Behind the scenes, the authorities knew that actual evidence of Ethel’s “espionage” was nonexistent, while without a confession by Julius the evidence against him too might not be enough to convince a jury he was guilty and send him to the electric chair. But the charges against them both were the same. A month before the trial, on February 8, the government lawyer, Myles Lane, had told a closed-door meeting of the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy: “The case is not strong against Mrs. Rosenberg. But for the purpose of acting as a deterrent, I think it is very important that she
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