I have long had a personal stake in the Hiss case ; my Uncle , THOMAS F . MURPHY , was the prosecuting attorney . Reading ALLEN WEINSTEIN ' s book PERJURY - - both the 1 9 7 8 version and the updated , post VENONA edition two decades later - - has always been illuminating in that no other works have a comparable grasp on the facts .
Alger Hiss was eventually tried for Perjury because it was not possible to try Hiss on charges of espionage . There really is no doubt at all that Hiss lied before a Grand Jury and in front of the House Un - American Activites Committee , when he claimed he neither knew nor recognized WHITTAKER CHAMBERS . Hiss ' s wife PRISCILLA even recognized Chambers from photographs , as did most everyone previously acquainted with Chambers ( other than Alger Hiss . )
The first perjury trial ended inconclusively , with eight jurors voting to convict , four to acquit . Hiss supporters disregard the fact that HUBERT SMITH , jury foreman , declined to recuse himself from the jury even as he had an obligation to do so , as Smith and Hiss were both acquaintences of ANGUS McCORMICK , a criminal justice employee in New York who would subsequently counsel Hiss on ideal conduct while in jail .
Curiously , prosecutor Murphy did not petition for a mistrial after learning about Smith ; it seems MRS . Smith was none too discreet during a visit to a New Jersey nursing home , when she was heard to say her husband believed in Alger Hiss and intended to keep the jury hung . ( I ' d ask my Uncle about this if I could ; unfortunately , Tom Murphy died 2 6 October 1 9 9 5 , and never wrote a memoir about the Hiss trial . )
Prosecutor Murphy has long been the target of misconduct accusations from the Hiss camp - - with the notable exception of CLAUDE CROSS , who replaced LLOYD STRYKER as defense counsel at the second trial . Cross acknowledged that Murphy conducted himself fairly and skillfully , as befits a Government Prosecutor who had a conviction rate of roughly 9 9 per cent .
The Hiss team , under Lloyd Stryker , was notorious for badgering the Government 's witnesses , even to the point of bringing Doctor CARL BINGER , a psychiatrist , to sit in the gallery and attempt to unnerve Whittaker Chambers during cross - examination .
Speaking of Chambers : the former Soviet courier demanded in September of 1 9 3 9 to have an audience with President Roosevelt , there to make his accusations against Alger Hiss . Chambers did get to make his case before ADOLPH BERLE , Deputy UnderSecretary Of State For Internal Security . Note that Chambers first accused Hiss NINE YEARS before he testified in front of the House Un - American Activities Committee .
That security was lax during Roosevelt ' s Presidency really isn ' t in question , even were Hiss demonstrably innocent . The list of ' moles ' includes John Abt , Noel Field , Lee Pressman and Harry Dexter White ( White died of a heart attack before he could be brought to trial . )
The reward for Soviet moles in World War Two America wasn ' t lavish : Hiss himself was eager to leave the State Department because of the low salary , and applied for the CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT ' s Presidency in part because Carnegie would more than double Hiss ' s earnings ( from $ 5 , 6 0 0 . 0 0 to twenty grand a year . )
SVETLANA CHERVONNASKAYA , proving that history repeats itself , claims to have thoroughly read existing Soviet archives - - and found no reference at all to Alger Hiss . Colonel - General DMITRI VOLCOGANOV did so fifteen years ago , and concluded that not only was there no mention of Alger Hiss , there were no references to Whittaker Chambers either ! This , frankly , is not definitive ; Volcoganov himself acknowledged that many documents have likely been lost or destroyed .
The content of Soviet archives has no bearing on the guilt of Alger Hiss in any event . ( Colonel - General Volkoganov , who made a tentative statement of exoneration regarding Hiss in October 1 9 9 2 , retracted the statement two months later . )
When author Weinstein , seeking Government documents under the Freedom Of Information Act , attempted to avail himself of the H . U . A . C . archives , the House Judiciary Committee sealed the records of the long - defunct H . U . A . C . for FIFTY years , meaning we would not gain access until 2 0 2 6 .
This begs the question : what potentially harmful data did a Democratic - majority House committee forbid Weinstein to see ? It is fortunate that J . Edgar Hoover , F . B . I . director , died four years earlier lest Weinstein be denied access to Bureau files on the Hiss case . ( PERJURY was the end result of nine years ' worth of research , including an interview with ' Josef Peters ' , the Hungarian emigre who supervised Soviet Espionage in America before being deported . )
I would never dispute that RICHARD NIXON made the most of the Hiss case , so as to advance Nixon ' s own notoriety and political ascent . ( Weinstein chides Nixon in a number of instances , mostly for some questionable presentation of ' fact ' in Nixon 's own memoir SIX CRISES . ) It is a bizarre historical circumstance that young Nixon , juniormost member of the H . U . A . C . , was its best - informed congressman regarding the Hiss case : Nixon was befriended by Father JOHN CRONIN , a Catholic Priest from Hiss ' s hometown of Baltimore , who in turn was given access by F . B . I . Director HOOVER to the Bureau ' s files pertaining to Hiss .
I could continue for a frightfully long time on the details of the case , but I ' ll conclude as did Professor Weinstein in the text of PERJURY : " THERE HAS YET TO EMERGE FROM ANY SOURCE A BODY OF EVIDENCE CREDIBLE ENOUGH TO UNDERMINE THE CREDIBILITY OF THE EVIDENCE AGAINST ALGER HISS . " This remains true some three decades after the initial publication of PERJURY , and attempts to debunk Weinstein ' s work - - including Navasky , Bird and Chervonnaskaya - - are also similarly wanting .
