Legal scholars claim new evidence shows Ethel Rosenberg was innocent in infamous spy case

A group of New Jersey law students claim to have uncovered bombshell new evidence in one of the most infamous espionage cases of the 20th century, including an FBI document they say may indicate an innocent woman was executed.

The case is about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg – American citizens executed in 1953 for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Since then, evidence has appeared to confirm that Julius was a spy, but his wife’s role has long been disputed. Students from the Seton Hall University School of Law Center for Policy & Research took up the case, and started from the beginning, said Professor Mark Denbeaux....

The Seton Hall Law Center uncovered an internal FBI memo dating July 17, 1950 that determined there was “insufficient evidence” to arrest Ethel Rosenberg, but that she could be used as “a lever against her husband” to pressure him into confessing. According to the report, additional documents from the FBI and Department of Justice repeatedly note the absence of evidence implicating Ethel in the conspiracy.

The project also discovered that in January of 1951, an assistant attorney general informed a Congressional Committee that Julius Rosenberg was a “tough nut to crack” and that authorities needed to “severely threaten Ethel in order to make Julius cooperate.” This prompted prosecutors to develop evidence in the form of “continually evolving” witness statements, which ultimately led to Ethel’s execution, according to the students’ report.