Harry Dexter White: the man behind Bretton Woods, the World Bank and the IMF was a Soviet Spy

Harry Dexter White (1892 – 1948) was an American economist and senior U.S. Treasury department official. He was a primary mover behind the Bretton Woods Conference, the formations of the World Bank andthe IMF (International Monetary Fund).

On July 31, 1948 Elizabeth Bentley - a former Soviet Union Spy herself who defected Soviet Intelligence in 1945 - told the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) that Harry Dexter White had been involved in espionage activities on behalf of Soviet Union during World War II, and had passed sensitive Treasury documents to Soviet agents. Bentley insisted that White, acting on instructions from the Soviet Union, pressured the Treasury Department to give the Soviet Union plates for printing German occupation currency.

Harry Dexter White denied before HUAC on August 13, 1948 and died three days later of a heart attack.

Was Harry Dexter White, like John Perkins for American Empire, an Economic Hit Man for Soviet Union Empire ? Yes according to a memorandum dated 15 October 1950, White was positively identified by the FBI, through evidence gathered by the Venona project, as a Soviet source, code named "Jurist". Years later, the Justice Department publicly disclosed the existence of the Venona project which deciphered Soviet cable traffic naming White as 'Jurist', a Soviet intelligence source. As reported in the FBI Memorandum on White:

You have previously been advised of information obtained from [Venona] regarding Jurist, who was active during 1944. According to the previous information received from [Venona] regarding Jurist, during April, 1944, he had reported on conversations between the then Secretary of State Hull and Vice President Wallace. He also reported on Wallace's proposed trip to China. On August 5, 1944, he reported to the Soviets that he was confident of President Roosevelt's victory in the coming elections unless there was a huge military failure. He also reported that Truman's nomination as Vice President was calculated to secure the vote of the conservative wing of the Democratic Party. It was also reported that Jurist was willing for any self-sacrifice in behalf of the MGB but was afraid that his activities, if exposed, might lead to a political scandal and have an effect on the elections. It was also mentioned that he would be returning to Washington, D. C., on August 17, 1944. The new information from [Venona] indicates that Jurist and Morgenthau were to make a trip to London and Normandy and leaving the United States on August 5, 1944.

White also acted on behalf of the Soviet Union in determining policy for the printing of occupation currency for Germany. White pushed strongly to give the USSR the currency plates to allow them to print German occupation currency, an action that cost the United States government hundreds of millions of dollars when the Soviets flooded the country with occupation banknotes that were used to purchase American goods. A memorandum found in Soviet archives from Gaik Ovakimian, head of the NKVD's American desk, notes that "following our instructions," White "attained the positive decision of the Treasury Department to provide the Soviet side with the plates for engraving German occupation marks." This internal MGB memorandum confirmed the claims of Elizabeth Bentley.