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Senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] (D.-N.Y.), who was instrumental in securing the release of the long-awaited [[FBI]] and [[Venona project]] files, which had been classified for nearly 50 years, in his 1998 book, ''Secrecy: The American Experience'', wrote:

Senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] (D.-N.Y.), who was instrumental in securing the release of the long-awaited [[FBI]] and [[Venona project]] files, which had been classified for nearly 50 years, in his 1998 book, ''Secrecy: The American Experience'', wrote:

{{Cquote |Belief in the guilt or innocence of Alger Hiss became a defining issue in American intellectual life. Parts of the American government had conclusive evidence of his guilt, but they never told.<ref>Daniel Patrick Moynihan, ''Secrecy: The American Experience'', New Haven: Yale University Press (1998), pg. 146.</ref>}}

{{Cquote |Belief in the guilt or innocence of Alger Hiss became a defining issue in American intellectual life. Parts of the American government had conclusive evidence of his guilt, but they never told.<ref>Daniel Patrick Moynihan, ''Secrecy: The American Experience'', New Haven: Yale University Press (1998), pg. 146.</ref>}}

==Early life==

==Early life==

Alger Hiss was born in Baltimore, Maryland, November 11, 1904,<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html Testimony of Alger Hiss] before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (August 5, 1948)</ref> to a financially comfortable upper-middle-class<ref>Denise Noe, "[http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/ The Alger Hiss Case]," TruTV Crime Library</ref> WASP family.<ref>Aaron Beim and Gary Alan Fine, "The Cultural Frameworks of Prejudice: Reputational Images and the Postwar Disjuncture of Jews and Communism," ''The Sociological Quarterly'', Summer 2007, Volume 48, Issue 3, pp. 373-397</ref> When Alger was two years old, his father, an executive with a dry goods firm,<ref>Janny Scott, "[http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/reviews/hiss-obit.html Alger Hiss, 92, Central Figure in Long-Running Cold War Controversy]," ''New York Times'', November 16, 1996</ref> committed suicide by slashing his throat with his own razor.<ref>Lance Morrow, "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985608,00.html Fred Astaire Meets the Sad-Sack Dostoevskian Pudge]," ''Time'', November 25, 1996</ref> When Hiss was 25, his sister Mary Ann also committed suicide, by drinking a bottle of Lysol.<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. 5</ref> Alger's older brother Bosley had died two and a half years before from Bright’s disease, a kidney disorder aggravated by his excessive alcohol consumption.<ref>Tony Hiss, ''Laughing Last: Alger Hiss by Tony Hiss'' (Boston: Haughton Mifflin, 1977), ISBN 039524899X, cited in G. Edward White, ''Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 158</ref><ref>Denise Noe, "[http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/ The Alger Hiss Case]," TruTV Crime Library</ref>

Alger Hiss was born in Baltimore, Maryland, November 11, 1904,<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html Testimony of Alger Hiss] before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (August 5, 1948)</ref> to a financially comfortable upper-middle-class<ref>Denise Noe, "[http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/ The Alger Hiss Case]," TruTV Crime Library</ref> WASP family.<ref>Aaron Beim and Gary Alan Fine, "The Cultural Frameworks of Prejudice: Reputational Images and the Postwar Disjuncture of Jews and Communism," ''The Sociological Quarterly'', Summer 2007, Volume 48, Issue 3, pp. 373-397</ref> When Alger was two years old, his father, an executive with a dry goods firm,<ref>Janny Scott, "[http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/reviews/hiss-obit.html Alger Hiss, 92, Central Figure in Long-Running Cold War Controversy]," ''New York Times'', November 16, 1996</ref> committed suicide by slashing his throat with his own razor.<ref>Lance Morrow, "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985608,00.html Fred Astaire Meets the Sad-Sack Dostoevskian Pudge]," ''Time'', November 25, 1996</ref> When Hiss was 25, his sister Mary Ann also committed suicide, by drinking a bottle of Lysol.<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. 5</ref> Alger's older brother Bosley had died two and a half years before from Bright’s disease, a kidney disorder aggravated by his excessive alcohol consumption.<ref>Tony Hiss, ''Laughing Last: Alger Hiss by Tony Hiss'' (Boston: Haughton Mifflin, 1977), ISBN 039524899X, cited in G. Edward White, ''Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 158</ref><ref>Denise Noe, "[http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/ The Alger Hiss Case]," TruTV Crime Library</ref>

The following year, Hiss transferred into the [[Justice Department]] as special assistant to the [[Solictor General of the United States|Solictor General]], where he unsuccessfully defended the [[Agricultural Adjustment Act]] before the [[United States Supreme Court]]<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html Testimony of Alger Hiss] before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (August 5, 1948)</ref> (which ruled the AAA unconstitutional in 1936).<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct-cgi/get-us-cite?297+1 ''United States v. Butler'', 297 U.S. 1 (1936)]</ref>

The following year, Hiss transferred into the [[Justice Department]] as special assistant to the [[Solictor General of the United States|Solictor General]], where he unsuccessfully defended the [[Agricultural Adjustment Act]] before the [[United States Supreme Court]]<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html Testimony of Alger Hiss] before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (August 5, 1948)</ref> (which ruled the AAA unconstitutional in 1936).<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct-cgi/get-us-cite?297+1 ''United States v. Butler'', 297 U.S. 1 (1936)]</ref>

At a 1935 dinner at the home of State Department official [[Noel Field]], Hiss argued with [[OGPU]] recruiter [[Hede Massing]] that Field should work with Hiss' [[GRU]] group, rather than Massing's OGPU group, according to Massing.<ref>Hede Massing, ''This Deception'' (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1951), p. 335</ref>

At a 1935 dinner at the home of State Department official (and Soviet intelligence source)<ref>[http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=8544389&CATLN=6&accessmethod=5&j=1 Noel Haviland Field], National Archives, United ingdom "Field worked for the US State Department and the League of Nations in the 1930s acting as a source for Soviet Intelligence."</ref> [[Noel Field]], Hiss argued with [[OGPU]] recruiter [[Hede Massing]] that Field should work with Hiss' [[GRU]] group, rather than Massing's OGPU group, according to Massing.<ref>Hede Massing, ''This Deception'' (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1951), p. 335</ref>

Field would defect in 1948 to Communist Czechoslovakia, where he would tell the secret police that he was fleeing to avoid testifying in the trial of Alger Hiss, whom he identified as a fellow Communist underground agent in the State Department during the mid-thirties, according to official records published in 1990 by Karel Kaplan, former archivist of the Central Committee of the Czech Communist Party.<ref>Karel Kaplan, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=x3s6sBZw-YkC&pg=PA19&dq=%22noel+field%22&sig=d7XE7yhraGkrz6k4AP0ljIqXEvY#PPA19,M1, Report on the Murder of the General Secretary]'' (London: I.B. Taurus & Co. Ltd., 1990), ISBN 1-85043-211-2, pp. 19-25</ref> A 1955 Czechoslovak secret police reinvestigation (obtained in 2000 by Czech human rights activist Karel Skrabek) states, "Noel Field said that … Hiss worked for the USSR as a spy."<ref>Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors'' (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, p. 133</ref> Field would end up in Communist Hungary, where in 1954 he would give Hungarian secret police a statement reading in part as follows:

Field would defect in 1948 to Communist Czechoslovakia, where he would tell the secret police that he was fleeing to avoid testifying in the trial of Alger Hiss, whom he identified as a fellow Communist underground agent in the State Department during the mid-thirties, according to official records published in 1990 by Karel Kaplan, former archivist of the Central Committee of the Czech Communist Party.<ref>Karel Kaplan, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=x3s6sBZw-YkC&pg=PA19&dq=%22noel+field%22&sig=d7XE7yhraGkrz6k4AP0ljIqXEvY#PPA19,M1, Report on the Murder of the General Secretary]'' (London: I.B. Taurus & Co. Ltd., 1990), ISBN 1-85043-211-2, pp. 19-25</ref> A 1955 Czechoslovak secret police reinvestigation (obtained in 2000 by Czech human rights activist Karel Skrabek) states, "Noel Field said that … Hiss worked for the USSR as a spy."<ref>Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors'' (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, p. 133</ref> Field would end up in Communist Hungary, where in 1954 he would give Hungarian secret police a statement reading in part as follows:

In a 1936 memorandum, found in the [[NKVD]] archives by former [[KGB]] agent [[Alexander Vassiliev]], Massing complains to Moscow about Hiss (using his real name) talking to Field (whom she refers to by his code name "Ernst"): "Alger told him that he was a Communist," complains Massing&mdash;a serious breach of discipline&mdash;and asked Field to use his connections to help Hiss get into the State Department.<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, p. 150</ref><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. 228</ref>

In a 1936 memorandum, found in the [[NKVD]] archives by former [[KGB]] agent [[Alexander Vassiliev]], Massing complains to Moscow about Hiss (using his real name) talking to Field (whom she refers to by his code name "Ernst"): "Alger told him that he was a Communist," complains Massing&mdash;a serious breach of discipline&mdash;and asked Field to use his connections to help Hiss get into the State Department.<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, p. 150</ref><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. 228</ref>

==State Department==

==State Department==

In 1936, Hiss joined the [[State Department]] as special assistant to Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Agreements [[Francis B. Sayre]], son-in-law of [[Woodrow Wilson]].<ref>[http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/timeline/ImageDisplay.asp?ID=37 Francis Bowes Sayre (April 30, 1885 -- March 29, 1972)], Woodrow Wilson House</ref> Two years later, his younger brother [[Donald Hiss|Donald]], who had followed Alger to Johns Hopkins, Harvard Law, and a clerkship for Justice Holmes, would join him there.<ref>Glenn Fowler, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5DB133EF933A15756C0A96F948260 Donald Hiss, 82, Ex-U.S. Official And Lawyer in Washington Firm]," ''The New York Times'', May 20, 1989</ref>

In 1936, Hiss joined the [[State Department]] as special assistant to Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Agreements [[Francis B. Sayre]], son-in-law of [[Woodrow Wilson]].<ref>[http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/timeline/ImageDisplay.asp?ID=37 Francis Bowes Sayre (April 30, 1885 -- March 29, 1972)], Woodrow Wilson House</ref> Two years later, his younger brother [[Donald Hiss|Donald]], who had followed Alger to Johns Hopkins, Harvard Law, and a clerkship for Justice Holmes, would join him there.<ref>Glenn Fowler, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5DB133EF933A15756C0A96F948260 Donald Hiss, 82, Ex-U.S. Official And Lawyer in Washington Firm]," ''The New York Times'', May 20, 1989</ref>

In a cable of the era found in the [[NKVD]] archives by [[Alexander Vassiliev|Vassiliev]], [[NKVD]] illegal [[Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov]] reports to Moscow that Communist underground boss<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, pp. 143-146</ref> [[J. Peters]] (code-named "Storm') told him that "Hiss [Akhmerov used his real name] used to be a member of ''bratskiy'' organization [CPUSA underground]<ref>John Earl Haynes, [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page66.html Cover Name, Cryptonym, CPUSA Party Name, Pseudonym, and Real Name Index: A Research Historian’s Working Reference]</ref> who had been implanted into "Surrogate" [cover name for the State Department]<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—the Stalin Era'', (New York: Random House, 1999), p. 5</ref> and sent to the Neighbors [GRU]<ref>Robert L. Benson, [http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00036.pdf The Venona Story] (Ft. George G. Meade. MD: National Security Agency Center for Cryptologic History), p. 29 (PDF p. 32)</ref>...."<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, p. 150</ref><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. 230</ref>

In a cable of the era found in the [[NKVD]] archives by [[Alexander Vassiliev|Vassiliev]], [[NKVD]] illegal [[Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov]] reports to Moscow that Communist underground boss<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, pp. 143-146</ref> [[J. Peters]] (code-named "Storm') told him that "Hiss [Akhmerov used his real name] used to be a member of ''bratskiy'' organization [CPUSA underground]<ref>John Earl Haynes, [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page66.html Cover Name, Cryptonym, CPUSA Party Name, Pseudonym, and Real Name Index: A Research Historian’s Working Reference]</ref> who had been implanted into "Surrogate" [cover name for the State Department]<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America&mdash;the Stalin Era'', (New York: Random House, 1999), p. 5</ref> and sent to the Neighbors [GRU]<ref>Robert L. Benson, [http://www.nsa.gov/publications/publi00036.pdf The Venona Story] (Ft. George G. Meade. MD: National Security Agency Center for Cryptologic History), p. 29 (PDF p. 32)</ref>...."<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, p. 150</ref><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. 230</ref>

The year before, at the funeral of Marshal [[Jozsef Pilsudski]] in [[Warsaw]], U.S. Ambassador to [[Moscow]] [[William C. Bullitt]] had confidentially assured the Polish government that the United States would stand by Poland in the event of a [[Nazi]] invasion. But when he reported back to the State Department that he had done so, someone there passed this information to the [[Kremlin]], which in turn transmitted it to German intelligence (with which Soviet intelligence had maintained liaison since the time of [[Lenin]]). Nazi propaganda minister [[Joseph Goebbels]] exploited this information to portray the United States as a warmonger. According to reporter Ralph de Toledano, who covered the Hiss trial for ''Newsweek'', the State Department source who passed this information to the [[NKVD]] was Alger Hiss.<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997</ref>

The year before, at the funeral of Marshal [[Jozsef Pilsudski]] in [[Warsaw]], U.S. Ambassador to [[Moscow]] [[William C. Bullitt]] had confidentially assured the Polish government that the United States would stand by Poland in the event of a [[Nazi]] invasion. But when he reported back to the State Department that he had done so, someone there passed this information to the [[Kremlin]], which in turn transmitted it to German intelligence (with which Soviet intelligence had maintained liaison since the time of [[Lenin]]). Nazi propaganda minister [[Joseph Goebbels]] exploited this information to portray the United States as a warmonger. According to reporter Ralph de Toledano, who covered the Hiss trial for ''Newsweek'', the State Department source who passed this information to the [[NKVD]] was Alger Hiss.<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997</ref>

In the summer of 1936, [[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, [[J. Peters]] arranged a dummy transaction, in which Hiss donated his 1929 Ford to the [[Communist Party]], according to Chambers.<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''Witness'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 378</ref> 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>''[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html 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:

By 1937, the peak of Stalin's [[Great Purge|Great Terror]]<ref>Robert Conquest,''The Great Terror: A Reassessment'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), ISBN 0195071328</ref> (whose victims would number over ten million),<ref>Norman Davis, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFD6123FF930A25756C0A966958260 Now It Can Be Told, Even in Russia]," ''The New York Times'', May 13, 1990</ref> Hiss was delivering packets of documents to [[Whittaker Chambers]] at intervals of a week or ten days, according to [[Oleg Gordievsky]], the [[KGB]] London station chief who defected in 1985.<ref>Peter B. Niblo, ''Influence: The Soviet Task Leading to Pearl Harbor, the Iron Curtain, and the Cold War'' (Oakland, OR: Elderberry Press, 2002) ISBN 1930859147, p. 65</ref>

By 1937, the peak of Stalin's [[Great Purge|Great Terror]]<ref>Robert Conquest,''The Great Terror: A Reassessment'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), ISBN 0195071328</ref> (whose victims would number over ten million),<ref>Norman Davis, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFD6123FF930A25756C0A966958260 Now It Can Be Told, Even in Russia]," ''The New York Times'', May 13, 1990</ref> Hiss was delivering packets of documents to [[Whittaker Chambers]] at intervals of a week or ten days, according to [[Oleg Gordievsky]], the [[KGB]] London station chief who defected in 1985.<ref>Peter B. Niblo, ''Influence: The Soviet Task Leading to Pearl Harbor, the Iron Curtain, and the Cold War'' (Oakland, OR: Elderberry Press, 2002) ISBN 1930859147, p. 65</ref>

The same year, French Premier [[Édouard Daladier]] informed Bullitt that two brothers named Hiss, both in the U.S. government, were Soviet agents.<ref>Testimony of Ambassador William Bullitt, April 8, 1952, “Communist influence on U.S. policies in the Far East,” Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Second Congress, Second Session. Hearings: March 13, 1951 to June 20, 1952; Report: July 2, 1952</ref><ref>"French in 1939 Called Hiss Red, Bullitt Says", ''Washington Post'', April 9, 1952</ref><ref>Jim Caldwell, “[http://w4.pica.army.mil/voice/voice2002/020419/KoreaApr4-10.htm Korea - 50 years ago this week, April 4 - 10, 1952],” Army News Service, April 1, 2002</ref> Bullitt “laughed it off as a tall tale, never having heard their names.”<ref>Ralph De Toledano, “The Last Word,” ''Insight on the News'', December 17, 2001</ref>

That year, French Premier [[Édouard Daladier]] informed Bullitt that two brothers named Hiss, both in the U.S. government, were Soviet agents.<ref>Testimony of Ambassador William Bullitt, April 8, 1952, “Communist influence on U.S. policies in the Far East,” Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Second Congress, Second Session. Hearings: March 13, 1951 to June 20, 1952; Report: July 2, 1952</ref><ref>"French in 1939 Called Hiss Red, Bullitt Says", ''Washington Post'', April 9, 1952</ref><ref>Jim Caldwell, “[http://w4.pica.army.mil/voice/voice2002/020419/KoreaApr4-10.htm Korea - 50 years ago this week, April 4 - 10, 1952],” Army News Service, April 1, 2002</ref> Bullitt “laughed it off as a tall tale, never having heard their names.”<ref>Ralph De Toledano, “The Last Word,” ''Insight on the News'', December 17, 2001</ref>

 

Also in 1937, [[Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov|Akhmerov]] cabled Moscow that [[Michael Straight]] (code-named "Nigel"), an American member of the NKVD's [[Cambridge Five|Cambridge spy ring]]<ref>Richard Norton-Taylor, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2004/jan/09/guardianobituaries.usa Michael Straight: Cambridge spy whose testimony was crucial in exposing Anthony Blunt]," ''The Guardian'', January 9, 2004</ref> (and future FDR speech writer and publisher of ''The New Republic''), then working at the State Department, mentioned Hiss (using his real name) as someone with "progressive" views "who occupied a responsible position."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997 ed.), pp. 183-184</ref> Akhmerov worried that Straight "might guess that Hiss belongs to our family" or "find out Hiss's nature" as a [[GRU]] agent.<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, pp. 155-156</ref>

Also that year, [[Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov|Akhmerov]] cabled Moscow that [[Michael Straight]] (code-named "Nigel"), an American member of the NKVD's [[Cambridge Five|Cambridge spy ring]]<ref>Richard Norton-Taylor, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2004/jan/09/guardianobituaries.usa Michael Straight: Cambridge spy whose testimony was crucial in exposing Anthony Blunt]," ''The Guardian'', January 9, 2004</ref> (and future FDR speech writer and publisher of ''The New Republic''), then working at the State Department, mentioned Hiss (using his real name) as someone with "progressive" views "who occupied a responsible position."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997 ed.), pp. 183-184</ref> Akhmerov worried that Straight "might guess that Hiss belongs to our family" or "find out Hiss's nature" as a [[GRU]] agent.<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, pp. 155-156</ref>

On November 23, 1937, [[Whittaker Chambers]] bought a car, using $400 he said Alger Hiss loaned him.<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''Witness'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 39</ref><ref>''[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html United States v Alger Hiss]'', 185 F. 2d 822 (Second Circuit Court of Appeals, December 7, 1950)</ref> Hiss would deny making the loan,<ref>"Counterattack," ''Time'', January 2, 1950</ref> but records showed that the Hisses withdrew $400 in cash from their savings four days before Chambers bought the car.<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. 73</ref> At first the Hisses claimed that they had used the money to buy furniture for a new house,<ref>Denise Noe, "[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/9.html The Alger Hiss Case]," TruTV Crime Library</ref> but they had not signed a lease at the time,<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997 ed.), pp. 198-202</ref> and could not produce receipts for any purchases, nor explain why they had used cash from savings when they had checking and charge accounts.<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. 73</ref>

Also in 1938, [[Whittaker Chambers]] made his final break with the Communists.<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''Witness'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 25</ref> Conscious of the murder of [[Ignace Reiss]]<ref>Stephen Schwartz, "[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Protected/Articles/000/000/006/224euczs.asp?pg=1 Russian Requiem: The tragic intersection of the lives of Soviet poets]," ''The Weekly Standard'', Volume 11, Issue 6 (October 24, 2005)</ref> and disappearance of [[Juliet Poyntz]],<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, ''Whittaker Chambers: A Biography'' (New York: Random House, 1997) ISBN 0375751459, pp. 131-133</ref> Chambers asked his wife's nephew<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 319</ref> to hide what he called his "life preserver"&mdash;a packet of copies of documents, hand-written memos and microfilm of documents to be produced in the event of his death or disappearance.<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''Witness'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 40-41</ref>

In 1938, [[Whittaker Chambers]] made his final break with the Communists.<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''Witness'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 25</ref> Conscious of the murder of [[Ignace Reiss]]<ref>Stephen Schwartz, "[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Protected/Articles/000/000/006/224euczs.asp?pg=1 Russian Requiem: The tragic intersection of the lives of Soviet poets]," ''The Weekly Standard'', Volume 11, Issue 6 (October 24, 2005)</ref> and disappearance of [[Juliet Poyntz]],<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, ''Whittaker Chambers: A Biography'' (New York: Random House, 1997) ISBN 0375751459, pp. 131-133</ref> Chambers asked his wife's nephew<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 319</ref> to hide what he called his "life preserver"&mdash;a packet of copies of documents, hand-written memos and microfilm of documents to be produced in the event of his death or disappearance.<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''Witness'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 40-41</ref>

In 1939, Sayre became United States High Commissioner to the Philippines, and Hiss transferred to become personal aide to [[Stanley Hornbeck]], political advisor to the State Department's Far Eastern Division. As his replacement, Hiss urged Sayre to hire Soviet Intelligence source<ref>[http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=8544389&CATLN=6&accessmethod=5&j=1 Noel Haviland Field], National Archives, United ingdom "Field worked for the US State Department and the League of Nations in the 1930s acting as a source for Soviet Intelligence."</ref> [[Noel Field]], despite his lack of experience.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 349-350</ref> Due to the fact that Field had been identified to the State Department as a member of various Red front groups starting in 1926, and as a Communist Party member the previous year,<ref>FBI Report: Whittaker Chambers, Internal Security&mdash;C, September 5, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref> he did not get the appointment. After his defection behind the Iron Curtain, Field would confirm to East bloc authorities that Hiss knew he was a Communist when he recommended him for the post.

In 1939, Sayre became United States High Commissioner to the Philippines, and Hiss transferred to become personal aide to [[Stanley Hornbeck]], political advisor to the State Department's Far Eastern Division. As his replacement, Hiss urged Sayre to hire Soviet Intelligence source<ref>[http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=8544389&CATLN=6&accessmethod=5&j=1 Noel Haviland Field], National Archives, United ingdom "Field worked for the US State Department and the League of Nations in the 1930s acting as a source for Soviet Intelligence."</ref> [[Noel Field]], despite his lack of experience.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 349-350</ref> Due to the fact that Field had been identified to the State Department as a member of various Red front groups starting in 1926, and as a Communist Party member the previous year,<ref>FBI Report: Whittaker Chambers, Internal Security&mdash;C, September 5, 1948 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 1)</ref> he did not get the appointment. After his defection behind the Iron Curtain, Field would confirm to East bloc authorities that Hiss knew he was a Communist when he recommended him for the post.

Few serious scholars still regard the matter of Hiss's guilt as unresolved. As the ''Britannica Online Encyclopedia'' states, Venona "provided strong evidence of Hiss's guilt."<ref>"[http://www.britanica.net/EBchecked/topic/266986/Alger-Hiss Alger Hiss]," ''Britannica Online Encyclopedia'' (2006)</ref> Oxford University Press' ''U.S. Military Dictionary'' dubs this evidence "compelling."<ref>''US Military Dictionary: The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)</ref> Writing in ''American History'' magazine, James Gray of West Georgia College agrees, "the preponderance of evidence does weigh heavily against Hiss."<ref>James Gray, "[http://www.historynet.com/magazines/american_history/3032686.html?page=4&c=y The Alger Hiss Spy Case]," ''American History'', June 1998</ref> Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, who had the cooperation of Hiss and access to his attorneys' files in his research,<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918154,00.html A Verdict: 'Hiss Has Been Lying']," ''Time'', March 29, 1976</ref> set out "intending to prove Hiss' innocence. But he was an honest man and the facts he found convinced him (as they do any reader of his book) that Hiss was guilty," writes the former chief of Soviet bloc counterintelligence at the CIA.<ref>Tennent H. Bagley, ''Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games'' (Yale University Press, 2007) ISBN 0300121989, p. 273</ref> Weinstein concluded:

Few serious scholars still regard the matter of Hiss's guilt as unresolved. As the ''Britannica Online Encyclopedia'' states, Venona "provided strong evidence of Hiss's guilt."<ref>"[http://www.britanica.net/EBchecked/topic/266986/Alger-Hiss Alger Hiss]," ''Britannica Online Encyclopedia'' (2006)</ref> Oxford University Press' ''U.S. Military Dictionary'' dubs this evidence "compelling."<ref>''US Military Dictionary: The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)</ref> Writing in ''American History'' magazine, James Gray of West Georgia College agrees, "the preponderance of evidence does weigh heavily against Hiss."<ref>James Gray, "[http://www.historynet.com/magazines/american_history/3032686.html?page=4&c=y The Alger Hiss Spy Case]," ''American History'', June 1998</ref> Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, who had the cooperation of Hiss and access to his attorneys' files in his research,<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918154,00.html A Verdict: 'Hiss Has Been Lying']," ''Time'', March 29, 1976</ref> set out "intending to prove Hiss' innocence. But he was an honest man and the facts he found convinced him (as they do any reader of his book) that Hiss was guilty," writes the former chief of Soviet bloc counterintelligence at the CIA.<ref>Tennent H. Bagley, ''Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games'' (Yale University Press, 2007) ISBN 0300121989, p. 273</ref> Weinstein concluded:

{{cquote|"the body of available evidence proves that Hiss perjured himself when describing his secret dealings with Chambers, so that the jury in his second trial made no mistake in finding Alger Hiss guilty as charged."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997), ISBN 0394495462, p. 513</ref>}}

{{cquote|"the body of available evidence proves that Hiss perjured himself when describing his secret dealings with Chambers, so that the jury in his second trial made no mistake in finding Alger Hiss guilty as charged."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997), ISBN 0394495462, p. 513</ref>}}

The bipartisan [[Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy|Moynihan commission]] went further&mdash;not just on perjury, but on espionage&mdash;the commission's unanimous Final Report concluding, "The complicity of Alger Hiss of the State Department seems settled."<ref>"[http://www.gpo.gov/congress/commissions/secrecy/pdf/12hist1.pdf Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, Appendix A] (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1997), p. A-37 (PDF p. 39)</ref> Regarding Hiss, "corroborative evidence now available puts that identification beyond the reasonable doubt," write former British MP Christopher Andrew and former KGB agent Vasili Mitrokhin.<ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, ''The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West'' (London: Gardners Books, 2000) ISBN 0-14-028487-7, p. 792, note 81</ref> Hiss' "role as a spy was eventually proven," says American University historian Robert Beisner.<ref>Sally Acharya, "[http://veracity.univpubs.american.edu/weekly/102406/102406_beisner.html Historian’s book draws national attention]," ''American Weekly'', October 24, 2006</ref> Weinstein presented "overwhelming evidence of Hiss's espionage," writes Beisner, who calls Venona the "''coup de grâce''."<ref>Robert L. Beisner, ''Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) ISBN 0195045785, p. 282</ref> "The broad sweep of Chambers' allegations are now beyond doubt," writes David McKnight of the University of New South Wales.<ref>David McKnight and Richard J. Aldrich, ''Espionage and the Roots of the Cold War: The Conspiratorial Heritage'' (Oxford: Routledge, 2002) ISBN 071465163X, p. 128</ref> In light of recent scholarship, notes Hayden Peake, curator of CIA’s Historical Intelligence Collection, "it is hard to see how even the most frequently made counterargument&mdash;that there was ''no Communist involvement in espionage''&mdash;can be sustained…. The same is true when it comes to specific cases, but supporters of Alger Hiss … will no doubt persist."<ref>Hayden B. Peake, "[http://cicentre.com/BK/BOOKS_Peake_Venona.htm The VENONA Progeny]," ''Naval War College Review'', Summer 2000</ref> "My own sense of things was that Hiss had been a party member in the Thirties and did give Soviet agents documents," wrote Arthur Schlesinger (an "unabashedly liberal partisan"<ref>Douglas Martin, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/washington/01schlesinger.html Arthur Schlesinger, Historian of Power, Dies at 89]," ''The New York Times'', March 1, 2007</ref> who "equates capitalism with sexism and racism")<ref>Lance Morrow, "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,59746,00.html A Rich Circularity]," ''Time'', November 5, 2000</ref> adding, "He must know I believe him to be guilty. I've written it often enough."<ref>Arthur Schlesinger, ''A Life in the Twentieth Century: Innocent Beginnings, 1917-1950'' (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000) ISBN 0618219250, pp. 497-498</ref> Berkeley professor J. Bradford DeLong, a former Clinton official, writes, "Was Alger Hiss at some time a spy for the Soviet Union? Probably."<ref>J. Bradford DeLong, "[http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2007/04/kai_bird_thinks.html Kai Bird Thinks That Alger Hiss Wasn't the "Ales" Mentioned in VENONA]," Grasping Reality with Both Hands: Economist Brad DeLong's Fair, Balanced, and Reality-Based Semi-Daily Journal, April 9, 2007</ref> (Another Clinton official, National Security Advisor Anthony Lake, actually went so far as to retract a statement&mdash;made in the wake of Hiss' death&mdash;suggesting that the evidence against Hiss was less than conclusive.)<ref>"[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/fedagencies/february97/lake_2-27a.html Nomination on Hold]," PBS NewsHour, February 27, 1997</ref> Socialist<ref>Herbert Mitgang, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6D6163AF931A3575BC0A96F948260 Michael Harrington, Socialist and Author, Is Dead]," ''The New York Times'', August 2, 1989</ref> Michael Harrington wrote upon Hiss' death, "We now know that Alger Hiss was not the victim of a miscarriage of justice...."<ref>Michael Harrington, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_199611/ai_n8755452 Alger Hiss: A postscript]," ''The Spectator'' (London), November 30, 1996</ref> Even Yeshiva University Professor Ellen Schrecker (who defends Americans who assisted Soviet intelligence as demurring from "traditional forms of patriotism")<ref>John Earl Haynes, [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/comment16.htm Response by John Earl Haynes], "The Cold War Debate Continues: A Traditionalist View of Historical Writing on Domestic Communism and Anti-Communism," ''Journal of Cold War Studies'', Volume 2, Number 1 (Winter 2000)</ref> concedes, "There is now too much evidence from too many different sources for anyone but the most die-hard loyalists to argue convincingly for the innocence of Hiss…." Referring to Hiss in a review of ''The Haunted Wood,'' Hamilton College history professor Maurice Isserman, probably the best regarded of the left-wing scholars of Communism, wrote, "Let's face it, the debate just ended."<ref>Jacob Weisberg, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E4DE1F3CF93BA15752C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 Cold War Without End]," ''The New York Times'', November 28, 1999</ref>

The bipartisan [[Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy|Moynihan commission]] went further&mdash;not just on perjury, but on espionage&mdash;the commission's unanimous Final Report concluding, "The complicity of Alger Hiss of the State Department seems settled."<ref>"[http://www.gpo.gov/congress/commissions/secrecy/pdf/12hist1.pdf Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, Appendix A] (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1997), p. A-37 (PDF p. 39)</ref> Regarding Hiss, "corroborative evidence now available puts that identification beyond reasonable doubt," write former British MP Christopher Andrew and former KGB agent Vasili Mitrokhin.<ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, ''The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West'' (London: Gardners Books, 2000) ISBN 0-14-028487-7, p. 792, note 81</ref> Hiss' "role as a spy was eventually proven," says American University historian Robert Beisner.<ref>Sally Acharya, "[http://veracity.univpubs.american.edu/weekly/102406/102406_beisner.html Historian’s book draws national attention]," ''American Weekly'', October 24, 2006</ref> Weinstein presented "overwhelming evidence of Hiss's espionage," writes Beisner, who calls Venona the "''coup de grâce''."<ref>Robert L. Beisner, ''Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) ISBN 0195045785, p. 282</ref> "In August 1948, Alger Hiss lied before HUAC," writes Ryan Ervin of Eastern Illinois University. "His testimony before HUAC proves this beyond any doubt. Intercepted Soviet cables during the Cold War, released in 1996, further prove Hiss’s Communist ties."<ref>Ryan Ervin, "[http://www.eiu.edu/~historia/archives/2005/2005Journal.pdf The Hiss-Chambers Case: Three Acts of Espionage Theater]," ''Historia'' (History Department, Eastern Illinois University and Epsilon Mu Chapter, Phi Alpha Theta), Vol. 14 (2005), p. 14 (PDF p. 7)</ref> "The broad sweep of Chambers' allegations are now beyond doubt," writes David McKnight of the University of New South Wales.<ref>David McKnight and Richard J. Aldrich, ''Espionage and the Roots of the Cold War: The Conspiratorial Heritage'' (Oxford: Routledge, 2002) ISBN 071465163X, p. 128</ref> In light of recent scholarship, notes Hayden Peake, curator of CIA’s Historical Intelligence Collection, "it is hard to see how even the most frequently made counterargument&mdash;that there was ''no Communist involvement in espionage''&mdash;can be sustained…. The same is true when it comes to specific cases, but supporters of Alger Hiss … will no doubt persist."<ref>Hayden B. Peake, "[http://cicentre.com/BK/BOOKS_Peake_Venona.htm The VENONA Progeny]," ''Naval War College Review'', Summer 2000</ref> "My own sense of things was that Hiss had been a party member in the Thirties and did give Soviet agents documents," wrote Arthur Schlesinger (an "unabashedly liberal partisan"<ref>Douglas Martin, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/washington/01schlesinger.html Arthur Schlesinger, Historian of Power, Dies at 89]," ''The New York Times'', March 1, 2007</ref> who "equates capitalism with sexism and racism")<ref>Lance Morrow, "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,59746,00.html A Rich Circularity]," ''Time'', November 5, 2000</ref> adding, "He must know I believe him to be guilty. I've written it often enough."<ref>Arthur Schlesinger, ''A Life in the Twentieth Century: Innocent Beginnings, 1917-1950'' (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000) ISBN 0618219250, pp. 497-498</ref> Berkeley professor J. Bradford DeLong, a former Clinton official, writes, "Was Alger Hiss at some time a spy for the Soviet Union? Probably."<ref>J. Bradford DeLong, "[http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2007/04/kai_bird_thinks.html Kai Bird Thinks That Alger Hiss Wasn't the "Ales" Mentioned in VENONA]," Grasping Reality with Both Hands: Economist Brad DeLong's Fair, Balanced, and Reality-Based Semi-Daily Journal, April 9, 2007</ref> (Another Clinton official, National Security Advisor Anthony Lake, actually went so far as to retract a statement&mdash;made in the wake of Hiss' death&mdash;suggesting that the evidence against Hiss was less than conclusive.)<ref>"[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/fedagencies/february97/lake_2-27a.html Nomination on Hold]," PBS NewsHour, February 27, 1997</ref> Socialist<ref>Herbert Mitgang, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6D6163AF931A3575BC0A96F948260 Michael Harrington, Socialist and Author, Is Dead]," ''The New York Times'', August 2, 1989</ref> Michael Harrington wrote upon Hiss' death, "We now know that Alger Hiss was not the victim of a miscarriage of justice...."<ref>Michael Harrington, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_199611/ai_n8755452 Alger Hiss: A postscript]," ''The Spectator'' (London), November 30, 1996</ref> Even Yeshiva University Professor Ellen Schrecker (who defends Americans who assisted Soviet intelligence as demurring from "traditional forms of patriotism")<ref>John Earl Haynes, [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/comment16.htm Response by John Earl Haynes], "The Cold War Debate Continues: A Traditionalist View of Historical Writing on Domestic Communism and Anti-Communism," ''Journal of Cold War Studies'', Volume 2, Number 1 (Winter 2000)</ref> concedes, "There is now too much evidence from too many different sources for anyone but the most die-hard loyalists to argue convincingly for the innocence of Hiss…." Referring to Hiss in a review of ''The Haunted Wood,'' Hamilton College history professor Maurice Isserman, probably the best regarded of the left-wing scholars of Communism, wrote, "Let's face it, the debate just ended."<ref>Jacob Weisberg, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E4DE1F3CF93BA15752C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 Cold War Without End]," ''The New York Times'', November 28, 1999</ref>

===Scholarly Consensus===

===Scholarly Consensus===