Changes

In 1934, again with an assist from [[Lee Pressman|Pressman]] ([http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/books/the-truest-believer.html?pagewanted=all according to] [[New Deal|New Dealer]] [http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/findingguides/xml/jackson.html Gardner Jackson]),<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YRyoAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 143</ref> Hiss became [http://www.mdhs.org/library/Mss/ms002504.html General Counsel] for the [[U.S. Senate]]'s [[Special Committee Investigating the Munitions Industry|Nye committee]], which investigated people Chairman [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=n000176 Gerald P. Nye] (R.-N.D.) called [[Wall Street]]'s "[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/merchants_of_death.htm merchants of death]," whom he accused of conspiracy to lead the [[United States|U.S.]] into war with [[Germany]]. One scholar has dubbed this a "witch-hunt" for "subversive [[capitalist]]s," in which Hiss was to Nye what [[Roy Cohn]] would later be to [[Senator]] [[Joe McCarthy]] (R.-Wisc.)<ref>Peter Viereck, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=7Xu9KvBGlZMC Unadjusted Man in the Age of Overadjustment: Where History and Literature Intersect]'' (Edison, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2004) ISBN 0765808064, pp. 156-157</ref> On the theory that "capitalism was a cause of aggression,"<ref>James Grant, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=A5bfknd-WcQC Bernard M. Baruch: The Adventures of a Wall Street Legend]'' (John Wiley and Sons, 1997) ISBN 0471170755, p. 261</ref> Hiss employed what would later come to be known as "McCarthyite" methods, [http://www.stopthenorthamericanunion.com/DotsImages/AlgerHiss.jpg badgering] witnesses such as Bernard Baruch,<ref>Arthur M. Herman, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=DIibZoDyADEC Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator]'' (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999) ISBN 0684836254, p. 220</ref> reportedly the [http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/tam/hiss_bruce_craig.pdf first man to openly assert] that Hiss was a [[communist]].

In 1934, again with an assist from [[Lee Pressman|Pressman]] ([http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/books/the-truest-believer.html?pagewanted=all according to] [[New Deal|New Dealer]] [http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/findingguides/xml/jackson.html Gardner Jackson]),<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YRyoAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 143</ref> Hiss became [http://www.mdhs.org/library/Mss/ms002504.html General Counsel] for the [[U.S. Senate]]'s [[Special Committee Investigating the Munitions Industry|Nye committee]], which investigated people Chairman [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=n000176 Gerald P. Nye] (R.-N.D.) called [[Wall Street]]'s "[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/merchants_of_death.htm merchants of death]," whom he accused of conspiracy to lead the [[United States|U.S.]] into war with [[Germany]]. One scholar has dubbed this a "witch-hunt" for "subversive [[capitalist]]s," in which Hiss was to Nye what [[Roy Cohn]] would later be to [[Senator]] [[Joe McCarthy]] (R.-Wisc.)<ref>Peter Viereck, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=7Xu9KvBGlZMC Unadjusted Man in the Age of Overadjustment: Where History and Literature Intersect]'' (Edison, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2004) ISBN 0765808064, pp. 156-157</ref> On the theory that "capitalism was a cause of aggression,"<ref>James Grant, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=A5bfknd-WcQC Bernard M. Baruch: The Adventures of a Wall Street Legend]'' (John Wiley and Sons, 1997) ISBN 0471170755, p. 261</ref> Hiss employed what would later come to be known as "McCarthyite" methods, [http://www.stopthenorthamericanunion.com/DotsImages/AlgerHiss.jpg badgering] witnesses such as Bernard Baruch,<ref>Arthur M. Herman, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=DIibZoDyADEC Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator]'' (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999) ISBN 0684836254, p. 220</ref> reportedly the [http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/tam/hiss_bruce_craig.pdf first man to openly assert] that Hiss was a [[communist]].

The [[Soviets]] took great interest in the work of the committee for its [[propaganda]] value<ref>Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=mVpWH51F7toC The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors]'' (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, pp. 115-116</ref> as well as its access to classified documents on U.S. armaments and foreign policy.<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=jbMBAAAACAAJ The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America&mdash;the Stalin Era]'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, p. 40</ref> [[Moscow]] had at least one source on the staff of the committee, who provided valuable documents to the [[Kremlin]] in 1935,<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=jbMBAAAACAAJ The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America&mdash;the Stalin Era]'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, pp. 28-29</ref> the [http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/venona/1945/30mar_kgb_interviews_gru_agent.pdf same year] an agent later code-named "Ales" (pronounced "Alles") began working for [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]]. The committee'd chief investigator, Stephen Rauschenbusch, would later refuse to testify as a character witness for Hiss;<ref>G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 68</ref> Nye would tell FBI investigators that he believed Hiss was a [[Communist]] during his time on the committee,<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YRyoAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 43-44</ref> and would later say he believed Hiss used his position for [[espionage]].<ref>John E. Wiltz, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=vUnAHQAACAAJ In Search of Peace: The Senate Munitions Inquiry, 1934-1936]'' (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963) ISBN B000GX1RX0, p. 53</ref>

The [[Soviets]] took great interest in the work of the committee for its [[propaganda]] value<ref>Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=mVpWH51F7toC The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors]'' (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, pp. 115-116</ref> as well as its access to classified documents on U.S. armaments and foreign policy.<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=jbMBAAAACAAJ The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America&mdash;the Stalin Era]'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, p. 40</ref> [[Moscow]] had at least one source on the staff of the committee, who provided valuable documents to the [[Kremlin]] in 1935,<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=jbMBAAAACAAJ The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America&mdash;the Stalin Era]'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, pp. 28-29</ref> the [http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/venona/1945/30mar_kgb_interviews_gru_agent.pdf same year] an agent later code-named "Ales" (pronounced "Alles") began working for [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]]. The committee's chief investigator, Stephen Rauschenbusch, would later refuse to testify as a character witness for Hiss;<ref>G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 68</ref> Nye would tell FBI investigators that he believed Hiss was a [[Communist]] during his time on the committee,<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=YRyoAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 43-44</ref> and would later say he believed Hiss used his position for [[espionage]].<ref>John E. Wiltz, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=vUnAHQAACAAJ In Search of Peace: The Senate Munitions Inquiry, 1934-1936]'' (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963) ISBN B000GX1RX0, p. 53</ref>

Barely a month after joining the committee staff,<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=jbMBAAAACAAJ The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America&mdash;the Stalin Era]'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, p. 40</ref> [http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/reviews/chambers-chronology.html Hiss met] [[Whittaker Chambers]]. According to Chambers, they were introduced by Communist underground boss<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Be2GAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage]'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, pp. 143-146</ref> [[J. Peters]];<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=WIkNAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Witness]'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 339</ref> Hiss would claim that Chambers had wandered into his office without introduction, as a [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html free]-[http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/185/185.F2d.822.78.21800.html lance] [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799060-2,00.html writer] looking for a story.

Barely a month after joining the committee staff,<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=jbMBAAAACAAJ The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America&mdash;the Stalin Era]'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, p. 40</ref> [http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/reviews/chambers-chronology.html Hiss met] [[Whittaker Chambers]]. According to Chambers, they were introduced by Communist underground boss<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Be2GAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 In Denial: Historians, Communism & Espionage]'' (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2003) ISBN 159403088X, pp. 143-146</ref> [[J. Peters]];<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=WIkNAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Witness]'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 339</ref> Hiss would claim that Chambers had wandered into his office without introduction, as a [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hissappellate.html free]-[http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/185/185.F2d.822.78.21800.html lance] [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799060-2,00.html writer] looking for a story.