Changes

The FBI knew of 5 Soviet agents throughout the war, Bentley added at least another 80, some of which were still employed in the US government at that time.  Her story at first was incredible, but the FBI soon determined Bentley’s allegations were born out by information already in Bureau files. <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster008.pdf Vol. 8, pg. 3] pdf.</ref> By December, no fewer that 227 FBI agents were involved in the case. <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, Vol. 8, pg. 6 pdf.</ref>

The FBI knew of 5 Soviet agents throughout the war, Bentley added at least another 80, some of which were still employed in the US government at that time.  Her story at first was incredible, but the FBI soon determined Bentley’s allegations were born out by information already in Bureau files. <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster008.pdf Vol. 8, pg. 3] pdf.</ref> By December, no fewer that 227 FBI agents were involved in the case. <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, Vol. 8, pg. 6 pdf.</ref>

For much of 1946 the suspects were surveilled, and other information came from elsewhere.  By December 1946 leaks began to develop, <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Memorandum for the Attorney General, December 20, 1946, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster081.pdf Vol. 81, pgs. 55 - 56] pdf.  In transmitting a summary of the investigation on [[Harry Magdoff]], Hoover urges the Attorney General to give consideration to the overall facts of the case before making the information available to any other government official.  Hoover complains that a summary report prepared for the Secretary of the Treasury had been "lost" and a copy furnished to the White House was found in a desk drawer at the [[War Assets Administration]] -- the agency Greg Silvermaster had been working in.</ref> copies of an FBI memorandum entitled "Underground Soviet Espionage Organization (NKVD) in Agencies of the United States Government" had been disseminated to several government departments and agencies, including the [[White House]], and some were unaccounted for. In late December, a Justice Department prosecutor in the Criminal Division requested of a New York Special Agent in Charge (SAC) field investigator a copy of the Bentley deposition. The SAC telephoned FBI headquarters in Washington to request a copy of the signed affidavit in the presence of the prosecutor sitting at his desk.  In a stinging rebuke to the field investigator, FBI Agent Edward Tamm noted in a memo to Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] that the Bureau had gone to great lengths to protect the identity of the informant, and the call in the presence of the attorney was an "an atrocious exhibition of a complete lack of judgment." <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster083.pdf Vol. 83, pgs. 72, 73] pdf.</ref> A copy was furnished to the Criminal Division and they then pressed for a personal interview with Bentley to evaluate her ability to testify.  Tamm wrote to the Director how he informed the prosecutors that “the Bureau was apprehensive for the life of informant since the informant would probably be killed if [her] identity were inadvertently disclosed” <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Tamm to the Director, January 6, 1947, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster083.pdf Vol. 83, pg. 56 - 57] pdf.</ref>

For much of 1946 the suspects were surveilled, and other information came from Canada and the [[Army Signals Intelligence]].  By December 1946 leaks began to develop, <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Memorandum for the Attorney General, December 20, 1946, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster081.pdf Vol. 81, pgs. 55 - 56] pdf.  In transmitting a summary of the investigation on [[Harry Magdoff]], Hoover urges the Attorney General to give consideration to the overall facts of the case before making the information available to any other government official.  Hoover complains that a summary report prepared for the Secretary of the Treasury had been "lost" and a copy furnished to the White House was found in a desk drawer at the [[War Assets Administration]] -- the agency Greg Silvermaster had been working in.</ref> copies of an FBI memorandum entitled "Underground Soviet Espionage Organization (NKVD) in Agencies of the United States Government" had been disseminated to several government departments and agencies, including the [[White House]], and some were unaccounted for. In late December, a Justice Department prosecutor in the Criminal Division requested of a New York Special Agent in Charge (SAC) field investigator a copy of the Bentley deposition. The SAC telephoned FBI headquarters in Washington to request a copy of the signed affidavit in the presence of the prosecutor sitting at his desk.  In a stinging rebuke to the field investigator, FBI Agent Edward Tamm noted in a memo to Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] that the Bureau had gone to great lengths to protect the identity of the informant, and the call in the presence of the attorney was an "an atrocious exhibition of a complete lack of judgment." <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster083.pdf Vol. 83, pgs. 72, 73] pdf.</ref>  

==Members==

==Members==