Secret Rosenberg Testimony to be Released

A judge said he will release secret documents from the famous Cold War case.

ByABC News
July 22, 2008, 2:37 PM

July 22, 2008— -- A Manhattan judge has indicated that he'llrelease nearly all the grand jury testimony in the Julius and EthelRosenberg case.

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein told lawyers he'd rulelater Tuesday on a request by historical groups to make public thesecret testimony in the Cold War spy case that resulted in thecouple's execution.

The government says it won't oppose releasing testimony of deadwitnesses or those who gave consent.

But a prosecutor argued Tuesday that preserving grand jurysecrecy outweighed the historical interests of making public thetestimony of still-living witnesses who would object, like EthelRosenberg's brother.

The judge agreed the brother's grand jury testimony probablyshould be kept secret.