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Line 111: − Approximately six weeks after Oppenheimer's security clearance came through, on August 25, Lieutenant Lyall Johnson, the security officer at Berkeley, questioned him about [[Giovanni Rossi Lomanitz|Lomanitz]], whom Oppenheimer had tried to keep on the Manhattan Project, even though he had supplied highly sensitive information to the Soviets.<ref>Charles Thorpe, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=BWek8zJ-U7IC Oppenheimer: The Tragic Intellect]'' (University of Chicago Press, 2006) ISBN 0226798453, p. 75</ref> Oppenheimer stated that he had heard that Eltenton, too, had offered to supply technical data to the Soviets.<ref>Jennet Conant, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=DkXvYAzoobYC 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the secret city of Los Alamos],'' (Simon and Schuster, 2005) ISBN 0743250079, p. 175</ref> Johnson immediately called Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash, Chief of Counter-Intelligence for the Ninth Army Corps on the West Coast.<ref>[[#refBird-Sherwin|Bird, Sherwin 2006]]: 190</ref> The following day, Pash and Johnson interrogated Oppenheimer about Eltenton. Oppenheimer stated:+ + + +
→The Chevalier incident: added Groves
In 1943, the Soviets tried to establish direct contact with Oppenheimer. Ivanov instructed George Eltenton (a British-born Soviet intelligence source code-named “Dorin”)<ref>[[#refHaynes08|Haynes 2008]]: 48</ref> to feel Oppenheimer out about covertly leaking American nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, according to Eltenton’s statement to the FBI.<ref>[[#refRhodes96|Rhodes 1996]]: 548</ref> Eltenton said he asked Chevalier to pitch the idea to Oppenheimer.<ref>[[#refBird-Sherwin|Bird, Sherwin 2006]]: 200. Cf. [[#refHerken|Herken 2003]]: 92</ref> Chevalier approached Oppenheimer in February or March 1943, but Oppenheimer failed to report the incident for some eight months.<ref>Jennet Conant, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=DkXvYAzoobYC 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the secret city of Los Alamos],'' (Simon and Schuster, 2005) ISBN 0743250079, p. 175</ref>
In 1943, the Soviets tried to establish direct contact with Oppenheimer. Ivanov instructed George Eltenton (a British-born Soviet intelligence source code-named “Dorin”)<ref>[[#refHaynes08|Haynes 2008]]: 48</ref> to feel Oppenheimer out about covertly leaking American nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, according to Eltenton’s statement to the FBI.<ref>[[#refRhodes96|Rhodes 1996]]: 548</ref> Eltenton said he asked Chevalier to pitch the idea to Oppenheimer.<ref>[[#refBird-Sherwin|Bird, Sherwin 2006]]: 200. Cf. [[#refHerken|Herken 2003]]: 92</ref> Chevalier approached Oppenheimer in February or March 1943, but Oppenheimer failed to report the incident for some eight months.<ref>Jennet Conant, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=DkXvYAzoobYC 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the secret city of Los Alamos],'' (Simon and Schuster, 2005) ISBN 0743250079, p. 175</ref>
Overruling the objections of security officers, according to Groves, on July 20 he issued written orders that:
{{cquote|In accordance with my verbal directions of July 15, it is desired that clearance be issued to Julius Robert Oppenheimer without delay irrespective of the information which you have concerning Mr Oppenheimer. He is absolutely essential to the project.<ref>Leslie R. Groves, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=uBIIAQAAIAAJ Now It Can Be Told: The Story Of The Manhattan Project]'' (Harper & Row, 1962), p. 63</ref>}}
The following month, after Oppenheimer's security clearance had come through, Lieutenant Lyall Johnson, the security officer at Berkeley, questioned Oppenheimer about [[Giovanni Rossi Lomanitz|Lomanitz]], whom Oppenheimer had tried to keep on the Manhattan Project, even though he had supplied highly sensitive information to the Soviets.<ref>Charles Thorpe, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=BWek8zJ-U7IC Oppenheimer: The Tragic Intellect]'' (University of Chicago Press, 2006) ISBN 0226798453, p. 75</ref> Oppenheimer stated that he had heard that Eltenton, too, had offered to supply technical data to the Soviets.<ref>Jennet Conant, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=DkXvYAzoobYC 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the secret city of Los Alamos],'' (Simon and Schuster, 2005) ISBN 0743250079, p. 175</ref> Johnson immediately called Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash, Chief of Counter-Intelligence for the Ninth Army Corps on the West Coast.<ref>[[#refBird-Sherwin|Bird, Sherwin 2006]]: 190</ref> The following day, Pash and Johnson interrogated Oppenheimer about Eltenton. Oppenheimer stated:
{{cquote|I think it is true that a man, whose name I never heard, who was attached to the Soviet consul, has indicated indirectly through intermediary people concerned in this project that he was in a position to transmit, without any danger of a leak, or scandal, or anything of that kind, information, which they might supply.}}
{{cquote|I think it is true that a man, whose name I never heard, who was attached to the Soviet consul, has indicated indirectly through intermediary people concerned in this project that he was in a position to transmit, without any danger of a leak, or scandal, or anything of that kind, information, which they might supply.}}
Oppenheimer then named Eltenton, stating:
Oppenheimer then named Eltenton, stating: