Groups Seek Rosenberg Grand Jury File

[January 31, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Leading historical groups are seeking the release of grand jury records in the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, whose espionage trial for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union became a defining moment in the Cold War.

Fifty-five years after their execution, historians still debate the extent of the espionage and whether the government may have overreached in prosecuting the Rosenbergs, questions that might be addressed with an unsealing of the grand jury record of the investigation.

The National Security Archive at George Washington University and the American Historical Association are among the groups making the request to be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.

Grand jury records, which ordinarily remain secret, may reveal the scope of the Rosenberg spy rings, which extended beyond the atomic espionage for which they were executed, Yale University historian John Lewis Gaddis said in court papers accompanying the request.

Other participants in asking for disclosure include the American Society for Legal History, the Organization of American Historians, the Society of American Archivists and New York Times reporter Sam Roberts.

Accused of relaying to the Soviet Union secrets of the atomic bomb, the couple allegedly recruited Ethel Rosenberg's brother, David Greenglass, who worked at the site of the first atom bomb test in New Mexico. Greenglass became a star witness against the Rosenbergs, testifying that he saw his sister transcribing his spy notes on a typewriter.

In recent years, Greenglass has said that he lied about the typewriter -- and some other matters -- to save himself and his wife.

While decoded Soviet messages released in recent years indicate that Julius Rosenberg was indeed a spy, supporters say nothing he contributed to the Soviets -- and certainly nothing his wife did -- warranted their execution.

[Associated Press; By PETE YOST]

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