Samuel Halpern was a Jewish American who served for years as executive assistant to the director of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]'s clandestine services. His position, the highest reached by any Jew in the clandestine service, gave him access to the name and background of every foreigner recruited by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]. Halpern was under constant investigation by [[James Jesus Angleton]], who suspected him of trafficking in classified information due to his Jewish background and family ties to Zionism.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 11.