Changes

Few serious scholars still regard the matter of Hiss' 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> TruTV's Crime Library concludes, "the bulk of evidence points to Hiss's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."<ref>Denise Noe, “[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/12.html The Hiss-Nixon Seesaw],” The Alger Hiss Case, TruTV Crime Library</ref> Writing in ''American History'' magazine, James T. Gay of West Georgia College agrees, "the preponderance of evidence does weigh heavily against Hiss."<ref>James T. Gay, "[http://www.historynet.com/magazines/american_history/3032686.html?page=4&c=y The Alger Hiss Spy Case]," ''American History'', June 1998</ref> Stephen Koch writes, "I for one have been brought close to certainty, on the basis of archival information, that Chambers was telling the truth."<ref>Stephen Koch, ''Double Lives: Stalin, Willi Munzenberg and the Seduction of the Intellectuals'' (New York: Free Press, 1994) ISBN 0-02-918730-3, p. 326</ref>

Few serious scholars still regard the matter of Hiss' 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> TruTV's Crime Library concludes, "the bulk of evidence points to Hiss's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."<ref>Denise Noe, “[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/spies/hiss/12.html The Hiss-Nixon Seesaw],” The Alger Hiss Case, TruTV Crime Library</ref> Writing in ''American History'' magazine, James T. Gay of West Georgia College agrees, "the preponderance of evidence does weigh heavily against Hiss."<ref>James T. Gay, "[http://www.historynet.com/magazines/american_history/3032686.html?page=4&c=y The Alger Hiss Spy Case]," ''American History'', June 1998</ref> Stephen Koch writes, "I for one have been brought close to certainty, on the basis of archival information, that Chambers was telling the truth."<ref>Stephen Koch, ''Double Lives: Stalin, Willi Munzenberg and the Seduction of the Intellectuals'' (New York: Free Press, 1994) ISBN 0-02-918730-3, p. 326</ref>

In ''American Heritage'' magazine, Geoffrey C. Ward writes, "I believe the most dispassionate, step-by-step account of [the Hiss case] is still Allen Weinstein’s ''Perjury.''"<ref>Geoffrey C. Ward, “[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1988/7/1988_7_18.shtml Unregretfully, Alger Hiss,” ''American Heritage Magazine]'', Vol. 39, Issue 7 (November 1988)</ref> Weinstein, a former Archivist of the United States,<ref>[http://www.archives.gov/about/info/archivist-biography.html Biography of Dr. Allen Weinstein, Ninth Archivist of the United States], The National Archives</ref> 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> He 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'' (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2007) ISBN 0300121989, p. 273</ref> Weinstein concluded:

In ''American Heritage'' magazine, Geoffrey C. Ward writes, "I believe the most dispassionate, step-by-step account of [the Hiss case] is still Allen Weinstein’s ''Perjury.''"<ref>Geoffrey C. Ward, “[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1988/7/1988_7_18.shtml Unregretfully, Alger Hiss],” ''American Heritage Magazine'', Vol. 39, Issue 7 (November 1988)</ref> Weinstein, a former Archivist of the United States,<ref>[http://www.archives.gov/about/info/archivist-biography.html Biography of Dr. Allen Weinstein, Ninth Archivist of the United States], The National Archives</ref> 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> He 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'' (New Haven, Conn.: 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>

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>