'A Grand Jury Unlocked'

'A Grand Jury Unlocked'

Your editorial about the suit to release transcripts relating to the indictment of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg cites Klaus Fuchs and Ted Hall as scientists who gave the Soviets "much more accurate information" than the Rosenbergs, but doesn't mention an even more significant agent whose name has only just come to light — George Koval [Editorial, "A Grand Jury Unlocked," July 1, 2008].

On November 12, 2007, the New York Times ran a front-page article reporting that President Putin of Russia had just honored Koval, then one year dead, for having given the Soviet Union information that "helped speed up considerably" the manufacture of the Soviets' first bomb.

Born in Iowa to left-wing parents, trained in Moscow and recruited by Soviet military intelligence, Koval had returned to America and been routed to the Manhattan Project.

Sometime between 1945 and 1948, the American government discovered the extent of his espionage — he had top-level security clearance — and he bolted to the Soviet Union.

The Times reported that "in the early 1950s" (the Rosenbergs were arrested in 1950, tried in 1951, and executed in 1953) the FBI questioned the scientists who had worked with Koval to ascertain the full extent of his knowledge and opportunities, "asking that the matter be kept confidential."

Those questioned agreed, and Koval's role remained a secret for more than 50 years, as did the fact that, for at least two years before the Rosenbergs' arrest, the government had already known who not only "conspired" to commit espionage but did it and got away with it.

CAROL JOCHNOWITZ
New York, NY