Belu Zilber, the first of the group to give in to Securitate pressures and confessed to the charges, was verbally attacked by Pătrășcanu inside the courthouse — Pătrășcanu notably accused him of having invented the entire conspiracy account. Records of their various interrogations show that both he and Calmanovici identified Emil Bodnăraș as the main instigator of their downfall. Reportedly, Zilber had the following opinion of Pătrășcanu: "He was anti-Stalinist and anti-Russian, but for the sake of power he would sign on any Stalinist ineptitude and wickedness. I think his only purpose in life, more than socialism, was to enter history."