Judith Coplon Spy Case – VENONA, FBI & CIA Records

Description

The Judith Coplon Espionage Case: A VENONA Revelation

Detailed Timeline of the Judith Coplon – VENONA Soviet Spy Case

• World War II Era (Exact Date Unknown, Pre-1943): Judith Coplon adopts communist ideologies and becomes a member of the Young Communist League while at Barnard College.
• 1943: Judith Coplon graduates cum laude from Barnard College.
• Post-1943 (While at Columbia University): Flora Wovschin, a classmate, and Marion Davis Berdecio, a Soviet intelligence agent, recruit Judith Coplon for Soviet intelligence. Coplon is assigned the pseudonym “SIMA.”
• Post-College (Exact Date Unknown): Judith Coplon begins working as an analyst for the Justice Department, supplying information about Justice Department policies and cases regarding foreign agents to the Soviet NKGB.
• December 1948: The FBI identifies a Soviet agent with the cover name “SIMA” as Judith Coplon, significantly increasing their attention on her.
• 1948 (Throughout): FBI special agents observe Judith Coplon repeatedly meeting in New York with Valentin A. Gubitchev, an officer of Soviet intelligence.
• March 4, 1949: The FBI arrests Judith Coplon and Soviet UN employee Valentin A. Gubitchev in New York City on espionage charges.
• 1949: Judith Coplon’s first espionage trial takes place. She claims during the trial that she was meeting a Soviet intelligence officer because she was writing a book and gathering firsthand experience through “pillow talk.”
• 1949: Judith Coplon is convicted on charges involving espionage and conspiracy. She is sentenced to five years on count one and fifteen years on count four of the indictment.
• 1949-1950: The convictions from Coplon’s two trials (implied, as the source states “convictions from her two trials were overturned”) are overturned on appeal. The overturning is due to the FBI’s practices during evidence gathering and its presentation to juries, specifically FBI agents lying at trial about the source of information against Coplon.
• 1950: Judith Coplon marries Albert Socolov, one of her attorneys from the successful appeals.
• 1950 (Approximate): The US government begins preparing for a third trial against Judith Coplon.
• September 15, 1957 (Latest Newspaper Date): Newspaper coverage related to the Coplon-Gubitchev case continues.
• 1967 (17 years after 1950): The government gives up on preparing a third trial against Judith Coplon and returns her $40,000 bail money.
• 1995: The VENONA intercepted message decrypts are declassified, providing more concrete evidence of Coplon’s guilt. These declassified cables identify 200 Americans, including Coplon, as spies for the Soviet Union.
• February 26, 2011: Judith Coplon Socolov dies.

Cast of Characters

• Judith Coplon Socolov (1921 – 2011): The central figure of the case, born in Brooklyn, New York. A Barnard College cum laude graduate and member of the Young Communist League, she adopted communist ideologies during World War II. Recruited by Soviet intelligence while at Columbia University, she worked as an analyst for the Justice Department and supplied information to the Soviet NKGB under the pseudonym “SIMA.” She was the first person prosecuted for espionage based on VENONA evidence. Convicted in two trials, her convictions were overturned due to FBI misconduct. She later married her attorney, Albert Socolov, and had four children. Modern evidence from declassified VENONA decrypts points to her guilt despite the initial overturned convictions.
• Valentin A. Gubitchev (Valentin Alexeyevich Gubichev): A Soviet intelligence officer and UN employee who repeatedly met with Judith Coplon in New York in 1948. He was arrested with Coplon on March 4, 1949, and tried for espionage. The claim of diplomatic immunity for him was rejected.
• Flora Wovschin: A classmate of Judith Coplon at Columbia University who, along with Marion Davis Berdecio, recruited Coplon for Soviet intelligence.
• Marion Davis Berdecio: A Soviet intelligence agent who, along with Flora Wovschin, recruited Judith Coplon for Soviet intelligence while Coplon was at Columbia University.
• Albert Socolov: One of Judith Coplon’s attorneys during her appeals. He successfully argued for the overturning of her convictions. He married Judith Coplon in 1950, and they remained married until her death in 2011.
• FBI Special Agents: Unnamed agents involved in the surveillance and arrest of Judith Coplon and Valentin Gubitchev. Their “perjured testimony” at trial regarding the source of information (VENONA) led to the overturning of Coplon’s convictions.
• The Rosenbergs (Ethel and Julius Rosenberg): Mentioned as other individuals identified by declassified VENONA decrypts as spying for the Soviet Union, alongside Coplon.
• Klaus Fuchs: Mentioned as another individual identified by declassified VENONA decrypts as spying for the Soviet Union.
• Ted Hall: Mentioned as another individual identified by declassified VENONA decrypts as spying for the Soviet Union