The Power of Willful Denial

 

Below is an incomplete list of Americans who were confirmed by the Venona Project to have both spied for the Soviets and  worked for the FDR administration. Okay, it’s an incomplete list for two reasons: 1) Only a small percentage of the messages intercepted by the Army Signal Intelligence Service could be successfully decoded and 2) The list was so long that I got tired of adding new names. But you can parse the rest of the list of Venona-Americans, which is available here. This list includes people who had personal access to FDR himself. In fact, FDR’s closest aide Harry Hopkins was a Soviet spy.

This post is not about whataboutism. It’s about perspective. Democrats’ hands are far from clean when it comes to Russia. The next time you hear a liberal call Trump Putin’s puppet, ask them what they think about FDR’s record on Soviet espionage. There is overwhelming evidence that FDR hired scores of Soviet spies, and many liberals to this day either don’t know about it or know but refuse to accept it. Don’t let them lecture you about willful denial.

John Abt

Solomon Adler

Joel Barr

Alice Barrows

Joseph Milton Bernstein

Frank Coe

Judith Coplon

Lauchlin Currie

William Dawson

Samuel Dickstein

Martha Dodd

Laurence Duggan

William E. Dodd Jr.

Jack Fahy

Edward Fitzgerald

Charles Flato

Jane Foster Zlatovski

Harold Glasser

Gerald Graze

David Greenglass

Theodore Hall

Maurice Halperin

Alger Hiss

Donald Hiss

Harry Hopkins

Bella Joseph

Helen Grace Scott Keenan

Mary Jane Keeney

Charles Kramer

Christina Krotkova

Duncan Lee

Harry Magdoff

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  1. George Townsend Inactive
    George Townsend
    @GeorgeTownsend

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):

    cdor (View Comment):

    Our own spy agencies…the FBI and the CIA as well as our Justice Department…have been doing everything they can the subvert Trump’s Presidency. For me it is easy to see how he could mistrust them. Just a couple of days before this Summit, Rosenstein/Mueller decide to indict 12 Russians that they will never ever convict. The timing seemed eerily coincidental and disruptive. The FBI never saw the server that the Russians are accused of having hacked. Yet it is absolutely without a doubt, according to our highest officials that the Russians did this dastardly act…which only exposed the dishonesty and deceptiveness of the Democratic Party and the Clinton Campaign. There were no National secrets exposed. It is common everyday spy work that has been going on for –well forever.

    If the President trusts the murderous dictator of a hostile country over his own intelligence agencies then he should immediately fire their leadership and appoint new people.

    Dan Coates is a Trump appointee – he trusts Putin more than Coates. Ridiculous.

    As usual, Jamie puts it very well.

    I would also add that if Trump can’t trust the man he put in charge of our Intelligence, over a murderous thug, it not only shows a lack of perspective and loyalty, but it calls into question, yet again, the fitness the man has for holding the office he holds.

    • #31
  2. TempTime Member
    TempTime
    @TempTime

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):
    Sorry what do the actions of Democrats over 70 years ago have to do with the actions of Democrats today? 

    Consistency.

    • #32
  3. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):

    cdor (View Comment):

    Our own spy agencies…the FBI and the CIA as well as our Justice Department…have been doing everything they can the subvert Trump’s Presidency. For me it is easy to see how he could mistrust them. Just a couple of days before this Summit, Rosenstein/Mueller decide to indict 12 Russians that they will never ever convict. The timing seemed eerily coincidental and disruptive. The FBI never saw the server that the Russians are accused of having hacked. Yet it is absolutely without a doubt, according to our highest officials that the Russians did this dastardly act…which only exposed the dishonesty and deceptiveness of the Democratic Party and the Clinton Campaign. There were no National secrets exposed. It is common everyday spy work that has been going on for –well forever.

    If the President trusts the murderous dictator of a hostile country over his own intelligence agencies then he should immediately fire their leadership and appoint new people.

    Dan Coates is a Trump appointee – he trusts Putin more than Coates. Ridiculous.

    So then what did I say, assuming you are directing your remark to me, that is incorrect? BTW, I never made the comparison nor did I say he should trust Putin. To my knowledge, Trump did not say that either. He was asked a question by typical and impertinent journalist at a very bad time.  Trump stated Putin’s response when previously asked. A speechwriter with an hour of spare time would probably have come up with a more nuanced answer. Yet here we are, parsing a statement because the left has decided this is another impeachable offense…RIDICULOUS.

    • #33
  4. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):
    If the President trusts the murderous dictator of a hostile country over his own intelligence agencies then he should immediately fire their leadership and appoint new people.

    The murderous dictator of a hostile country over the KGB of a hostile state?  That’s a tough choice. How about giving us an easier one. 

    • #34
  5. Gary McVey Contributor
    Gary McVey
    @GaryMcVey

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    Gary McVey (View Comment):
    David Greenglass wasn’t a Democrat or a New Dealer; he was a Communist and low ranking technician at Los Alamos.

    “Low ranking” Greenglass

    …not only provided the famous sketch of the bomb’s lens mold, but as KGB reports indicate, he gave them a “report on a scientific experimentation center for preparing a uranium bomb, with a general floor plan and sketches of individual buildings attached.” KGB agent Leonid Kvasnikov described a 33 page letter he received from Greenglass on “the preparation of a uranium bomb,” the structural solutions for building one, and methods for obtaining Uranium-235, which Kvasnikov called “highly valuable.” Finally, not only did he give them the sketch that was displayed at the trial, but he provided the KGB, as their reports indicate, with “a physical sample of material used in the detonator.”

    He then turned states evidence, unlike the Rosenbergs.

    The larger point is the extensive Soviet espionage apparatus in the US. The US would have been targeted anyway, but FDR’s policies made it much easier than it otherwise would have been. Remember that thing about “aluminum tubing” and Iraq?

    Harry Hopkins personally saw to it that Lend-Lease was covertly used to divert aluminum tube sections for uranium purification centrifuges as well as uranium ore to the USSR. Both were highly restricted materials that should not have left the country.

    I think the article in the Sun conflates two information packets retrieved from New Mexico by courier Harry Gold. The detailed stuff about bomb design came from Klaus Fuchs, a top physicist and German refugee who was part of the British delegation. His handlers made a mistake that would cost them all dearly: they asked Gold to pick up documents from a different “chain” of agents he didn’t know, Julius Rosenberg’s brother-in-law David Greenglass, who was–yep–a low ranking tech who could describe the buildings and some of the personnel, and unlike high-ranking Fuchs, had access to samples of the metal. 

    • #35
  6. Hang On Member
    Hang On
    @HangOn

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):

    cdor (View Comment):

    Our own spy agencies…the FBI and the CIA as well as our Justice Department…have been doing everything they can the subvert Trump’s Presidency. For me it is easy to see how he could mistrust them. Just a couple of days before this Summit, Rosenstein/Mueller decide to indict 12 Russians that they will never ever convict. The timing seemed eerily coincidental and disruptive. The FBI never saw the server that the Russians are accused of having hacked. Yet it is absolutely without a doubt, according to our highest officials that the Russians did this dastardly act…which only exposed the dishonesty and deceptiveness of the Democratic Party and the Clinton Campaign. There were no National secrets exposed. It is common everyday spy work that has been going on for –well forever.

    If the President trusts the murderous dictator of a hostile country over his own intelligence agencies then he should immediately fire their leadership and appoint new people.

    Dan Coates is a Trump appointee – he trusts Putin more than Coates. Ridiculous.

    Just finished watching the news conference. As with the other straw men arguments you construct, this is simply ludicrous. He never said anything of the sort. What he said was that without presenting the evidence and the DNC would not allow their servers to be searched, there was no basis for the claim. 

    • #36
  7. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    Hang On (View Comment):

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):

    cdor (View Comment):

    Our own spy agencies…the FBI and the CIA as well as our Justice Department…have been doing everything they can the subvert Trump’s Presidency. For me it is easy to see how he could mistrust them. Just a couple of days before this Summit, Rosenstein/Mueller decide to indict 12 Russians that they will never ever convict. The timing seemed eerily coincidental and disruptive. The FBI never saw the server that the Russians are accused of having hacked. Yet it is absolutely without a doubt, according to our highest officials that the Russians did this dastardly act…which only exposed the dishonesty and deceptiveness of the Democratic Party and the Clinton Campaign. There were no National secrets exposed. It is common everyday spy work that has been going on for –well forever.

    If the President trusts the murderous dictator of a hostile country over his own intelligence agencies then he should immediately fire their leadership and appoint new people.

    Dan Coates is a Trump appointee – he trusts Putin more than Coates. Ridiculous.

    Just finished watching the news conference. As with the other straw men arguments you construct, this is simply ludicrous. He never said anything of the sort. What he said was that without presenting the evidence and the DNC would not allow their servers to be searched, there was no basis for the claim.

    That claim is ludicrous. An image of the server was examined. That is all that is required for a forensic analysis of what sort of intrusion occurred. A physical examination of the hardware is not necessary. He also said: “I have no reason to believe that they did” meaning he has no reason to believe that Russia hacked our election.

    • #37
  8. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):
    That claim is ludicrous. An image of the server was examined. That is all that is required for a forensic analysis of what sort of intrusion occurred. A physical examination of the hardware is not necessary. He also said: “I have no reason to believe that they did” meaning he has no reason to believe that Russia hacked our election.

    I’m no IT guy, but why just an image and how can an image be as good as the actual, physical server? Today Trump corrected the second part of your comment, saying he had misspoken:

     

    • #38
  9. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):
    An image of the server was examined.

    By Crowd Strike, not the FBI. James Comey accepted Crowd Strike’s report as sufficient before he was fired and the DNC subsequently destroyed the server itself.

    That prevented access to any physical evidence, such as the serial number of the hard drive. IIUC it is possible to alter any electronic version of the serial number and a skilled technician with clean room access can swap the platters on a hard drive as well.

    • #39
  10. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Jamie Lockett (View Comment):
    no reason to believe that Russia hacked our election.

    “Hacked our election?”  Is that another one of those shape-shifting phrases like, “on the backs of social media?”

    • #40
  11. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    But wait, there’s more:

    After providing an exhaustive timeline of the 2015 and 2016 hacks:

    The timing between Admiral Rogers’ discovery of outside contractors and the sudden problems with the DNC Servers appears far too coincidental.

    Exactly what was on those DNC Servers that involved the need for such secrecy.

    Was there really a full-blown hack – or did Podesta simply fall for a phishing scam.

    Why was Crowdstrike specifically selected – apparently the same night Perkins Coie Partner Michael Sussmann was first contacted by the DNC.

    And why was Perkins Coie involved. Again.

    On March 31, 2017 a Fox News report by Adam Housley cited numerous unnamed intelligence sources with direct knowledge of events:

    We’ve learned that the surveillance that led to the unmasking started way before President Trump was even the GOP nominee.

    We know from FISA Court documents that information was being gathered through illegal “About” queries – and had little or nothing to do with National Security. They were unauthorized, specifically related to U.S. persons and were the result of deliberate decision-making.

    We know the FBI employed independent contractors – some to seemingly gather political opposition research using “About” queries from at least late 2015 through April 18, 2016.

    • #41
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