In subsequent trial testimony, Remington stated that while he was a Republican when he entered college, he "moved left quite rapidly" and became a radical but was never a YCL or CPUSA member at Dartmouth.

He admitted having been active in Communist-allied groups such as the American Peace Mobilization, but denied any sympathy with communism and swore under oath that he was not and had never been a member of the Communist Party.

Although his leftist affiliations raised concerns, the inquiry was somewhat superficial in nature (despite dragging out for many months), and his security clearance was approved.

[9] According to later testimony by Remington, the espionage case that would change his life began in 1942 when he and his wife Ann started socializing with Joseph North, editor of the Communist publication, New Masses.

"[12] The material he gave her included data on U.S. airplane production and other matters pertaining to the aircraft industry, as well as some information on an experimental process for manufacturing synthetic rubber from garbage.

[13] Remington later asserted (a) he was unaware "Helen Johnson" was connected with the Communist Party, (b) he believed she was a leftist researcher concerned whether American big business was fully aiding the Soviet war effort against Nazi Germany,[14] and (c) the information he supplied her was publicly available.

Bentley's revelations of Soviet espionage activities in the United States received a great deal of press attention.

[8] Because the FBI was keeping Bentley's testimony and its investigation of Remington secret, it raised no objection to his transfer, and he continued to serve in fairly high-level government posts.

In 1947, Remington was interviewed by the FBI and also questioned before a federal grand jury in New York City about the information he had given to Elizabeth Bentley.

The Loyalty Review Board noted that the only serious evidence against Remington was "the uncorroborated statement of a woman who refuses to submit herself to cross-examination.

Roy Cohn, later to become famous as Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel and already a noted anti-communist, joined the prosecution's legal team.

We also found the aircraft schedules, which were set up exactly as she said, and inter office memos and tables of personnel which proved Remington had access to both these items.

We also discovered Remington's application for a naval commission in which he specifically pointed out that he was, in his present position with the Commerce Department, entrusted with secret military information involving airplanes, armaments, radar, and the Manhattan Project (the atomic bomb).

They included Elizabeth Bentley, Ann Remington, Professor Howard Bridgeman of Tufts University, Kenneth McConnell, a Communist organizer in Knoxville; Rudolph Bertram and Christine Benson, who worked with him at the Tennessee Valley Authority; and Paul Crouch, who claimed he provided Remington with copies of the southern edition of the communist newspaper, the Daily Worker.

[24] Ann Moos Remington reversed herself again and testified that her ex-husband had been a Communist Party member and that he had knowingly given secret information to Elizabeth Bentley.

Bentley testified, repeating her charge that Remington had given her secret information, saying with regard to the synthetic rubber formula, "He said to me that...he thought that the Russians would need something very much like this.

"[25] The prosecution also showed that Remington had handled secret documents that were somewhat similar to the aircraft production information that Bentley said she received from him.

[citation needed] During the trial, the defense attorneys revealed that John Brunini, the foreman of the grand jury that indicted Remington, had a personal and financial relationship with Elizabeth Bentley and had agreed to co-author a book with her.

A Washington Daily News editorial said: "William W. Remington now joins the odiferous list of young Communist punks who wormed their way upward in the Government under the New Deal.

The judicial panel hearing the case included Judge Learned Hand, one of the United States' most eminent jurists.

The conviction was overturned on the grounds that Judge Noonan's instructions to the jury were too vague as to exactly what constituted "membership" in the Communist Party, and a new trial was ordered.

Hand also criticized grand jury foreman John Brunini and Thomas Donegan, the assistant to the Attorney General who directed the grand jury investigation, for Brunini's relationship with Bentley, and for "judicial improprieties" in their abusive treatment of both Ann and William Remington during questioning.

The jury found Remington guilty of two counts, for lying (1) when he said he had not given secret information to Elizabeth Bentley, and (2) when he claimed not to know in college of the existence of the Young Communist League, even though it had a chapter at Dartmouth while he was a student there.

There he became friends with fellow prisoner, nonviolent action theorist Gene Sharp, before Remington was transferred to Lewisburg.

On the morning of November 22, 1954, McCoy convinced another inmate, 17-year-old juvenile delinquent Lewis Cagle, Jr., to join him in attacking Remington as he slept.

[31] The prison warden described it to Remington's second wife as "not a personal attack against Bill...but just the actions of a couple of hoodlums who got all worked up by...the publicity about Communists.

Remington remained a puzzling figure for Americans who had difficulty understanding how a "golden boy" from a prestigious family could get caught up in espionage.

In early 1957, he was approached by Edward Fitzgerald, editor of Saga magazine:"Fred, we've been wondering whether you could do a good, in-depth piece for us on William Remington.