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===VENONA files===

===VENONA files===

In 1995, when the VENONA transcripts were declassified, further detailed information was revealed about Soviet espionage in the United States. It is generally believed that McCarthy had no access to VENONA intelligence, and VENONA corroborates some of the individuals investigated by McCarthy were indeed Soviet agents.  VENONA specifically references at least 349 people in the United States&mdash;including citizens, immigrants, and permanent residents&mdash;who cooperated in various ways with Soviet intelligence agencies. 83 persons plead the fifth amendment right against self incrimination in public hearings conducted by McCarthy. An additional 9 persons refused to testify on constitutional grounds in private hearings, and their names were not made public.<ref>Drummey, James J. (May 11, 1987). [http://www.jbs.org/node/632|''The Real McCarthy Record'']. The New American, Section III. Committee Chairman (1953-54).</ref>

In 1995, when the VENONA transcripts were declassified, further detailed information was revealed about Soviet espionage in the United States. FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] was among only a handful of people in the U.S. Government who was aware of the Venona project, and there is no indication whatsoever Hoover shared Venona information with McCarthy.  In fact, Hoover may have actually fed McCarthy disinformation, or dead end files, in an effort to put pressure on relatives, friends, or close associates of real Venona suspects by threatening to reveal embarrassing information about them in a public forum if they failed to cooperate and reveal what they might have known about someone's else’s activities and associations.  And there is no indication McCarthy might have known he was being used by Hoover in this way.

Of the 83 persons pleading the fifth ammendment, several have been identified by [[NSA]] and [[FBI]] as agents of the Soviet Union in the [[Venona project]] involved in espionage. These are several prominent examples:

 

On February 7, 1950, three days before McCarthy acclaimed Wheeling West Virginia speech, Hoover testified before House Appropriations Committee that [[Glossary_of_espionage_terms#Counterintelligence|counterespionage]] requires "an objective different from the handling of criminal cases." It is more important is to ascertain his contacts, his objectives, his sources of information and his methods of communication" as "arrest and public disclosure are steps to be taken only as a matter of last resort." He concluded that "we can be secure only when we have a full knowledge of the operations of an espionage network, because then we are in a position to render their efforts ineffective." <ref>[http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/history/foxpaper.htm In the Enemy’s House: Venona and the Maturation of American Counterintelligence], John F. Fox, Jr., FBI Historian, Presented at the 2005 Symposium on Cryptologic History, 10/27/2005. </ref>

 

Three days later, at Wheeling West Virginia, McCarthy is said to have made the claim, "I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party."  The famous "List", as it has become to be known, has always engendered much controversy.  The figure McCarthy used of 205 appears to have come from an oral briefing with Hoover regarding espionage suspects the FBI was then investigating.  The FBI had discovered on its own five Soviet agents operating in the United States during World War II; defector Elizabeth Bentley further added another 81 known identities of espionage agents; Venona materials had provided the balance, and by the time a full accounting of the list was compiled in an FBI memo in 1957, one more subject had been added to the number, now totally 206. <ref>[[Wikisource:FBI Synopsis on "Operations of the MGB Residency at New York, 1944-45"|FBI Memo Referencing 206 Communists in Government]]</ref>

 

Much confusion has always surrounded the subject.  The closely guarded FBI/Venona information of espionage agents refers to the number of 206; whereas McCarthy in his Wheeling speech did not refer to espionage activity, he referred to Communist Party membership.  Being a security risk as a CPUSA member does not actually entail or imply that a person was or is actively involved in espionage activity.  When McCarthy was questioned on the number, he referred to the Lee List, which most probably was given to him by Hoover, while Hoover kept the real espionage suspects from Venona evidence, and elsewhere, secret.

 

The Venona project specifically references at least 349 people in the United States&mdash;including citizens, immigrants, and permanent residents&mdash;who cooperated in various ways with Soviet intelligence agencies, however not all have been identified. In hearings before [[Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations]] (PSI) conducted by McCarthy 83 persons plead the fifth amendment right against self incrimination in public hearings . An additional 9 persons refused to testify on constitutional grounds in private hearings, and their names were not made public. <ref>Drummey, James J. (May 11, 1987). [http://www.jbs.org/node/632|''The Real McCarthy Record'']. The New American, Section III. Committee Chairman (1953-54).</ref> Of the 83 persons pleading the fifth amendment, several have been identified by [[NSA]] and [[FBI]] as agents of the Soviet Union in the [[Venona project]] involved in espionage. These are several prominent examples:

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On June 14, 1951, Senator McCarthy gave the Senate information about Currie and his connection to the other individuals involved in supporting the Chinese Communists. He stated, "The Stilwell-Davies group took over in China in 1942. Soon thereafter, Lauchlin, at the White House, and [[John Carter Vincent]], and subsequently [[Alger Hiss]] at the State Department were exercising their influence at the Washington end of the transmission belt conveying poisonous misinformation from ChungKing. The full outlines of Currie's betrayal have yet to be traced....In this connection it should be recalled that Currie issued an order on White House stationery depreving the Republic of China of 20,000 German rifles."

On June 14, 1951, Senator McCarthy gave the Senate information about Currie and his connection to the other individuals involved in supporting the Chinese Communists. He stated, "The Stilwell-Davies group took over in China in 1942. Soon thereafter, Lauchlin, at the White House, and [[John Carter Vincent]], and subsequently [[Alger Hiss]] at the State Department were exercising their influence at the Washington end of the transmission belt conveying poisonous misinformation from ChungKing. The full outlines of Currie's betrayal have yet to be traced....In this connection it should be recalled that Currie issued an order on White House stationery depriving the Republic of China of 20,000 German rifles."

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Venona transcripts confirm the Senate Civil Liberties Subcommittee, chaired by former Senator Robert LaFollette, Jr., whom McCarthy defeated for election in 1946, had at least four staff members working on behalf of the [[KGB]].  Chief Councel of the Committee [[John Abt]]; [[Charles Kramer]], who served on three other Congressional Committees; Allen Rosenberg, who also served on the National Labor Relations Board, [[Board of Economic Warfare]] (BEW), the [[Foreign Economic Administration]] (FEA) and later argued cases before the United States Supreme Court; and [[Charles Flato]], who served on the BEW and FEA, all were [[CPUSA]] members and associated with the [[Comintern]].

Venona transcripts confirm the Senate Civil Liberties Subcommittee, chaired by former Senator Robert LaFollette, Jr., whom McCarthy defeated for election in 1946, had at least four staff members working on behalf of the [[KGB]].  Chief Counsel of the Committee [[John Abt]]; [[Charles Kramer]], who served on three other Congressional Committees; Allen Rosenberg, who also served on the National Labor Relations Board, [[Board of Economic Warfare]] (BEW), the [[Foreign Economic Administration]] (FEA) and later argued cases before the United States Supreme Court; and [[Charles Flato]], who served on the BEW and FEA, all were [[CPUSA]] members and associated with the [[Comintern]].

While the underlying premise of Communists in the government was true, many of McCarthy's targets were not complicit in espionage.  Recent scholarship has established of 159 persons investigated between 1950 and 1952, there is substantial evidence nine had assisted Soviet espionage using evidence from Venona or other sources.  Of the remainder, while not being directly complicit in espionage, many were considered security risks.<ref>[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page62.html Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Lists and Venona]</ref>

While the underlying premise of Communists in the government was true, many of McCarthy's targets were not complicit in espionage.  Recent scholarship has established of 159 persons investigated between 1950 and 1952, there is substantial evidence nine had assisted Soviet espionage using evidence from Venona or other sources.  Of the remainder, while not being directly complicit in espionage, many were considered security risks.<ref>[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page62.html Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Lists and Venona]</ref>