Oswald and the CIA: The Documented Truth About the Unknown Relationship Between the U.S. Government and the Alleged Killer of JFK (87 page)

46. Nechiporenko, Passport to Assassination, p. 79.

47. NARA, CIA document number 509-803, Information Developed on the Activity of Lee Harvey Oswald in Mexico City, 28 September-3 October 1963 (hereafter referred to as CIA Gist of Oswald Mexican City Sources) January 31, 1964.

48. Lopez Report, p. 171.

49. Silvia Duran, January 31, 1995, interview by Anthony Summers with questions posed by the author.

50. Nechiporenko, remarks in a special interview with American researchers at the 1993 Assassination Symposium on John Kennedy.

51. Winston Scott, Foul Foe, unpublished manuscript, p. 272.

52. Winston Scott, Foul Foe, unpublished manuscript, p. 268.

53. Lopez Report, p. 88.

54. Winston Scott, Foul Foe, unpublished manuscript, p. 267.

55. Winston Scott, Foul Foe, unpublished manuscript, p. 273.

56. Mr. T testified on April 12, 1978, and also recognized the four transcripts from September 28, October 1 and 3 as his work. He also testified that he recognized the 10/1/63 conversation as his work because the name Lee Oswald was underlined.

57. Lopez Report, p. 85.

58. Lopez Report, p. 85.

59. Lopez Report, p. 83.

60. October 1. [LEO: not in LR] In midmorning an unidentified individual speaking broken Russian contacted the Soviet military attache in Mexico City. He said he had been to the embassy the previous Saturday (September 28) and had talked with a consul, who had said they would send a telegram to Washington: Had there been a reply? He was referred to the consulate for information.[CIA Gist of OSwald Mexican City Sources, p. 9.] [10/1/ 63 at 10:31 A.M., transcribed by Mr. T; LR p. 82.] [On this transcript, the translator added the notation: "the same person who phoned a day or so ago and spoke in broken Russian," links to marginal notation on 9/28 11:51 transcript: "broken Russian"; LR p. 121] There are two slightly different transcripts of this conversation, which occurred at 10:30 A.M., on October 1. This is one of them:

[LE9 contd] A person later identified as Lee Harvey Oswald, speaking in "broken Russian," telephones the Soviet Embassy.

OSWALD: Hello. I was at your place last Saturday and talked to your Consul. They said they'd send a telegram to Washington, and I wanted to ask you, is there anything new?

RUSSIAN EMBASSY: Call another number, if you will.

OSWALD: Please.

RUSSIAN EMBASSY: 15-60-55, and ask for a Consul.

OSWALD: Thank you.

RUSSIAN EMBASSY: Please.

NARA, CIA transcript from Mexico City, October 1, 1963, 10:30 A.M., Oswald box 15b, folder 56, CIA January 1994 (5 brown boxes) release. The other is not significantly different; it is in the same location at box 3, volume 1. Five minutes later, an "Oswald" calls the 15-60-55 number:

[LE10] In at 1035 hours MO/the same person who phoned a day or so ago and spoke in broken Russian/speaks to Obyedkov.

Mo: Hello, this is Lee Oswald (phon) speaking. I was at your place last Saturday and spoke to a Consul, and they said that they'd send a telegram to Washington, so I wanted to find out if you have anything new? But I don't remember the name of the Consul.

oBY: Kostikov. He is dark/hair or skin?

LEE: Yes. My name is Oswald.

oBY: Just a minute I'll find out. They say that they haven't received anything yet.

LEE: Have they done anything?

oBY: Yes, they say that a request has been sent out, but nothing has been received as yet.

LEE: And what ... ? [Oby hangs up]

[NARA, CIA transcript from Mexico City, October 1, 1963, 10:35 A.M., Oswald box 6, folder 5, CIA January 1994 (5 brown boxes) release.] No sense asking for answer from Washington because Oswald did not fill out the application forms.

61. Lopez Report, p. 117.

62. Lopez Report, p. 125.

63. Lopez Report, p. 125.

64. Copies of this award recommendation are available in the National Archives; the author is grateful to the JFK Assassination Records Review Board for providing a copy in time for use in this book.

65. This can be seen from her 1963 fitness report and her career award recommendation, copies of which are available in the National Archives; again, the author is grateful to the JFK Assassination Records Review Board for providing a copies in time for use in this book.

66. David Martin, Wilderness of Mirrors, (New York: Harper and Row, 1980), p. 121 and p. 127.

67. CIA inspector general's report, May 23, 1967, pp. 92-93; NARA, JFK files, RIF 1993.06.30.17:10:07:150140.

68. For Phillips's comment, see Washington Post, 26 November 1976. For the Sigler story, see William R. Corson and Susan B. Trento, Windows (New York: Crown, 1989), pp. 266-396. The details of the Sigler story were brought to the author's attention by Professor Peter Dale Scott.

69. Washington Post, November 26, 1976; Anthony Summers, Conspiracy (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980), pp. 388-389; Gaeton Fonzi, Final Investigation (New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993), p. 285.

70. David Phillips, Night Watch (New York: Atheneum, 1987 ed), p. 181; his book was originally published in 1977.

71. CIA cable to JMWAVE and Mexico City from headquarters, DIR 73214, date no longer visible, but obviously just prior to October 7, 1963.

72. Kelley, Kelley: The Story of an FBI Director, p. 267.

73. Lopez Report, p. 88.

74. Lopez Report, p. 232.

75. Memorandum for the files, from Willard C. Curtis (probably a pseudonym for Winston Scott); Subject: June Cobb [handwritten here: "Interview with Elena Paz about June Cobb], November 25, 1964. CIA document 928927, TX-1925.

76. Letter from S. D. Breckinridge, CIA principal coordinator for the HSCA, to Mr. G. Robert Blakey, chief counsel and director, HSCA, OLC 79-01 13/ k, March 13, 1979; NARA, JFK files, RIF 1993.07.16.16:28:40:280500.

77. Lopez Report, p. 207.

78. On another page in the Lopez Report, we see the reference to Cobb's move into Elena's home properly set in 1964. See Lopez Report, p. 231. Just prior to moving in, June had been introduced to Elena by Eunice Odio, whom Cobb had met earlier.

79. Lopez Report, pp. 206-207

80. June Cobb, March 4, and March 17, 1995 interviews with John Newman.

81. June Cobb, March 4, 1995, interview with John Newman.

82. Lopez Report, pp. 207-208; see also "Lee Harvey Oswald and Kennedy Assassination," re Memorandum of Conversation, December 10, 1965, Elena Garro de Paz and Charles Thomas; courtesy of the Assassination Archives Research Center, CIA 1995 release. By using this December 10 memo, it is easy to fill in the associated redactions in the Lopez Report.

83. June Cobb, February 23, 1995, interview with John Newman.

84. Memorandum for the files, from Willard C. Curtis (probably a pseudonym for Winston Scott); Subject: June Cobb [handwritten here: "Interview with Elena Paz about June Cobb], November 25, 1964. CIA document 928927, TX-1925.

85. James Hosty, September 5, 1994, interview with John Newman.

86. June Cobb, February 23, 1995, interview with John Newman.

87. Memorandum for the files, from Willard C. Curtis (probably a pseudonym for Winston Scott); Subject: June Cobb [handwritten here: "Interview with Elena Paz about June Cobb], November 25, 1964. CIA document 928927, TX-1925.

88. According to the Lopez Report:

Attached to the memo was a note from Flannery to the chief of station, Winston Scott, which read, "Do you want me to send the gist of this to Headquarters?" Scott then noted that the memo should be filed. The file indications show that the memo went into the Oswald "P" file and the Elena Garro "P" file.

89. The Lopez Report then has this comparison:

The story is not as detailed as the 10/5/64 version. There is no mention of Deba Garro Guerrero Galvan. The story, perhaps because it is third hand, differs from the previous story in two areas: It states that the party was at the Cuban Embassy as opposed to Ruben Duran's, and that Elena talked to a Cuban Embassy official instead of her cousins about the three Americans.

90. June Cobb, March 4, 1995, interview with John Newman.

91. Memorandum for the files, from Willard C. Curtis (probably a pseudonym for Winston Scott); Subject: June Cobb [handwritten here: "Interview with Elena Paz about June Cobb], November 25, 1964. CIA document 928927, TX-1925.

92. Charles Thomas memo, December 10, 1965; CIA MArch 8, 1995, release to the Assassination Archives Research Center.

93. Lopez Report, p. 213.

94. Lopez Report, p. 215.

95. Charles Thomas memo, December 25, 1965; CIA March 8, 1995, release to the Assassination Archives Research Center.

96. Lopez Report, pp. 221-222.

97. Lopez Report, pp. 222-223.

98. Silvia Duran, interview with Anthony Summers, January 11, 1995; questions provided by John Newman.

99. Cable from CIA Mexico City station to chief, Western Hemisphere Division; Subject: Cuba, the [redacted] Operation, June 18, 1967; NARA JFK files, CIA document number 1125-1129B; see also CIA January 1994 (5 brown boxes) release, box 7, folder 6, and box 15, folder 55.

100. Lopez Report, p. 253.

101. Lopez Report, pp. 206-207, and especially p. 255.

102. Lopez Report, p. 253.

103. Agent report from Mexico City, May 26, 1967; Subject: [Redacted] meeting with [redacted]. This report is attached to cable from CIA Mexico City station to chief, Western Hemisphere Division; Subject: Cuba, the [redacted] operation, June 18, 1967; NARA JFK files, CIA document number 1125-1129B; see also CIA January 1994 (5 brown boxes) release, box 7, folder 6, and box 15, folder 55.

104. Agent report from Mexico City, May 26, 1967; Subject; [Redacted] meeting with [redacted]. This report is attached to cable from CIA Mexico City station to chief, Western Hemisphere Division; Subject: Cuba, the [redacted] operation, June 18, 1967; NARA JFK files, CIA document number 1125-1129B; see also CIA January 1994 (5 brown boxes) release, box 7, folder 6, and box 15, folder 55.

105. Agent report from Mexico City, May 26, 1967; Subject: [Redacted] meeting with [redacted]. This report is attached to cable from CIA Mexico City station to chief, Western Hemisphere Division; Subject: Cuba, the [redacted] operation, June 18, 1967; NARA JFK files, CIA document number 1125-1129B; see also CIA January 1994 (5 brown boxes) release, box 7, folder 6, and box 15, folder 55.

106. Larry Keenan January 29, 1995, interview with John Newman.

107. Edwin Lopez, January 29, 1995, interview with John Newman.

108. See Lopez Report, p. 198. Lechuga's name is redacted, but Scott's manuscript, in this case described in a memo by Warren Commission lawyer W. David Slawson, was obviously referring to that affair.

109. CIA information report, CS-3/537,594, February 18, 1963; NARA, JFK files, CIA January 1994 (5 brown boxes) release, Proenza file.

110. See Lopez Report, p. 198.

111. See Lopez Report, p. 199.

112. Agent report from Mexico City, May 26, 1967; Subject: [redacted] meeting with [redacted]. This report is attached to cable from CIA Mexico City station to chief, Western Hemisphere Division; Subject: Cuba, the [redacted] operation, June 18, 1967; NARA JFK files, CIA document number 1125- 1129B; see also CIA January 1994 (5 brown boxes) release, box 7, folder 6, and box 15, folder 55.

113. Lopez Report, p. 200.

114. See Charles Thomas memorandum, December 25, 1965; Assassination Archives Research Center; there appear to be two P numbers on Duran: on page it is indistinct, but possibly 7969 or 4969.

115. Charles Thomas, memo to Secretary of State Rogers, July 25, 1969; NARA, JFK files, RIF 157-10005-10369.

116. See memo for chief, Covert Action Staff, and attached request for approval on use of Thomas dated September 20, 1963; NARA, JFK files, CIA January 1994 (5 brown boxes) release, Charles Thomas papers. It is interesting that Thomas's previous assignment had been in Haiti, from January 8, 1961, until the summer of 1963, after deMohrenschildt's arrival there.

117. Cable to Thomas from CARLONORB, 15 January 1970; this was possibly a Washington-based attorney, Charles Norberg, whose name and address, including the cable address, were in deMohrenschildt's address book. For this and associated materials on the Thomas-deMohrenschildt link in 1969-1970, see NARA, JFK files, RIF 180-10078-10007. Again, the author expresses appreciation to Larry Haapanen for his insightful work on this point.

Chapter Nineteen

1. A possible exception to this was what was passed to the Agency via its AMSPELL (DRE) assets, mentioned in Chapter Seventeen.

2. DDO response to HSCA letter dated August 15, 1978 (Questions I & 2), August 24, 1978; NARA, JFK files, RIF 1993.07.10.11:24:36:210470.

3. Page 26 of "List of Documents for Release," [to HSCAJ; NARA, JFK files, RIF 1993.08.04.08:21:00:780053.

4. This is the report previously discussed that mentioned Oswald's letter to the FPCC from Dallas, in which he said he had been passing out pamphlets with a pro-Castro placard around his neck. See FBI report by special agent James P. Hosty on Oswald, September 10, 1963; NARA, JFK files, RIF 124-10228-10058. Note also that there is one redacted organization on that routing slip. It is possible that this was an SAS or WH element. Again, we must await the full disclosure of information.

5. Church Committee, Vol. V, p. 65.

6. It is likely that when the September 16, 1963, CIA memo to the FBI is declassified, we will see that Mexico was one of the "foreign countries" the CIA had in mind.

7. Church Committee memorandum from Dan Dwyer and Ed Greissing to Paul Wallach on review of Oswald 201 file, November 3, 1975; NARA, JFK files, SSCI box 265-15, 10091.

8. Page 26 of "List of Documents for Release," [to HSCA]: NARA, JFK files, RIF 1993.08.04.08:21:00:780053.

9. McCord may have been reassigned by 1963.

10. Page 26 of "List of Documents for Release," [to HSCA]; NARA, JFK files, RIF 1993.08.04.08:21:00:780053.

11. Document number 40. CIA response to HSCA request of March 9, 1978; NARA, JFK: files, RIF 1993.07.02.13:25:25:180530.

12. CI/SIG already had Oswald's 201 restricted to Egerter. See Chapters Four and Eight.