Spy Quiz 2 Answers

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Here are the correct answers to yesterday’s quiz.

1. The first U.S. Intelligence service was authorized by Congress in

[A] 1947
[B] 1917
[C] 1861
[D] 1775 - The Continental Congress created the “Secret Commitee of Correspondence” in November 1775. The Committee was responsible for procuring arms and supplies, for recruiting secret agents and smuggling, propaganda and “gratuities” for foreign officials whose support was though to be worth the price. The “Secret Committee” became known as the “Committee on Foreign Affairs” in 1777, and also was given authority as the “Committee on Commerce” the same year, and so a committee given authority by Congress to lie and steal, was the direct forerunner of both the State and Commerce Departments!


2. The “MAGIC” intercepts made before and during World War Two were legal because

[A] Congress passed a bill approving them
[B] All of the intercepts were made in foreign countries
[C] As Commander in Chief of the military, FDR already held all the authority he needed. - With all the discussion about Article II powers, this should have been easy. Phone calls, letters, telegraph and radio transmissions were intercepted at various times and by various agencies as early as Hoover’s Palmer raids against Communists in 1920, and Yardley’s “Black Chamber” intercepts of 1919-21. By the time Roosevelt was President, a variety of tools and agencies were in place to collect and analyze information, and the “MAGIC” intercepts simply made use of the most advanced resources and talent. Sadly, poor cooperation between agencies prevented the analysis of Japan’s intention from getting to the Army and Navy commanders at Pearl Harbor, or history might have been very different.
[D] Actually, the intercepts were illegal, but no one pursued the matter.


3. One of the first federal employees to be fired for leaking government secrets was

[A] Tom Paine, pamphleteer and author of “Common Sense” - Yes indeed, it seems that Mr. Paine, a clerk to one of the members of Congress, disliked the notion of a government lying to the public, so on one occasion when Congress planted a false resolution, Paine revealed otherwise in his newsletter. Congress was not amused, and Paine lost his job with Congress.
[B] Sir Henry Clinton, of New York, who handled supplies for the troops - not the guy. Clinton was a man who handled supplies for the troops, but it was for the Redcoats he worked, in New York City.
[C] Dr. Benjamin Church, member of Congress and personal friend of George Washington - Church was a traitor who spied on Congress. He was caught and Washington wanted very much to see him hanged, but at the time there was no death penalty for the offense. In the actual event, Church was allowed to leave for England in 1777 as part of a prisoner exchange, but his ship wrecked and sank, drowing Church and everyone else aboard.
[D] Major Benjamin Tallmadge, who was linked to the death of Nathan Hale - Tallmadge was a personal friend of Hale, the link was that Tallmadge argued, successfully, for the execution of Major Andre, a British spy caught in similar circumstances as Hale.


4. Which well-known security business was founded by a man personally hired by the Union Army’s Commander during the Civil War?
[A] Brink’s
[B] Pinkerton - Alan Pinkerton was hired by General McLellan during the Civil War, and was renowned for the accuracy and detail of his reports
[C] Wells Fargo
[D] Lummis


5. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington’s opinion of spying was

[A] He detested such dishonesty, and strongly punished any officer so engaged
[B] He considered it a necessary evil, to be kept at arm’s length and avoid any direct connection
[C] He found it a useful tool, and allowed some of his officers to employ spies
[D] He was an enthusiastic spymaster, spending his own money and advocating the creation of networks - Washington spent his own money to run several spy rings, most famously the “Samuel Culper” ring, and unnamed ring which clued him in to British vulnerabilities in place and time at Trenton, making possible his famous “Crossing of the Delaware”.


6. Unrealistic expectations from Intelligence is nothing new. Of which war did the head of U.S. Intelligence remark, “They expect you to be able to say that a war will start next Tuesday at 5:32 PM“?

[A] The invasion of Grenada
[B] The Vietnam War
[C] The Korean War - General Walter Bedell “Beetle” Smith uttered that famous remark when press reporters hounded him for days about the most likely place and time for the commencement of hostilities between U.S. and North Korean forces.
[D] The entry of the United States into World War II