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| Rosenberg figure Morton Sobell finally admits, "I dunnit" |
| 2008-09-12 |
In 1951, Morton Sobell was tried and convicted with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on espionage charges. He served more than 18 years in prison.. Through it all, he maintained his innocence. But on Thursday, Mr. Sobell, 91, dramatically reversed himself. In an interview, he admitted for the first time that he had been a Soviet spy... Duh, conspiracy? Government prosecutors later acknowledged that they had hoped that a conviction and the possibility of a death sentence against Ethel Rosenberg would persuade her husband to confess and implicate others, including some agents known to investigators through secretly intercepted Soviet cables. The prosecutors' strategy failed. Julius never implicated anyone & he and Ethel were both executed. After reading what I could about the Soviet espionage records publicized after 1990, I believe many of the other Soviet agents completed their careers in the US, retired on pensions & either died of old age or are still living. The NYT article is mostly an attempt to change the subject of the disclosure, that Morton & Julius were guilty, and that Ethel went along with it, which, I guess, is conspiracy, but IANAL. |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |
| #15 I have to tell my 84 year old mom. She took dictation on this case in the New Haven FBI office when Whitacre Chambers first approached them. The agents there didn't believe him but mom did. It took the NYNY office to act on it. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-09-12 19:31 |
| #14 Ship strikes again! LOL! BTW... BURN THEM Now That's a Sweet Sound When Dealing with Traitors. Of all our institutions under the corrosive Lefty Tides our Legal System has to be the worse off since the 50s when Ethel and Julius took steps to destroy our Nation thru sabotage and collusion with the Soviet Union. Unfortunately we still have a few million dangerous LEFTY Whack Jobs doing their best to destroy our Courts; State and Federal all the way up to the Supreme Court with Ruth Bader Ginsberg types for instance. Justices like Ginsberg believe by written statement & by verbal statements that some of our Constitutional Rights are out-dated and need a little or alot of work**. BUT she is so mealy mouth and obtuse that her "statements" are more like Gobley Gook ramblings substituting instead for simple direct logic. |
| Posted by: Red Dawg 2008-09-12 18:46 |
| #13 CinGold drags up the rest of the profession again. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-09-12 17:32 |
| #12 conspiracy [ken-'spir-e-se] pl: -cies Latin conspiratio, from conspirare to conspire see conspire 1: an agreement between two or more people to commit an act prohibited by law or to commit a lawful act by means prohibited by law also : the crime or tort of participating in a conspiracy (compare substantive crime) Note: Some states require an overt act in addition to the agreement to constitute conspiracy. 2: a group of conspirators chain conspiracy : a conspiracy in which the conspirators act separately and successively (as in distributing narcotics) civil conspiracy : a conspiracy that is not prosecuted as a crime but that forms the grounds for a lawsuit criminal conspiracy : a conspiracy prosecuted as a crime In the case of the Rosenberg's, Ethel's agreement (tacit or otherwise) was sufficient -- she did not need to engage in any overt act to further the conspiracy. |
| Posted by: cingold 2008-09-12 17:24 |
| #11 All comments have been most interesting. Would like a Rantburg lawyer to chime in on the meaning of "conspiracy." AFAICT, Ethel was a conspirator by the sum total of her actions. Whether or not she actually typed material that was passed on the to Soviets is not critical. I believe the Venona declassified stuff did nail the Rosenbergs, but modern fellow travelers continue to pretend the stuff doesn't exist. This is more than a reference to modern 'truthers'. The Rosenberg orphans changed their surnames but continue to defend their parents' memories, and deserve a measure of sympathy for what happened to them. At least they were totally innocent. I doubt any amount of evidence will ever change their minds. Sobell continues to believe he did the right thing, and he continues to be disloyal to the United States. This bad attitude permeates much of the modern domestic left establishment. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2008-09-12 15:19 |
| #10 Either way, I will continue not to lose any sleep over it. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-09-12 14:44 |
| #9 Mrs. Rosenberg could also have chosen to reveal what she knew to the prosecutors, and gotten a sentence less than death. Given that they knew she was not a conspirator, I imagine they would have happily cut a deal. But she also chose to say nothing, and so she also chose to orphan her children. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-09-12 13:46 |
| #8 Pretty much OS, but nearly all subjects have 'Truthers'. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-09-12 13:12 |
| #7 I thought the Venona declassified stuff pretty much nailed the Rosenburgs |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-09-12 12:45 |
| #6 The prosecutors' strategy failed. Julius never implicated anyone & he and Ethel were both executed Maybe it's just me, sounds like it worked fine. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-09-12 12:17 |
| #5 How charming that Julius left his children orphans when he didn't have to. Just when I thought my opinion of him couldn't go any lower.... |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields 2008-09-12 09:29 |
| #4 This just in to the New York Times: Sacco and Vanzetti Still Dead. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-09-12 09:21 |
| #3 Yeah, if you're screwed you might as well try to get the old lady off the hook. Wussy pinko. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-09-12 09:08 |
| #2 So Julius could've made a deal so Ethel doesn't ride the lightning but didn't? Nice guy. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-09-12 08:43 |
| #1 Can we hang him now? |
| Posted by: NCMike 2008-09-12 07:39 |