A US legal case involving allegations that Alger Hiss (1904–96), a State Department official, committed espionage. In 1950 Hiss was found guilty of perjury for having denied on oath the charge that he had passed secret documents to Whittaker Chambers, a self-confessed Communist Party courier. Although Hiss maintained his innocence, and high government officials testified for him, he was sentenced to five years in prison. His controversial trial came to symbolize the fears and suspicions aroused by the Cold War; although most Americans believed in his guilt, others alleged that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had tampered with evidence so as to obtain his conviction. He was released in 1954 and spent the rest of his life in attempts to clear his name. Some experts feel that documents released by the Russians since the collapse of communism support the view that Hiss was guilty.