Abstract

Soviet Espionage in the United States government was until recently thought of as an exaggeration that was used to further the careers of politicians such as Joseph McCarthy. Since there was no proof other than the court records of alleged Soviet spy trials, these events have often been belittled by historians as the American witch-hunt of the twentieth century.  Due to the recent opening of access to Soviet archives and decoding of the Venona Documents, historians can revisit a subject that has long been overwhelmed by McCarthy’s Red Scare. I have evaluated these documents and the works of John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, who are prominent Soviet espionage historians, and have determined that the American Communist Party not only had direct contact with Russia, but also had access to sensitive information through influential party members working within the US government. My paper is an evaluation of the threat of the American Communist Party and Soviet espionage in the United States through the Venona Documents and the Russian Archives. This is a new and relevant topic because until recently Soviet espionage was regarded as just mass hysteria caused by politicians. It is now clear from my research that the Soviet government had many operatives working inside the United States government.