46. Nichols to Tolson, Dec. 3, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI.
47. Allardice’s original informant was probably William Consodine, Groves’s wartime lawyer. The Consodines were longtime friends of Allardice and his wife. Nichols to Tolson, Dec. 14, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI; Joseph Volpe, Aug. 9, 2000, personal communication.
48. Hoover to Cleveland Special Agent-in-Change, Dec. 10, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI.
49. Strauss immediately telephoned Allardice after talking to Groves. Belmont to Ladd, Dec. 14, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI; telephone log, Dec. 1–30, 1953, box 6, LLS/NARA.
50. Belmont to Ladd, Dec. 14, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI.
51. The following day, Lansdale wrote to Groves, at the latter’s request, with his recollection of the Dec. 1943 meeting in Groves’s office: “You had promised J. Robert that the information would not be given to the F.B.I. and so directed me. I will confess that in this one instance I disobeyed your instructions and orally passed the information along to the F.B.I.” Lansdale to Groves, Dec. 16, 1953, box 5, Groves/NARA. My thanks to Stan Norris for a copy of the Lansdale letter.
52. Belmont to Ladd, Dec. 29, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI.
53. Belmont to Ladd, Dec. 17, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI.
54. Groves was not able to see either Strauss or Nichols, so he met with LaPlante. Groves visit to FBI and AEC: Belmont to Ladd, Dec. 17, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI; LaPlante to files, Dec. 17, 1953, AEC/NARA.
55. SAC Newark to Hoover, Dec. 22, 1953, and Hoover to Brownell, Dec. 22, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI.
56. Hoover to Brownell, Dec. 22, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI; Stern (1969), 69.
57. Joseph Learned to Hoover, Dec. 31, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI. Hoover passed along the interview with Frank to Strauss on Jan. 7, 1954. “Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer,” Dec. 14, 1959, box 3, JRO/AEC.
58. Bernstein (1990), 1442; telephone log, Dec. 1–30, 1953, box 5, LLS/NARA.
59. Bernstein (1990), 1447–48. Entry of Dec. 9, 1953, LaPlante diary, AEC/NARA; Murray to Strauss, Dec. 7, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI.
60. Hewlett and Holl (1989), 78.
61. Among the traits that Strauss praised at Campbell’s confirmation hearings was the latter’s “personal loyalty.” Campbell was the only commissioner to whom Strauss revealed Ike’s “blank wall” order prior to the Dec. 10 meeting. Hewlett and Holl (1989), 31, 75.
62. According to Strauss’s telephone log, Strauss talked to Groves twice on the morning of Dec. 10; Strauss also talked to Allardice in between Groves’s calls. While it is likely that the topic of discussion was the story that Allardice had given the FBI a week earlier, no subject is indicated in the log. Telephone log, Dec. 1–30, 1953, box 5, LLS/NARA.
63. Nichols stopped by Green’s office twice that weekend to remind the young lawyer to include the Chevalier incident in the list of charges. Nichols (1987), 307.
64. Hewlett and Holl (1989), 75–77; Stern (1969), 228–30.
65. Dec. 10, 1953, LaPlante diary, AEC/NARA.
66. Hoover to Strauss, Dec. 18, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI; Williams and Cantelon (1984), 144–47.
67. Belmont to Ladd, Dec. 14, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI.
68. Belmont to Ladd, Dec. 17, 1953, sec. 16, JRO/FBI.
69. As an indication of his innocence—or his hubris—Oppenheimer asked the trustees of Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study to pay the $12,000 he had spent in legal fees preparing for the Weinberg trial. Strauss informed the FBI that “finally the ‘long-haired professors’ on the Board went along with him” and rejected Oppie’s appeal. Belmont to Ladd, June 19, 1953, sec. 14, JRO/FBI.
70. Oppenheimer to P. Spero, Apr. 29, 1953, Weinberg folder, box 77, and Reynolds to Oppenheimer, Dec. 31, 1953, box 47, JRO.
71. Paris visit: Legal attaché, Paris to FBI, Apr. 19, 1954, sec. 30, and telex, Apr. 26, 1954, sec. 31, JRO/FBI; Stern (1969), 213–15.
72. Belmont to Ladd, Dec. 4, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI; Dec. 12, 1953, Nichols diary, folder 77, box 4, Nichols papers.
73. Belmont to Ladd, Dec. 14, 1953, sec. 15, pt. 2, JRO/FBI; Pfau (1984), 157.
74. Nichols (1987), 308.
75. Oppie had at one time looked to Strauss to defend him against such attacks. Nichols (1987), “Meeting with Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer…,” Dec. 21, 1953, folder 80, box 4, Nichols papers; Hewlett and Holl (1989), 78–80.
76. Nichols (1987), 308.
77. Dec. 22, 1953, Nichols diary, folder 80, box 4, Nichols papers; Hoover to Brownell, Dec. 21, 1953, supplemental releases, JRO/FBI.
17: The Good Deeds a Man Has Done Before
1. Garrison: Stern (1969), 244.
2. Robb: Ibid., 243; Jan. 26, 1954, Nichols diary, Nichols papers.
3. In addition, the bureau tapped at least one of Oppie’s lawyers and also had an informant at Princeton’s Institute of Advanced Study. Wiretaps: Branigan to Belmont, Apr. 7, 1954, sec. 15, JRO/FBI. Hewlett and Holl (1989), 80; Heinrich to Belmont, June 29, 1954, supplemental releases, JRO/FBI; Bernstein (1990), 1451.
4. Strauss was telling Bates by month’s end that the wiretaps “had been most helpful to the AEC in that they were aware before hand of the moves [Oppenheimer] was contemplating.” Belmont to Ladd, Jan. 5, 1954, and Jan. 28, 1954, supplemental releases, JRO/FBI.
5. Belmont to Ladd, Feb. 19, 1954, sec. 21, JRO/FBI.
6. Borden to files, Aug. 13, 1951, no. 3464, JCAE.
7. Hoover to Strauss, Jan. 18, 1954, sec. 17, JRO/FBI.
8. Belmont to Ladd, Feb. 25, 1954, sec. 21, JRO/FBI.
9. Hewlett and Holl (1989), 74.
10. “Details,” n.d., and Branigan to Belmont, Jan. 22, 1954, sec. 18, JRO/FBI.
11. “Summary for Jan. 22, 1954,” sec. 18, JRO/FBI.
12. Belmont to Ladd, Feb. 25, 1954, sec. 21, JRO/FBI.
13. Feb. 19, 1954, Nichols diary, Nichols papers. Groves asked Nichols what he should say in his testimony. The general’s former aide responded cheerily: “Tell Oppie to be very truthful about all matters—maybe you and I will learn the truth about the Chevalier matter. Is he protecting Frank?” Nichols (1987), 315.
14. Belmont to Boardman, Mar. 4, 1954, sec. 21, JRO/FBI; Mar. 3, 1954, Nichols diary, Nichols papers.
15. Belmont to Ladd, Jan. 26, 1954, sec. 19, JRO/FBI.
16. Belmont to Boardman, Apr. 11, 1954, sec. 31, JRO/FBI.
17. Admiral Deke Parsons died of a heart attack the day before he
