Judith Coplon, American political analyst, convicted of espionage died she was , 89

Judith Coplon Socolov  was one of the first major figures tried in the United States for spying for the former Soviet Union; problems in her trials in 1949-1950 had a profound influence on espionage prosecutions during the McCarthy era died she was , 89.

(May 17, 1921 – February 26, 2011)

Career

Work and arrest

Coplon obtained a job in the Department of Justice shortly after she graduated from Barnard College, cum laude in 1943.^[2] She transferred to the Foreign Agents Registration section in 1944, where she had access to counter-intelligence information, and was allegedly recruited as a spy by the NKGB at the end of 1944.^[3]
She first came to the attention of the FBI as a result of a Venona message in late 1948. Coplon was known in both Soviet intelligence and the Venona files as "SIMA". She was the first person tried as a result of the Venona project—although, for reasons of security, the Venona information was not revealed at her trial. FBI Special Agent Robert Lamphere testified at her trial that suspicion had fallen on Coplon because of information from a reliable "confidential informant".^[4]
An extensive counter-intelligence operation planted a secret document for her to pass to the Soviets. FBI agents detained Coplon in March, 1949 as she met with Valentin Gubitchev, a KGB official employed by the United Nations, while carrying what she believed were secret U.S. government documents in her purse.^[4][3]

Trials and appeals

Coplon was convicted in two separate trials, one for espionage in 1949, and another for conspiracy along with Gubitchev in 1950; both convictions were later overturned in 1950 and 1951, respectively in appeal.^[4]
The appellant judge in New York concluded that while the evidence showed that she was guilty, that the FBI had lied under oath about the bugging. Moreover, he wrote, the failure to get a warrant was not justified. He overturned the verdict, but the indictment was not dismissed. In the appeal of the Washington trial, the verdict was upheld, but, because of the possible bugging, a new trial became possible. For political and evidentiary reasons it never took place.
Due to these legal irregularities, she was never retried and the government ultimately dropped the case in 1967.

National Attention

The Coplon trials commanded nationwide attention. After her arrest but before her trials, Coplon received earnest attention from the media. For example, Gertrude Samuels wrote for the New York Times, questioning the situation:

Why do some people become traitors? What turns some native-born Americans, as well as naturalized citizens, into Benedict Arnolds and Quislings? What motivates them to betray their country and themselves?...

Samuels examines four kinds of traitors: professional, people loyal their birth lands, crackpots, and idealists. In this last group, she named Elizabeth Bentley and Whittaker Chambers. To understand this group, she argues, one must understand their drive for social justice -- reasons "beyond FBI jurisdiction," while "few judges are bothered by motivations."^[5] NYT Book Review editor Sam Tanenhaus wrote in March 2011:

...At the time of her trial, Ms. Coplon drew a great deal of interest, particularly in the lively tabloid press of the day. A 27-year-old cum laude graduate of Barnard, employed in the internal security section of the Justice Department, she seemed the model postwar “government girl,” fetchingly clad in snug sweaters and New Look skirts... [with] sort of attention Lindsay Lohan’s courtroom appearances attract today.^[6]

Coplon's death in February 2011 received wide syndication via Associated Press, mostly in the U.S..^{[4][7][8][9][10][11]}

Personal life

She was the daughter of Samuel and Rebecca Moroh Coplon.^[3] She married one of her attorneys, Albert Socolov, and they remained married until her death. They had four children.^[4]

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