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That year, General of the Army Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informed President Truman that Venona had "positively identified" Hiss and [[Harry Dexter White]] as Soviet agents.<ref>Jerrold and Leona Schecter, ''Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History'' (Washington, DC: Brassey's Inc., 2002) ISBN 1574885227, p. 149</ref> According to Bradley, Truman said, "That G—D— stuff. Every time it bumps into us it gets bigger and bigger. It's likely to take us down."<ref>William Rusher, "[http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.1375/article_detail.asp A Closer Look Under The Bed]," ''Claremont Review of Books'', Fall 2004</ref>
That year, General of the Army Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informed President Truman that Venona had "positively identified" Hiss and [[Harry Dexter White]] as Soviet agents.<ref>Jerrold and Leona Schecter, ''Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History'' (Washington, DC: Brassey's Inc., 2002) ISBN 1574885227, p. 149</ref> According to Bradley, Truman said, "That G—D— stuff. Every time it bumps into us it gets bigger and bigger. It's likely to take us down."<ref>William Rusher, "[http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.1375/article_detail.asp A Closer Look Under The Bed]," ''Claremont Review of Books'', Fall 2004</ref>
Hiss appealed, but in December 1950 his conviction was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals.<ref>[http://www.mdhs.org/library/Mss/ms002504.html Alger Hiss Collection, 1934-1979], Library of Maryland History, Maryland Historical Society; [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> The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] denied him ''certiorari'', as well as his repeated petitions for a writ of error ''coram nobis''<ref>The Supreme Court refused to hear Hiss' appeal three times, the last time in 1983. (Sam Tanenhaus, "[http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hiss--guilty-as-charged-8090 Hiss: Guilty as Charged]," ''Commentary, April 1993)</ref> (orchestrated by long-time Communist Party member<ref>Rabinowitz claimed to have joined the Party in 1942, adding "There was no formal act marking the end of the relationship.... though I continued to meet with party members to discuss both political and legal matters for many years thereafter." (Victor Rabinowitz, ''Unrepentant Leftist: A Lawyer's Memoir'' [Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1996] ISBN 025202253X, pp. 73, 87). Rabinowitz' law partner (representing Cuba's Communist Castro regime) was Leonard Boudin, father of convicted Weather Underground terrorist Kathy Boudin (Michael Law, [http://lawvibe.com/leftist-lawyer-victor-rabinowitz-passes-away-at-96/ Leftist Lawyer Victor Rabinowitz Passes Away at 96], Law Vibe: International Law News, November 21, 2007), whose son was adopted and raised by William Ayers (Jodi Wilgoren, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/09/us/from-a-radical-background-a-rhodes-scholar-emerges.html?pagewanted=all From a Radical Background, A Rhodes Scholar Emerges]," ''The New York Times'', December 9, 2002), political booster of Barack Obama (Scott Shane, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/us/politics/04ayers.html?pagewanted=all Obama and ’60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths]," ''The New York Times'', October 3, 2008).</ref> Victor Rabinowitz).<ref>Eric Breindel, "[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+faithful+traitor:+Alger+Hiss%27s+refusal+to+recant+helped+create...-a019100539 The faithful traitor: Alger Hiss's refusal to recant helped create the myth of his innocence]," ''National Review'', February 10, 1997</ref> Hiss served 44 months of his five-year sentence in Lewisburg Federal Prison.
Hiss appealed, but in December 1950 his conviction was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals.<ref>[http://www.mdhs.org/library/Mss/ms002504.html Alger Hiss Collection, 1934-1979], Library of Maryland History, Maryland Historical Society; [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> The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] denied him ''certiorari'', as well as his repeated petitions for a writ of error ''coram nobis'',<ref>The Supreme Court refused to hear Hiss' appeal three times, the last time in 1983. (Sam Tanenhaus, "[http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/hiss--guilty-as-charged-8090 Hiss: Guilty as Charged]," ''Commentary, April 1993)</ref> orchestrated by long-time Communist Party member<ref>Rabinowitz claimed to have joined the Party in 1942, adding "There was no formal act marking the end of the relationship.... though I continued to meet with party members to discuss both political and legal matters for many years thereafter." (Victor Rabinowitz, ''Unrepentant Leftist: A Lawyer's Memoir'' [Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1996] ISBN 025202253X, pp. 73, 87). Rabinowitz' law partner (representing Cuba's Communist Castro regime) was Leonard Boudin, father of convicted Weather Underground terrorist Kathy Boudin (Michael Law, [http://lawvibe.com/leftist-lawyer-victor-rabinowitz-passes-away-at-96/ Leftist Lawyer Victor Rabinowitz Passes Away at 96], Law Vibe: International Law News, November 21, 2007), whose son was adopted and raised by William Ayers (Jodi Wilgoren, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/09/us/from-a-radical-background-a-rhodes-scholar-emerges.html?pagewanted=all From a Radical Background, A Rhodes Scholar Emerges]," ''The New York Times'', December 9, 2002), political booster of Barack Obama (Scott Shane, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/us/politics/04ayers.html?pagewanted=all Obama and ’60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths]," ''The New York Times'', October 3, 2008).</ref> Victor Rabinowitz.<ref>Eric Breindel, "[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+faithful+traitor:+Alger+Hiss%27s+refusal+to+recant+helped+create...-a019100539 The faithful traitor: Alger Hiss's refusal to recant helped create the myth of his innocence]," ''National Review'', February 10, 1997</ref> Hiss served 44 months of his five-year sentence in Lewisburg Federal Prison.
In prison, Hiss' best fiends were the Mafia gangsters,<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> whom he later compared to prisoners of war in terms of solidarity, hierarchy and discipline.<ref>Alger Hiss, ''Recollections of a Life'' (Arcade, 1989) ISBN 1559700246, p. 168</ref> He called them “the most stable group in any prison”<ref> Brock Brower, “[http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/brower.html The Problems of Alger Hiss],” ''Esquire'', December 1960</ref> and “the healthiest inmates of the prison” because they “had absolutely no sense of guilt.”<ref>Hiss to C. Vann Woodward, May 2, 1959, quoted in Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997 ed.), p. 581; G. Edward White, ''Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press , 2005) ISBN 0195182553, pp. 87-88. Cf. Arianna Huffington, “[http://ariannaonline.huffingtonpost.com/columns/printer_friendly.php?id=684 Alger Hiss and O.J. Simpson],” Arianna Online, November 21, 1996</ref> Hiss admitted that he, too, never felt guilt about anything he had ever done—as one Hiss biographer comments, “an incredible statement from anyone.”<ref>Ron Capshaw, “[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=E9146EC9-A031-4F77-9691-F4C7F1ACA9F4 Alger Hiss: The Left's Religious Icon],” FrontPageMagazine.com, May 4, 2007</ref>
In prison, Hiss' best fiends were the Mafia gangsters,<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> whom he later compared to prisoners of war in terms of solidarity, hierarchy and discipline.<ref>Alger Hiss, ''Recollections of a Life'' (Arcade, 1989) ISBN 1559700246, p. 168</ref> He called them “the most stable group in any prison”<ref> Brock Brower, “[http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/brower.html The Problems of Alger Hiss],” ''Esquire'', December 1960</ref> and “the healthiest inmates of the prison” because they “had absolutely no sense of guilt.”<ref>Hiss to C. Vann Woodward, May 2, 1959, quoted in Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997 ed.), p. 581; G. Edward White, ''Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press , 2005) ISBN 0195182553, pp. 87-88. Cf. Arianna Huffington, “[http://ariannaonline.huffingtonpost.com/columns/printer_friendly.php?id=684 Alger Hiss and O.J. Simpson],” Arianna Online, November 21, 1996</ref> Hiss admitted that he, too, never felt guilt about anything he had ever done—as one Hiss biographer comments, “an incredible statement from anyone.”<ref>Ron Capshaw, “[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=E9146EC9-A031-4F77-9691-F4C7F1ACA9F4 Alger Hiss: The Left's Religious Icon],” FrontPageMagazine.com, May 4, 2007</ref>