Difference between revisions of "Silvermaster group"

From Conservapedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(added internal links)
(→‎Investigation: Hoover gives up on investigation)
Line 11: Line 11:
 
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>  
 
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>  
  
−
A copy of the Bentley deposition 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>
+
A copy of the Bentley deposition 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> An Executive Conference was formed consisting of the Attorney General, Department of Justice Prosecutors, and the FBI to discuss the Silvermaster subjects and how to proceed with prosecution.  The United Press began running stories on the case with information coming directly out of the Conference meeting.  In a hand written note in the margin of a memo from January 23, 1947, Hoover writes, "in view of all the 'gabbing" done by the Dept to the Press there is little which can be expected from <u>any</u> action now." <ref>FBI Silvermaster file, Tamm to the Director, January 23, 1947, [http://education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster093.pdf Vol. 93, pgs. 20 -22] pdf.</ref>
  
 
==Members==
 
==Members==

Revision as of 23:15, August 29, 2007

The Silvermaster ring was a major Soviet espionage organization that operated within the United States Government during World War II. It was investigated by the FBI spanning the years 1945 through 1959. Nathan Gregory Silvermaster was the leader of the spy ring which consisted of 27 principal KGB operatives gathering information from at least six Federal agencies. The group operated primarily in the Department of the Treasury but also had contacts in the Army Air Force and in the White House. Sixty-one of the Venona cables concern the activities of the Silvermaster spy ring.

In 1942 the Silvermaster Group delivered 59 rolls of film to their handler. In 1943, it was 211 rolls, 600 in 1944, and 1895 in 1945.

Investigation

In November 1945 Elizabeth Bentley, the courier from group based in Washington, D.C. to KGB headquarters in New York defected to the FBI. The KGB had removed Bentley from overseeing at least 80 members of the CPUSA Underground Apparatus in 1944. When she realized she knew too much, and was no longer of use to the KGB, she told her story to the FBI in a deposition.

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. [1] By December, no fewer that 227 FBI agents were involved in the case. [2]

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, [3] 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." [4]

A copy of the Bentley deposition 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” [5] An Executive Conference was formed consisting of the Attorney General, Department of Justice Prosecutors, and the FBI to discuss the Silvermaster subjects and how to proceed with prosecution. The United Press began running stories on the case with information coming directly out of the Conference meeting. In a hand written note in the margin of a memo from January 23, 1947, Hoover writes, "in view of all the 'gabbing" done by the Dept to the Press there is little which can be expected from any action now." [6]

Members

References

  1. ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, Vol. 8, pg. 3 pdf.
  2. ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Ladd to the Director, November 12, 1945, Vol. 8, pg. 6 pdf.
  3. ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Memorandum for the Attorney General, December 20, 1946, 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.
  4. ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Vol. 83, pgs. 72, 73 pdf.
  5. ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Tamm to the Director, January 6, 1947, Vol. 83, pg. 56 - 57 pdf.
  6. ↑ FBI Silvermaster file, Tamm to the Director, January 23, 1947, Vol. 93, pgs. 20 -22 pdf.
Retrieved from "https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Silvermaster_group&oldid=280816"