Yesterday, December 1, 2016, Ethel Rosenbergs’ Sons, Michael and Robert Meeropol, petitioned the White House for exoneration of their mother from the President. They claim evidence that the government knew that their mother was innocent of any collaboration with any foreign power and therefore no guilt worthy of capital punishment. This evidence was revealed in grand jury testimony about the case records that were released only in July of last year. This story has an interesting history for those who don’t know.
Video here (11 min.)
(sorry CSPAN videos won’t embed)
Roy Cohn
Roy Cohn, an attorney from the McCarthy era extending through the 1980’s, was McCarthy’s right hand man, Donald Trump calls Cohn his mentor. Cohn rose in political circles as a new, bright lawyer, but quickly came under sway of rabid anti-communism and Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Cohn was invited into the McCarthy circle and quickly rose as his right hand man in interrogations and prosecutions. Cohn, who had successfully prosecuted the Rosenbergs, was ready for the job. He quickly became known for his acerbic style, would frequently introduce the notion the accused was a homosexual, a bizarre accusation since, according to Cohn’s friends, was himself a homosexual.
In the ‘70’s Trump needed a lawyer to protect his interests from tenants and creditors and found his man in Cohn. Cohn, who was known to work with Mafia figures including John Gotti and Tony Salerno, helped Trump in 1973 when the US government accused Trump of violations of the Fair Housing Act and I understand from interviews that Trump retained Cohn and worked with him closely.
Roy Cohn and Donald Trump (1.5 min.)
For a dramatic representation of Cohn’s adult life, I recommend “Citizen Cohn” (1992) (Trailer) starring James Woods as Cohn.
Below is a short video (7 min.) of Robert Meeropol on his mother’s exoneration effort from late October.