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In the summer of 1936, Communist underground boss J. Peters arranged a dummy transaction, in which Hiss donated his 1929 Ford to the [[Communist Party]], according to Chambers. Hiss would deny this, testifying instead that he had given the car to Chambers<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,888531,00.html Your Witness, Mr. Murphy]," ''Time,'' July 4, 1949</ref> in June 1935, after buying a new car. But Hiss did not buy a new car until some three months after this, and he continued to pay insurance on the Ford for a year after he claimed to have gotten rid of it.<ref> Jacob Cohen, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n1_v45/ai_13366253 Innocent after all? The Kremlin files and the guilt or innocence of convicted spy Alger Hiss]," ''National Review'', January 18, 1993

In the summer of 1936, Communist underground boss J. Peters arranged a dummy transaction, in which Hiss donated his 1929 Ford to the [[Communist Party]], according to Chambers. Hiss would deny this, testifying instead that he had given the car to Chambers<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,888531,00.html Your Witness, Mr. Murphy]," ''Time,'' July 4, 1949</ref> in June 1935, after buying a new car. But Hiss did not buy a new car until some three months after this, and he continued to pay insurance on the Ford for a year after he claimed to have gotten rid of it.<ref> Jacob Cohen, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n1_v45/ai_13366253 Innocent after all? The Kremlin files and the guilt or innocence of convicted spy Alger Hiss]," ''National Review'', January 18, 1993

</ref> Hiss actually transferred the car on July 23, 1936 to the Cherner Motor Company, which sold it the same day for $24 to the Communist<ref>G. Edward White, ''Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 60</ref> William Rosen, according to the car's certificate of title.<ref>Denise Noe, [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/5.html The Shadowy Mr. Crosley, "The Alger Hiss Case,"] TruTV Crime Library </ref>Rosen would refuse to answer questions about his role in the transaction or in the Communist Party on grounds of potential self-incrimination.<ref>''United States v Alger Hiss'', 185 F. 2d 822 (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, December 7, 1950)</ref>

</ref> Hiss actually transferred the car on July 23, 1936 to the Cherner Motor Company, which sold it the same day for $24 to the Communist<ref>G. Edward White, ''Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 60</ref> William Rosen, according to the car's certificate of title.<ref>Denise Noe, [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/5.html The Shadowy Mr. Crosley, "The Alger Hiss Case,"] TruTV Crime Library </ref> Rosen would refuse to answer questions about his role in the transaction or in the Communist Party on grounds of potential self-incrimination.<ref>''United States v Alger Hiss'', 185 F. 2d 822 (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, December 7, 1950)</ref>

According to Hiss' attorney, Edward McLean, Rosen's attorney&mdash;whose name was signed to the car transfer papers&mdash;said:

According to Hiss' attorney, Edward McLean, Rosen's attorney&mdash;whose name was signed to the car transfer papers&mdash;said:

{{cquote|…that Rosen did lend himself to a dummy transaction concerning the Ford car.... [A]t some later date, a man came to see Rosen and told him that the title certificate to the Ford was in Rosen's name and asked Rosen to sign an assignment of it to some other person. Rosen did this. The man who came to see Rosen was a very high Communist. His name would be a sensation in this case. The man who ultimately got the car is also a Communist. Bloch implied that Rosen was a Communist too but did not say so expressly.<ref>[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/8841 Reply by Allen Weinstein, "The Hiss Case: An Exchange,"] ''The New York Review of Books," Volume 23, Number 9 (May 27, 1976)</ref>}}

{{cquote|…that Rosen did lend himself to a dummy transaction concerning the Ford car.... [A]t some later date, a man came to see Rosen and told him that the title certificate to the Ford was in Rosen's name and asked Rosen to sign an assignment of it to some other person. Rosen did this. The man who came to see Rosen was a very high Communist. His name would be a sensation in this case. The man who ultimately got the car is also a Communist. Bloch implied that Rosen was a Communist too but did not say so expressly.<ref>[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/8841 Reply by Allen Weinstein, "The Hiss Case: An Exchange,"] ''The New York Review of Books," Volume 23, Number 9 (May 27, 1976)</ref>}}

The title transfer bore a signature Hiss acknowledged to be his own, notarized by Hiss' State Department colleague W. Marvin Smith. After testifying in 1948 that he had notarized Hiss' signature on the transfer, Smith would plunge to his death down a five-story Justice Department stairwell to the marble floor below; there would be no witnesses<ref>"U.S. Lawyer Who Figured In Hiss Case Killed in Fall," ''The Washington Post,'' October 21, 1948, p. 1</ref>

The title transfer bore a signature Hiss acknowledged to be his own, notarized by Hiss' State Department colleague W. Marvin Smith. After testifying in 1948 that he had notarized Hiss' signature on the transfer, Smith would plunge to his death down a five-story Justice Department stairwell to the marble floor below; there would be no witnesses.<ref>"U.S. Lawyer Who Figured In Hiss Case Killed in Fall," ''The Washington Post,'' October 21, 1948, p. 1</ref>

Just before Christmas 1936, Colonel [[Boris Bykov]], head of [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]] in the U.S., gave Chambers money to buy four Bokhara rugs for Hiss, [[Harry Dexter White]], [[George Silverman]], and [[Julian Wadleigh]], according to Chambers. Hiss would later claim that Chambers had given him his rug in 1935 in partial payment for rent, but Marxist<ref>Alan Wallach, "Marxist Art Historian: Meyer Schapiro, 1904-1996," ''Against the Current'' 62 (May-June 1996), p. 52</ref> Columbia University art historian [[Meyer Schapiro]], who confirmed that he arranged the purchase, produced the canceled check dated December 23, 1936, and the Massachusetts Importing Company of Manhattan, which confirmed selling him the rugs, produced the Bill of Sale. White's widow and Silverman confirmed that they had received their rugs sometime between late 1936 and the fall of 1938. Wadleigh, who confessed to having been a member of Chambers' apparatus and delivering documents to him,<ref>William R. Conklin, "[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00611FE345F177B93CBA91789D95F4D8485F9 Aided Red Spy Ring, Wadleigh Admits; Tells Hiss Jury He Channeled Up to 500 U. S. Documents to Soviet in 1936-37]," ''The New York Times'', December 9, 1949, p. 16</ref> confirmed that he had received his rug for New Year's 1937<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Early Cold War Spies: The Espionage Trials that Shaped American Politics'' (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2006) ISBN 0521857384), p. 117-118</ref> and conceded that he understood the rug to be a gift from the Soviets.<ref>Jacob Cohen, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n1_v45/ai_13366253 Innocent after all? The Kremlin files and the guilt or innocence of convicted spy Alger Hiss]," ''National Review'', January 18, 1993</ref>

Just before Christmas 1936, Colonel [[Boris Bykov]], head of [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]] in the U.S., gave Chambers money to buy four Bokhara rugs for Hiss, [[Harry Dexter White]], [[George Silverman]], and [[Julian Wadleigh]], according to Chambers. Hiss would later claim that Chambers had given him his rug in 1935 in partial payment for rent, but Marxist<ref>Alan Wallach, "Marxist Art Historian: Meyer Schapiro, 1904-1996," ''Against the Current'' 62 (May-June 1996), p. 52</ref> Columbia University art historian [[Meyer Schapiro]], who confirmed that he arranged the purchase, produced the canceled check dated December 23, 1936, and the Massachusetts Importing Company of Manhattan, which confirmed selling him the rugs, produced the Bill of Sale. White's widow and Silverman confirmed that they had received their rugs sometime between late 1936 and the fall of 1938. Wadleigh, who confessed to having been a member of Chambers' apparatus and delivering documents to him,<ref>William R. Conklin, "[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00611FE345F177B93CBA91789D95F4D8485F9 Aided Red Spy Ring, Wadleigh Admits; Tells Hiss Jury He Channeled Up to 500 U. S. Documents to Soviet in 1936-37]," ''The New York Times'', December 9, 1949, p. 16</ref> confirmed that he had received his rug for New Year's 1937<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Early Cold War Spies: The Espionage Trials that Shaped American Politics'' (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2006) ISBN 0521857384), p. 117-118</ref> and conceded that he understood the rug to be a gift from the Soviets.<ref>Jacob Cohen, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n1_v45/ai_13366253 Innocent after all? The Kremlin files and the guilt or innocence of convicted spy Alger Hiss]," ''National Review'', January 18, 1993</ref>