Jack Bradley Fahy (1908–1947) was an American government official. He allegedly spied for the Soviet Naval

GRU The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Soviet naval intelligence was much smaller than the Soviet army's GRU, and only a fraction of the size of the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

. Fahy was born in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

in 1908 and grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. His father was a senior partner at Walter J. Fahy and Co, a stock exchange firm. Fahy worked for Senator

George H. Moses George Higgins Moses (February 9, 1869December 20, 1944) was a U.S. diplomat and political figure. He served as a United States senator from New Hampshire and was chosen as the Senate's President pro tempore. Biography George H. Moses was bor ...

in the late 1920s. After the

Stock Market Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

, Fahy became a

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

. Fahy studied at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, the

Graduate Institute of International Studies Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumnus, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed hi ...

in Geneva, San Marcus University in Peru,

Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The college was ideologically organized around John Dewey's educational ...

in North Carolina, and

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

where he took courses in

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

. Fahy established several small businesses during this time. Fahy served in the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

on behalf of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. When Fahy returned to the U.S. after being wounded in the war in 1938, he publicly argued with Socialist Party leader

Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. Early years Thomas was the ...

on policy differences over the Spanish Civil War, and resigned from the Party in an open letter published in the Communist ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were m ...

''. Afterward Fahy became Vice President of the ''Hemisphere News Service'' under Robert Miller, and they later hired Joseph Gregg to manage it. Gregg and Fahy had served together in Spain. The news service was absorbed into the

Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs The Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, later known as the Office for Inter-American Affairs, was a United States agency promoting inter-American cooperation (Pan-Americanism) during the 1940s, especially in commercial and econ ...

(CIAA) in 1941, an agency that coordinated diplomacy, propaganda and economic warfare in Latin America. Fahy left the CIAA and joined the

Board of Economic Warfare The Office of Administrator of Export Control (also referred to as the Export Control Administration) was established in the United States by Presidential Proclamation 2413, July 2, 1940, to administer export licensing provisions of the act of July ...

and held the position of Principal Intelligence Officer. In 1943 Fahy was about to become chairman of the Territorial Affairs Bureau in the Department of the Interior, Rep. Martin Dies, Jr. placed Fahy on a list of government employees suspected as being Communists. The Kerr Commission upon hearing Fahy's testimony agreed his involvement with the Socialist party was a "youthful misadventure" and concluded Fahy had been "loyal" and "has not been guilty of any subversive activity". Fahy's alleged

code name A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...

with the Soviet Naval GRU, "MAXWELL," was deciphered in the

Venona project The Venona project was a United States counterintelligence program initiated during World War II by the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service (later absorbed by the National Security Agency), which ran from February 1, 1943, until Octob ...

, although the value of these decryptions in identifying Soviet agents remains controversial. Venona transcripts allege that Fahy was transmitting information to the Soviet Naval GRU for money. The information Fahy transmitted was regarded in Moscow as very valuable. Moscow sent a message to the Washington Naval GRU to "communicate each item of information from Fahy on political questions to the Master oviet ambassadorand telegraph it to me with the post-script 'report to the Master'."

References

* John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fahy, Jack 1908 births 1947 deaths American spies for the Soviet Union American people in the Venona papers International Brigades personnel Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni