was no formal act marking the end of the relationship.... though I continued to meet with party members to discuss both political and legal matters for many years thereafter." (Victor Rabinowitz, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iMaVigHoraAC Unrepentant Leftist: A Lawyer's Memoir]'' [Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1996] ISBN 025202253X, pp. 73, 87). Rabinowitz' law partner (representing Cuba's Communist Castro regime) was [http://www.thepostemail.com/2009/09/26/declassified-fbi-report-exposes-communist-seedbed-for-obama-associates/ Leonard Boudin], [http://lawvibe.com/leftist-lawyer-victor-rabinowitz-passes-away-at-96/ father of convicted Weather Underground terrorist Kathy Boudin], whose son was [http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/09/us/from-a-radical-background-a-rhodes-scholar-emerges.html?pagewanted=all adopted and raised] by self-proclaimed "communist" (Ron Chepesiuk, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=hqbM4eyLyx8C Sixties Radicals, Then and Now: Candid Conversations with Those Who Shaped the Era]'' [McFarland, 1995] ISBN 0899507786, p. 102) [[William Ayers]], political [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/us/politics/04ayers.html?pagewanted=all booster of Barack Obama].</ref> Victor Rabinowitz.