Rosenberg transcripts raise possibility of perjury

[LeighAnn]

Source: Boston Globe

Grand jury transcripts released Thursday from the biggest espionage case of the Cold War raise questions about whether Ethel Rosenberg was convicted and executed based on perjured prosecution testimony.

The Rosenbergs were convicted of passing nuclear weapons secrets to the Soviet Union and were executed in 1953. Since then, decrypted Soviet cables have appeared to confirm that Julius Rosenberg was a spy, but doubts have remained about Ethel Rosenberg's role.

~*snip*~

In recent years, David Greenglass recanted his testimony about the typing.

~*snip*~

In fact, in her grand jury testimony, Ruth Greenglass says that she herself wrote out the secrets in longhand. That testimony is consistent with the subsequently decrypted Soviet cables from the time in which the Soviets describe material received from the Rosenbergs as being in longhand.


Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/09/11/rosenberg_transcripts_raise_possibility_of_perjury/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news

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There's more, it was just hard picking out four paragraphs.

More about the Rosenbergs here

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROSENB.HTM

[GoddessOfGuinness]

1. I wonder if, in 2055

we'll find out what really happened in the 2000 selection.

[aquart]

2. My dad said he was innocent.

He believed it to the day he died. He worked for Rosenberg during the war. They were inspectors. Said Rosenberg was framed because he was so determined not to let crap or dangerous goods get to our soldiers.

[orleans]

5. wow, that's interesting (seriously). and framed for that?

i don't remember the story so well anymore (read a book about this in high school) but i could believe that is true--what your dad said.

[McCamy Taylor]

3. Hell, Bush and Co. probably gave Russia nukes to start the cold war.

[gratuitous]

4. Just another miscarriage of justice in the name of security

The evidence against Ethel was pretty thin broth from the get-go, and hinged on secret evidence that was never produced in open court. Even back then, there were a lot of folks who were wondering just how the American system was supposed to differ from the Soviet system. Whenever it suits the powerful to scare the populace, they'll jettison the Constitution in a Dick Cheney heartbeat.