American Experience

Transcript: The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer

The words spoken in the courtroom in this documentary are taken directly from the transcript of the hearing in the matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Gordon Gray (Boyd Gaines): The hearing will come to order… Dr. J.R. Oppenheimer, The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J. There has developed considerable question whether your continued employment on Atomic Energy Commission work is consistent with the interests of the national security. In view of your access to highly sensitive classified information, and in view of allegations which, until disproved, raise questions as to your veracity, conduct, and even your loyalty, the Commission has no other recourse but to suspend your clearance until the matter has been resolved.

Narrator: The hearings were held in a makeshift courtroom in a shabby government office in Washington DC.

Gordon Gray (Boyd Gaines): It was reported that your wife Katherine Puening Oppenheimer was a member of the Communist party. It was reported that your brother Frank Friedman Oppenheimer was a member of the Community Party.

Narrator: J. Robert Oppenheimer, the most eminent atomic scientist in America, stood accused… a risk to national security. It was 1954. The cold war with Russia was fueling fears of Communist infiltration at the highest levels of government.

Gordon Gray (Boyd Gaines): It was reported that you stated that you were not a Communist, but had probably belonged to every Communist front organization on the west coast and had signed many petitions in which Communists were interested.