Martin and Mitchell Defection
Encyclopedia
The Martin and Mitchell Defection occurred in September 1960 when two National Security Agency
(NSA) cryptologists, William Hamilton Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell, defected to the Soviet Union
. A secret 1963 NSA study said that "Beyond any doubt, no other event has had, or is likely to have in the future, a greater impact on the Agency's security program."
Martin and Mitchell met while serving in the U.S. Navy in Japan in the early 1950s and both joined the NSA on the same day in 1957. They defected together to the Soviet Union in 1960, and at a Moscow press conference they revealed and denounced various U.S. policies, especially provocative incursions into the air space of other nations and spying on America's own allies. Underscoring their apprehension of nuclear war, they said "we would attempt to crawl to the moon if we thought it would lessen the threat of an atomic war."
Within days, citing a trusted source, Congressman Francis E. Walter
, chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC), said Martin and Mitchell were "sex deviates," prompting sensational press coverage. U.S. officials at the National Security Council
privately shared their assumption that the two were part of a traitorous homosexual network. Classified NSA investigations, on the other hand, determined the pair had "greatly inflated opinions concerning their intellectual attainments and talents" and had defected to satisfy social aspirations. The House Un-American Activities Committee publicly intimated its interpretation of the relationship between Martin and Mitchell as homosexual and that reading guided the Pentagon's discussion of the defection for decades.
. His family soon moved to Washington state where his father was president of the Ellensburg
Chamber of Commerce. He graduated from Ellensburg High School after two years. After studies at Central Washington College of Education (now Central Washington University
), he earned a degree in mathematics from the University of Washington
in Seattle in 1947. He enlisted in the United States Navy
and served from 1951 to 1954, working as a cryptologist with the Naval Security Group
in Japan. Martin played chess and collected Japanese sword handles.
Bernon F. Mitchell (March 11, 1929 – November 12, 2001) was born and raised in Eureka, California
and enlisted in the Navy after one year of college. He gained experience as a cryptologist during a tour of duty in the Navy from 1951 to 1954, serving in Japan with the Naval Security Group
at Kami Seya. He stayed on in Japan for another year, working for the Army Security Agency
. Following his Navy service, he earned his bachelor's degree at Stanford University
.
Martin and Mitchell became friends during their Navy service at the Naval communications intercept facility at Kami Seya, Japan. They kept in touch as each returned to school after their Navy service and encountered one another again when each was recruited into the National Security Agency
(NSA) in 1957.
Their years at the National Security were uneventful. Martin gained enough recognition that he was twice awarded scholarships for study towards a master's degree. Mitchell and Martin became disturbed by what they learned of American incursions into foreign airspace and realized that Congress was unaware of those NSA-sponsored flights. In February 1959, in violation of NSA rules, they tried to report what they knew to a Congressman who had expressed frustration with the information he was receiving from the NSA, Ohio Democrat Wayne Hays
. In December 1959, the pair visited Cuba without notifying their superiors as required by NSA procedures.
. They traveled from there to Havana and then sailed on a Russian freighter to the Soviet Union
. On August 5, the Pentagon announced that they had not returned from vacation and said "there is a likelihood that they have gone behind the Iron Curtain." On September 6, 1960, they appeared at a joint news conference at the House of Journalists in Moscow and announced they had requested asylum and Soviet citizenship. The New York Times described them as "long-time bachelor friends" and reported they smiled at each other only when they described the social advantages they anticipated in the Soviet Union, where, their prepared statement said, "The talents of women are encouraged and utilized to a much greater extent in the Soviet Union than in the United States. We feel that this enriches Soviet society and makes Soviet women more desirable as mates."
During the conference, the defectors made public for the first time the mission and activities of the NSA in a prepared statement written, they said, "without consulting the Government of the Soviet Union." It said that "the United States Government is as unscrupulous as it has accused the Soviet Government of being." They also said:
They particularly attacked the views of General Thomas S. Power
who had recently told a Congressional committee that the U.S. needed to maintain a nuclear first-strike
capability and Senator Barry Goldwater
's opposition to banning nuclear tests and negotiating a disarmament
treaty. By contrast, they said, "we would attempt to crawl to the moon if we thought it would lessen the threat of an atomic war." The U.S. had recently admitted sending reconnaissance flights over foreign countries in recent years, but Martin and Mitchell said they knew from their Navy service that such flights had occurred as early as 1952-54. They detailed a U.S. C-130 flight over Soviet Armenia that the Soviets brought down. They contended that it was designed to gain an understanding of Soviet defenses, and that it therefore represented an American interest in attacking the Soviets rather than defending against them. They also complained of restrictions on freedom in the U.S., such as government confiscation of mail, particularly the freedom of those who are "not theists" or "whose political convictions are unpopular."
In response, the American government called Mitchell and Martin's charges "completely false" and with plans for a Congressional investigation of hiring practices at the NSA. The Department of Defense
called them "turncoats" and "tools of Soviet propaganda," "one mentally sick and both obviously confused." It also characterized their positions at the NSA as "junior mathematicians." The issue of the pair's sexuality was raised and dismissed in this report: "Representative Francis E. Walter, Democrat of Pennsylvania [and chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee], denied that he had made an allegation, reported by a news agency, that one of the men had been described as a homosexual in a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation." The next day, Walter
explicitly stated that a source he trusted had told him that the two defectors were "known to their acquaintances as 'sex deviates'." That charge was promptly picked up by the press and resulted immediately in stories about homosexuals recruiting "other sexual deviates" for jobs in the federal government. The Hearst newspapers
referred to Martin and Mitchell as "two defecting blackmailed homosexual specialists" and a "love team." Time reported that a review of security checks turned up a Mitchell visit to a psychiatrist "presumably out of concern for homosexual tendencies."
In an interview with the Soviet news agency Tass
in December 1960, they expressed their belief that American espionage against Russia, U.S. allies, and neutral nations would continued unchanged despite the inauguration of a new American president in January 1961.
), and used the name Vladimir Sokolodsky. He married a Soviet citizen whom he divorced in 1963. He later told a Russian newspaper that his defection had been "foolhardy." He also expressed disappointment that the Russians did not trust him with important work. He occasionally sought the help of American visitors in arranging for repatriation, including Donald Duffy, vice president of the Kaiser Foundation
, and bandleader Benny Goodman
. On another occasion he told an American that before defecting he had believed the vision of Russia presented by propaganda publications like USSR and Soviet Life
. By 1975, a source told the U.S. government Martin was "totally on the skids." In 1979 he inquired at the American consulate about repatriation. As a result his case was examined and he was stripped of his American citizenship. He was next denied permission to immigrate to America and then denied a tourist visa. Martin eventually left the Soviet Union and died of cancer in Mexico on January 17, 1987 at Tijuana
's Hospital Del Mar. He was buried in the U.S.
Less is known of Mitchell. Having renounced his American citizenship, he remained in the Soviet Union for the rest of his life. He died in St. Petersburg on November 12, 2001.
in October 1960, officials considered a response to the Martin-Mitchell affair. Attorney General William P. Rogers
believed that the Soviets had a list of homosexuals to use in their recruiting and blackmail efforts, that Martin and Mitchell were part of "an organized group." Several at the meeting thought polygraph tests would help prevent the hiring of homosexuals. President Eisenhower
himself wanted a central authority to coordinate all government lists of homosexuals.
In order to prevent another occurrence, the NSA needed to understand what motivated the defectors. Their initial investigation turned up little of interest. Notes of psychological counseling sessions from the 1940s described Martin as "brilliant but emotionally immature" and offered a diagnosis of "beginning character neurosis with schizoid tendencies" and mentioned he was likely "sadistic." Mitchell had told the NSA when questioned not long after starting work at the Agency that he had experimented sexually as a teenager with dogs and chickens. The immediate NSA response focused on sexual issues. In July 1961 the Agency announced that it had purged 26 employees it identified as "sexual deviates" though it added the qualification that "not all were homosexuals."
Yet a series of NSA investigations gave little credit to the role of sexuality in Mitchell and Martin's defection. In 1961, an NSA report called them "close friends and somewhat anti-social," "egotistical, arrogant and insecure young men whose place in society was much lower than they believed they deserved," with "greatly inflated opinions concerning their intellectual attainments and talents." In 1963, another NSA report found "no clear motive," that they had not been recruited by foreigners, and termed the defection "impulsive." NSA files obtained by journalists at the Seattle Weekly in 2007 cited definitive testimony on the part of women acquaintances who attested to their heterosexuality. The only perversions recorded were Martin's "all-controlling sadomasochism." He had occasionally watched women having sex or had sex himself with multiple female partners.
In 1962, Congressman Walters' House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) concluded its 13-month investigation and issued a report on the defections. Where Mitchell had told his psychiatrist that he had affairs with both men and women and was not troubled about his sexual identity, the report referred to his "homosexual problems." The report never identified a rationale for the Mitchell and Martin defections, but focused on the inadequacy of the investigations that granted them security clearances despite evidence of "homosexuality or other sexual abnormality," atheism, and Communist sympathies on the part of one or both of the men. The report made a series of recommendations with respect to NSA hiring practices and security investigations that were promptly adopted by the Agency.
Later government analyses went beyond the characterizations in the HUAC account, unaware of the NSA's unpublished analysis. Despite the contrary evidence, a 1991 study by the Pentagon's Defense Security Service
called Martin and Mitchell "publicly known homosexuals". A book published in 1997 says they were "homosexuals who had been permitted access to classified information."
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
(NSA) cryptologists, William Hamilton Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell, defected to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. A secret 1963 NSA study said that "Beyond any doubt, no other event has had, or is likely to have in the future, a greater impact on the Agency's security program."
Martin and Mitchell met while serving in the U.S. Navy in Japan in the early 1950s and both joined the NSA on the same day in 1957. They defected together to the Soviet Union in 1960, and at a Moscow press conference they revealed and denounced various U.S. policies, especially provocative incursions into the air space of other nations and spying on America's own allies. Underscoring their apprehension of nuclear war, they said "we would attempt to crawl to the moon if we thought it would lessen the threat of an atomic war."
Within days, citing a trusted source, Congressman Francis E. Walter
Francis E. Walter
Francis Eugene Walter was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
, chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
(HUAC), said Martin and Mitchell were "sex deviates," prompting sensational press coverage. U.S. officials at the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
privately shared their assumption that the two were part of a traitorous homosexual network. Classified NSA investigations, on the other hand, determined the pair had "greatly inflated opinions concerning their intellectual attainments and talents" and had defected to satisfy social aspirations. The House Un-American Activities Committee publicly intimated its interpretation of the relationship between Martin and Mitchell as homosexual and that reading guided the Pentagon's discussion of the defection for decades.
Biographies
William Hamilton Martin (May 27, 1931 – January 17, 1987) was born in Columbus, GeorgiaColumbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
. His family soon moved to Washington state where his father was president of the Ellensburg
Ellensburg, Washington
Ellensburg is a city in, and the county seat of, Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 18,174 at the 2010 census. The population was 18,250 at 2011 Estimate from Office of Financial Management. Ellensburg is located just east of the Cascade Range on I-90 and is known as the...
Chamber of Commerce. He graduated from Ellensburg High School after two years. After studies at Central Washington College of Education (now Central Washington University
Central Washington University
Central Washington University, often abbreviated CWU, is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington in the United States.This location was selected by the state legislature as a consolation prize after Ellensburg lost its bid to be state capital...
), he earned a degree in mathematics from the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in Seattle in 1947. He enlisted in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and served from 1951 to 1954, working as a cryptologist with the Naval Security Group
Naval Security Group
The Naval Security Group was an organization within the United States Navy, tasked with intelligence gathering and denial of intelligence to adversaries. A large part of this is Signals Intelligence gathering, Cryptology and Information Assurance...
in Japan. Martin played chess and collected Japanese sword handles.
Bernon F. Mitchell (March 11, 1929 – November 12, 2001) was born and raised in Eureka, California
Eureka, California
Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
and enlisted in the Navy after one year of college. He gained experience as a cryptologist during a tour of duty in the Navy from 1951 to 1954, serving in Japan with the Naval Security Group
Naval Security Group
The Naval Security Group was an organization within the United States Navy, tasked with intelligence gathering and denial of intelligence to adversaries. A large part of this is Signals Intelligence gathering, Cryptology and Information Assurance...
at Kami Seya. He stayed on in Japan for another year, working for the Army Security Agency
United States Army Security Agency
The United States Army Security Agency was the United States Army's signal intelligence branch. Its motto was "Vigilant Always." The Agency existed between 1945 and 1976 and was the successor to Army signal intelligence operations dating back to World War I...
. Following his Navy service, he earned his bachelor's degree at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Martin and Mitchell became friends during their Navy service at the Naval communications intercept facility at Kami Seya, Japan. They kept in touch as each returned to school after their Navy service and encountered one another again when each was recruited into the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
(NSA) in 1957.
Their years at the National Security were uneventful. Martin gained enough recognition that he was twice awarded scholarships for study towards a master's degree. Mitchell and Martin became disturbed by what they learned of American incursions into foreign airspace and realized that Congress was unaware of those NSA-sponsored flights. In February 1959, in violation of NSA rules, they tried to report what they knew to a Congressman who had expressed frustration with the information he was receiving from the NSA, Ohio Democrat Wayne Hays
Wayne Hays
Wayne Levere Hays was an American politician whose strong rule of the House Administration Committee extended to even the smallest items. In the mid-1970s, lawmakers avoided crossing Hays for fear that he would shut off the air conditioning in their offices...
. In December 1959, the pair visited Cuba without notifying their superiors as required by NSA procedures.
Defection
On June 25, 1960, Mitchell and Martin left the U.S. for MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. They traveled from there to Havana and then sailed on a Russian freighter to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. On August 5, the Pentagon announced that they had not returned from vacation and said "there is a likelihood that they have gone behind the Iron Curtain." On September 6, 1960, they appeared at a joint news conference at the House of Journalists in Moscow and announced they had requested asylum and Soviet citizenship. The New York Times described them as "long-time bachelor friends" and reported they smiled at each other only when they described the social advantages they anticipated in the Soviet Union, where, their prepared statement said, "The talents of women are encouraged and utilized to a much greater extent in the Soviet Union than in the United States. We feel that this enriches Soviet society and makes Soviet women more desirable as mates."
During the conference, the defectors made public for the first time the mission and activities of the NSA in a prepared statement written, they said, "without consulting the Government of the Soviet Union." It said that "the United States Government is as unscrupulous as it has accused the Soviet Government of being." They also said:
- Our main dissatisfaction concerned some of the practices the United States uses in gathering intelligence information ... deliberately violating the airspace of other nations ... intercepting and deciphering the secret communications of its own allies ...
- Perhaps United States hostility towards Communism arises out of a feeling of insecurity engendered by Communist achievements in science, culture and industry.
- As we know from our previous experience working at N.S.A., the United States successfully reads the secure communications of more than forty nations, including its own allies.
They particularly attacked the views of General Thomas S. Power
Thomas S. Power
General Thomas Sarsfield Power was commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command and an active military flier for more than 30 years.-Early career:...
who had recently told a Congressional committee that the U.S. needed to maintain a nuclear first-strike
First strike
In nuclear strategy, a first strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country can survive the weakened retaliation while the opposing...
capability and Senator Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
's opposition to banning nuclear tests and negotiating a disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear arms...
treaty. By contrast, they said, "we would attempt to crawl to the moon if we thought it would lessen the threat of an atomic war." The U.S. had recently admitted sending reconnaissance flights over foreign countries in recent years, but Martin and Mitchell said they knew from their Navy service that such flights had occurred as early as 1952-54. They detailed a U.S. C-130 flight over Soviet Armenia that the Soviets brought down. They contended that it was designed to gain an understanding of Soviet defenses, and that it therefore represented an American interest in attacking the Soviets rather than defending against them. They also complained of restrictions on freedom in the U.S., such as government confiscation of mail, particularly the freedom of those who are "not theists" or "whose political convictions are unpopular."
In response, the American government called Mitchell and Martin's charges "completely false" and with plans for a Congressional investigation of hiring practices at the NSA. The Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
called them "turncoats" and "tools of Soviet propaganda," "one mentally sick and both obviously confused." It also characterized their positions at the NSA as "junior mathematicians." The issue of the pair's sexuality was raised and dismissed in this report: "Representative Francis E. Walter, Democrat of Pennsylvania [and chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee], denied that he had made an allegation, reported by a news agency, that one of the men had been described as a homosexual in a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation." The next day, Walter
Francis E. Walter
Francis Eugene Walter was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
explicitly stated that a source he trusted had told him that the two defectors were "known to their acquaintances as 'sex deviates'." That charge was promptly picked up by the press and resulted immediately in stories about homosexuals recruiting "other sexual deviates" for jobs in the federal government. The Hearst newspapers
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
referred to Martin and Mitchell as "two defecting blackmailed homosexual specialists" and a "love team." Time reported that a review of security checks turned up a Mitchell visit to a psychiatrist "presumably out of concern for homosexual tendencies."
In an interview with the Soviet news agency Tass
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union
The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union , was the central agency for collection and distribution of internal and international news for all Soviet newspapers, radio and television stations...
in December 1960, they expressed their belief that American espionage against Russia, U.S. allies, and neutral nations would continued unchanged despite the inauguration of a new American president in January 1961.
Later years
According to a later government report, Martin who was fluent in Russian, studied at Leningrad University (now Saint Petersburg State UniversitySaint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University is a Russian federal state-owned higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg and one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia....
), and used the name Vladimir Sokolodsky. He married a Soviet citizen whom he divorced in 1963. He later told a Russian newspaper that his defection had been "foolhardy." He also expressed disappointment that the Russians did not trust him with important work. He occasionally sought the help of American visitors in arranging for repatriation, including Donald Duffy, vice president of the Kaiser Foundation
Kaiser Foundation
The Kaiser Foundation is a mental health organization based in Canada. Its stated mission is to assist individuals and communities in preventing and reducing the harm associated with problem substance use and addictive behaviours. They are associated with Kaiser Permanente in the United States.It...
, and bandleader Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
. On another occasion he told an American that before defecting he had believed the vision of Russia presented by propaganda publications like USSR and Soviet Life
Russian Life
Russian Life, previously known as The USSR and Soviet Life, is a 64-page color bimonthly magazine of Russian culture. It celebrated its 50th birthday in October 2006. The magazine is written and edited by American and Russian staffers and freelancers...
. By 1975, a source told the U.S. government Martin was "totally on the skids." In 1979 he inquired at the American consulate about repatriation. As a result his case was examined and he was stripped of his American citizenship. He was next denied permission to immigrate to America and then denied a tourist visa. Martin eventually left the Soviet Union and died of cancer in Mexico on January 17, 1987 at Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
's Hospital Del Mar. He was buried in the U.S.
Less is known of Mitchell. Having renounced his American citizenship, he remained in the Soviet Union for the rest of his life. He died in St. Petersburg on November 12, 2001.
Government response
The Martin-Mitchell defections had another life inside the U.S. intelligence community. At a meeting of the National Security CouncilUnited States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
in October 1960, officials considered a response to the Martin-Mitchell affair. Attorney General William P. Rogers
William P. Rogers
William Pierce Rogers was an American politician, who served as a Cabinet officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century.-Early Life :...
believed that the Soviets had a list of homosexuals to use in their recruiting and blackmail efforts, that Martin and Mitchell were part of "an organized group." Several at the meeting thought polygraph tests would help prevent the hiring of homosexuals. President Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
himself wanted a central authority to coordinate all government lists of homosexuals.
In order to prevent another occurrence, the NSA needed to understand what motivated the defectors. Their initial investigation turned up little of interest. Notes of psychological counseling sessions from the 1940s described Martin as "brilliant but emotionally immature" and offered a diagnosis of "beginning character neurosis with schizoid tendencies" and mentioned he was likely "sadistic." Mitchell had told the NSA when questioned not long after starting work at the Agency that he had experimented sexually as a teenager with dogs and chickens. The immediate NSA response focused on sexual issues. In July 1961 the Agency announced that it had purged 26 employees it identified as "sexual deviates" though it added the qualification that "not all were homosexuals."
Yet a series of NSA investigations gave little credit to the role of sexuality in Mitchell and Martin's defection. In 1961, an NSA report called them "close friends and somewhat anti-social," "egotistical, arrogant and insecure young men whose place in society was much lower than they believed they deserved," with "greatly inflated opinions concerning their intellectual attainments and talents." In 1963, another NSA report found "no clear motive," that they had not been recruited by foreigners, and termed the defection "impulsive." NSA files obtained by journalists at the Seattle Weekly in 2007 cited definitive testimony on the part of women acquaintances who attested to their heterosexuality. The only perversions recorded were Martin's "all-controlling sadomasochism." He had occasionally watched women having sex or had sex himself with multiple female partners.
In 1962, Congressman Walters' House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
(HUAC) concluded its 13-month investigation and issued a report on the defections. Where Mitchell had told his psychiatrist that he had affairs with both men and women and was not troubled about his sexual identity, the report referred to his "homosexual problems." The report never identified a rationale for the Mitchell and Martin defections, but focused on the inadequacy of the investigations that granted them security clearances despite evidence of "homosexuality or other sexual abnormality," atheism, and Communist sympathies on the part of one or both of the men. The report made a series of recommendations with respect to NSA hiring practices and security investigations that were promptly adopted by the Agency.
Later government analyses went beyond the characterizations in the HUAC account, unaware of the NSA's unpublished analysis. Despite the contrary evidence, a 1991 study by the Pentagon's Defense Security Service
Defense Security Service
The Defense Security Service is an agency of the United States Department of Defense . Within areas of DoD responsibility, DSS is tasked with facilitating personnel security investigations, supervising industrial security, and performing security education and awareness training. It is not a...
called Martin and Mitchell "publicly known homosexuals". A book published in 1997 says they were "homosexuals who had been permitted access to classified information."