Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon Lies and Deceit Quotes

After seventy-five minutes of friendly chatter, Skardon suddenly said, "were you not in touch with a Soviet official or a Soviet representative while you were in New York? And did you not pass on information to that person about your work?"

There was a long silence. Fuchs sat perfectly still. Even his face remained frozen.

Finally he said, "I don't think so."

At that moment Skardon knew the man was guilty. (Fallout.(37).34-37)

Oppenheimer had hashed it all out with army security officers back in 1943. But now Robb suggested that Oppenheimer had never told the whole truth about the Chevalier incident. If the incident had really been so innocent, Robb asked, why hadn't Oppenheimer reported it to Leslie Groves right away? Robb was clearly implying that Oppenheimer had closer contact with the Soviets than he was admitting. The judges were swayed—they voted to revoke Oppenheimer's security clearance. "Dr. Oppenheimer is not entitled to the continued confidence of the government," declared the AEC. (Epilogue.59)