Mrs. Lovell Penn was a schoolteacher who thought she had seen OSWALD firing a rifle near her property shortly before the assassination. The FBI reported: "Mrs. Lovell T. Penn, Belt Line Road, Cedar Hill, Texas, telephone number CY-9-4463, advised that she and her husband live on a farm located 3.7 miles from Cedar Hill toward Grand Prairie on Belt Line Road.

"On October 6, 1963, she was at home preparing six-weeks tests, as she is a teacher at Cedar Hill High School. Sometime between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on October 6, 1963, she heard someone fire a high caliber rifle in her pasture. They have cattle in this pasture, and she was concerned that the person might wound or kill some of the cattle. Her husband was also working in a field not too far from where the shooting was taking place. She got into her car and drove to where the men were. Two men were standing by a car, which was a 1957 black and white Chevrolet, bearing Texas license. The third man was standing some distance away in the field with a rifle. She could not describe this rifle, and did not know if it had a scope on it or not. She asked one of the men by the car if they had permission to hunt of shoot on the property. This man asked her what reason she had to ask such a question. She then told the man the property belonged to her, and since they had some cattle in the pasture she was afraid they might shoot them. This made the man with the rifle angry, and he walked back toward the car and made several nasty remarks which she could not recall. At the time, the man by the car she had been talking to told the man with the rifle to keep quiet. The man by the car then told her he could understand her situation. She then advised them that she was leaving. and if they did not leave she would call the police when she got to the house. She took the license number of the car and left; these three men left, and she did not call the police. After a check of the cattle revealed none of them had been shot, she threw away the license number. She cannot recall any part of this number.

"Since thinking about this incident, and in view of the assassination of President Kennedy with a rifle, she has wondered if this man with the rifle was OSWALD. She saw a photograph of OSWALD in the newspaper and stated that a side view of OSWALD does not look like this person. The full face photograph, however, she believes does resemble him...She stated that the man by the car who she talked to was about 40 years of age, dark complexion, medium height and weight. She could not describe this person any further but believes she would know him if she were to see him again. She could not give any description of the other man by the car at all. The man with the rifle was a young white male or medium height and slender build.

"Mrs. Penn stated that the field where the man was shooting has been plowed since the incident, and she did not feel there was any possibility that any of the shells could be located. She advised that she would return to the field where the incident took place and look carefully for any of the shells and would advise the results of this search."

Mrs. Lovell Penn was able to recover a 6.5 millimeter spent shell casing from the area. The FBI determined that it had not been fired from OSWALD'S Mannlicher-Carcano. [FBI DL-89-43 Henry J. Oliver dictated 12.2.63]

It was around this time that S.A. Hosty reopened OSWALD'S case in Dallas to assist the New Orleans FBI. S.A. Hosty said he checked the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but was unable to locate OSWALD.

On Monday, October 7, 1963, Ruth Paine drove OSWALD to the bus station, and he returned to Dallas. OSWALD did not rent an apartment and move Marina and June Oswald into it. Instead, he inquired about a room at 1026 North Beckley. There were no rooms available, so he took one elsewhere from Mary Bledsoe, paid the weekly rent of $7 in advance, and moved in on the same day. OSWALD looked for work. He went to the unemployment office and showed up for a job offer or two, which took only a few hours.

There was no hard evidence that OSWALD was job hunting at this time, and the Warren Commission placed him in an environment devoid of witnesses: "He spent much of the time when he was not looking for work in his room." OSWALD distanced himself from his family. OSWALD told Ruth Paine that "as soon as he gets enough money and his new baby is old enough, he will get an apartment for his family in Dallas." [FBI 105-92555-48]

At this time the FBI was looking at OSWALD as a possible espionage agent: "The following FBI record number 327 925 D is furnished for official use only. FLASH BY BUREAU: LEE HARVEY OSWALD (maybe identical) Any information or inquiry received notify Espionage Section, Division Five, Bureau (Reference memorandum dated November 4, 1959, captioned LEE HARVEY OSWALD Internal Security - Russia). FLASH CANCELED information received October 9, 1963." [Unmarked FBI Document - Arrest record format] After the events of November 22, 1963, the FBI was critical of this decision: "It will be noted that stop placed against the Subject in the Identification Division which was removed by (Deleted) on October 9, 1963, after Subject arrested in New Orleans for Fair Play for Cuba Committee on August 9, 1963. Geesling advised stop was placed in event Subject returned from Russia under an assumed name and was inadvertently not removed by him on September 7, 1962, when case was closed. Inspector feels Geesling in error in removing stop on Subject in Ident on October 9, 1963, particularly after arrest on August 9, 1963, for Fair Play for Cuba activity in New Orleans. We might have missed further arrests without stop identification. Geesling erred in not having additional investigation conducted when Subject returned to the United States and Geesling wrong in not having Subject placed on Security Index." [FBI Memo Gale to Tolson 12.10.63]

According to Ruth Paine, OSWALD spent the weekend of October 12, 1963, to October 13, 1963, at her home, allegedly taking a driving lesson. On Monday, October 14, 1963, Ruth Paine drove OSWALD to Dallas. He went back to 1026 North Beckley, and rented a room from landlady Mrs. Arthur Carl Johnson under the name O.H. LEE.

Why did OSWALD return to 1026 North Beckley? The Warren Commission Report suggested it was because of the television and refrigerator. Evidence suggested OSWALD believed this address was a safehouse. This was the first time that OSWALD rented an apartment under a false name. Michael Paine commented, "I don't know how he was spending his time and especially before the assassination, he was particularly secretive. I wondered at the time, who does he talk to? Why he rented an apartment under a false name, and why it hit a raw nerve when my wife called him, I must confess, remain mysteries."

Ruth Paine testified that she was having coffee with four young mothers when she remarked that LEE OSWALD needed a job:

Jenner: Now there came an occasion, did there not, that weekend or the following weekend at which there was a discussion at least by you with some neighbors with respect to efforts to obtain employment for OSWALD?

Paine: As best as I can reconstruct it was while having coffee at my immediate neighbors, Mrs. Ed Roberts, and also present was Mrs. Bill Randle, and LEE had said over the weekend that he had gotten the last of unemployment compensation checks that were due him and that it had been smaller than the others had been, and disappointing in its smallness and he looked very discouraged when he went to look for work...And the subject that he was looking for work, and that he hadn't found work for a week, came up while we were having coffee, four young mothers at Mrs. Robert's house, and Mrs. Randle mentioned that her younger brother, Wesley Frazier thought they needed another person at the Texas School Book Depository where Wesley worked. Marina then asked me, after we had gone home, asked me if I would call the Texas School Book Depository to see if indeed there was the possibility of an opening and at her request I did telephone...I looked up the number in the book, and dialed it, was told I would need to speak to Mr. Truely who was at the warehouse. The call was transferred to Mr. Truely and I said I know of a young man whose wife was staying in my house, the wife was expecting a child, they already had a little girl, and he had been out of work for a while and was very interested in getting any employment and his name, and was there a possibility of an opening there, and Mr. Truly said he didn't know whether he had an opening, that the young man should apply himself in person. This was on Monday, October 14, 1963.

Ruth Paine had been instructed to find OSWALD a job in downtown Dallas. She was not told that it was supposed to be in building that was likely to over look the route of the a Presidential motorcade. Ruth Paine knew that Buell Wesley Frazier, the younger brother of Linnie Mae Randle, was employed at the Texas School Book Depository. Temporary stock-boy jobs were always open there, and so it came as no surprise to Ruth Paine when Linnie Mae Randle suggested that LEE OSWALD try the Texas School Book Depository, after Paine brought up the subject of OSWALD and a job.

Gerald Posner claimed that OSWALD'S placement in the Texas School Book Depository was pure coincidence since Roy S. Truly (the superintendent of the Texas School Book Depository who died in 1988), Linnie Mae Randle, Ruth Paine, and a dozen others, would have had to have been part of the conspiracy. Ruth Paine could have placed him there alone.

On Monday, October 14, 1963, Ruth Paine called Roy Truly and secured a position for OSWALD. Marina Oswald told the HSCA: "She went to all the trouble to get the job for him." Michael Paine was asked, "Was it mere coincidence that your wife placed OSWALD in Dealey Plaza?" He responded, "That is so simple that it should not be a part of this. He lost his job at the photo lab and you've heard the story - and it's true. Ruth was discussing it over coffee with some neighbors and they thought there was a job opening at the Texas School Book Depository." He was asked, "Did she know this neighbor's son worked at the Texas School Book Depository?" He responded, "That is how come she knew. I think he had a job there, and he spread the news in that household that they might be still be looking for other employees. So Ruth took the number down that he should call and told it to OSWALD. He called and was interviewed. We were trying to get him a job to help him out. Ruth had no idea where it was. We thought it was somewhere other than Dealey Plaza. There was absolutely no input from the CIA to get him a job there. It was Ruth's idea. There might have been a conspiracy, but that was not a part of it. And we know we had no CIA connection, we didn't know the Texas School Book Depository was there. We didn't know that President Kennedy was going to come by. We had absolutely no part of it. If there was any conspiracy, it could only have been that they knew OSWALD was a Communist, and would pick on him. Hosty came around, he knew where OSWALD was working. We had no CIA contact." It was pointed out to Michael Paine that his wife's father had CIA contact: "No, he worked for the Agency for International Development. The CIA may have used the Agency for International Development as a front for awhile, but it doesn't mean that every Agency for International Development employee is CIA. Bill Hyde was vehemently opposed to the CIA using the Agency for International Development for these purposes. Ruth was a very truthful person and she really knew Bill well enough to know where he would stand on a matter like that." Michael Paine was again told William Hyde had CIA contact: "Sure, okay, that's possible." Ruth Paine wrote this to her mother: "Big news. LEE was accepted for a job this am. Minimum wage and nothing special about it, but he is very happy and I think things will ease for them." [FBI CV 105-7674]

James Hosty was asked about Ruth Paine and the Texas School Book Depository: "At that time, no one knew the motorcade was going to pass by. That's just pure happenstance. Nobody knew there was going to be a parade until the Tuesday before. Before that they said there would be no parade. They didn't know what the route was going to be, until they knew where the luncheon was going to be. And the luncheon was not decided until that Saturday. It wasn't until Tuesday they decided to even have a parade. Remember they called off the parade in Miami the weekend before. The Secret Service picked..."

The CIA's Counter-Intelligence Staff provided intelligence to the Secret Service when the President traveled abroad. [CIA DDCI Memo: The CIA Role in Support of Presidential Trips Abroad 5.31.63]

Linnie Mae Randle had also suggested two other jobs for OSWALD. One with the Manner Bakery, and the other with the Texas Gypsum Company. Ruth Paine told the FBI she ruled out the Manner Bakery because OSWALD could not drive a bakery truck; but she could not recall Linnie Mae Randle having suggested Texas Gypsum.

Jenner: Do you recall whether or not Mrs. Randle, as a friendly gesture - her suggestions were friendly, were they not, in connection with his securing employment?

Paine: Oh yes.

Jenner: Did she mention the Manner Bakery?

Paine: Possibly, yes. I do recall saying that LEE doesn't drive, making the point that this was a hampering thing for him. And therefore it made it impossible for him to drive a truck for the Manner Bakery.

Jenner: And in that connection, had she mentioned the Texas Gypsum Company?

Paine: I don't recall that.

Jenner: At least you do recall that it was impractical to consider possible positions which would require him to operate an automobile.

Paine: Yes, I believe I do recall a reference now to driving a truck, delivery truck.

Jenner: You have no recollection of any other suggestion as to possible places of employment?

Paine: I have no recollection of that.

During another part of her testimony before the Warren Commission Ruth Paine stated:

Jenner: You have no recollection of any other, at least two other places being suggested, and you, in turn, stating that they would be unsatisfactory, one because an automobile had to be used, or it would be necessary for LEE to have an automobile, and the other that he was lacking in the possible qualifications needed? None of that refreshes your recollection?

Paine: None of that refreshes my recollections.

OSWALD turned down a job at Love Field Airport in Dallas that paid $310 per month - for a job in the Texas School Book Depository - that paid $210 per month. The Warren Report stated "the Texas Employment Commission attempted to refer OSWALD to an airline company which was looking for baggage and cargo handlers at a salary which was $100 a month higher than that offered by the Depository Company. The Employment Commission tried to advise OSWALD of this job at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 16, 1963. Since the records of the Commission indicate that OSWALD was then working, it seems clear that OSWALD was hired by the Depository Company before the higher paying job was available. It is unlikely that he ever learned of this second opportunity." [WR p247]

The HSCA questioned Marina Oswald about this:

Q. If he would have had another job offer at the same time for more money, can you think of any reason he might have taken the job in the Texas School Book Depository instead of another job?

A. I do believe he did like Ruth, and, since she went to all the trouble to get the job for him, I think that would have been the courteous thing to do.

Q. Do you think he would have taken a job for less money just because he liked Ruth?

A. No, it doesn't sound logical...To tell the truth we were very poor and I think a better offer of a job would probably be more likely he would take.

The Warren Commission questioned Ruth Paine:

Q. Did you ever hear anything by way of discussion or otherwise by Marina or LEE of the possibility of his having been tendered or at least suggested to him a job at Trans-Texas, as a cargo handler at $310 a month?

A. I do not recall that.

Q. This was right at the time he obtained employment at the Texas School Book Depository?

A. And he was definitely offered such a job?

Q. Well I won't say it was offered - that he might have been able to secure a job through the Texas Employment Commission as a cargo-handler at $310 a month.

A. I do recall some reference of that sort, which fell through - that there was not that possibility.

Q. Tell us what you know about that. Did you hear of it at the time?

A. Yes.

Q. Now would you please relate that to me?

A. I recall some reference to -

Q. How did it come about?

A. From LEE as I recall.

Q. And was it at the time or just right -

A. It was at the time, while he was yet unemployed.

Q. And about the time he obtained employment at the Texas School Book Depository.

A. It seemed to me he went into town with some hopes raised by the employment agency, I don't know - but then reported that the job had been filled and was not available to him.

Q. But that was -

A. That is my best recollection -

Q. Of his report to you and Marina.

A. Yes.

Q. But you do not recall discussing it?

A. I recall something of that nature. I do not recall the job itself.

On Tuesday, October 15, 1963 OSWALD called Marina and told her he had secured employment. On Wednesday, October 16, 1963, 35 days before the assassination, OSWALD began working at the Texas School Book Depository.

The Warren Commission did not say how the Employment Commission tried to advise OSWALD of the job at Love Field. OSWALD used Ruth Paine's address and telephone number as a contact point at this time. Ruth Paine, who had been instructed to place OSWALD in downtown Dallas, never told OSWALD about the job at Love Field. OSWALD'S job at the Texas School Book Depository required less skill, and was of a lower status, then his previous jobs, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It involved moving book cartons. The Warren Commission: "OSWALD'S employment at the Texas School Book Depository was wholly unrelated to the President's trip to Dallas." [WR p247] The Texas School Book Depository was in the geographic area where Ruth Paine had been instructed to find OSWALD a job in by her father or sister. Ruth Paine was not a professional assassin like GERRY PATRICK HEMMING, or a professional spy like HUNT, yet it was not by accident that Ruth Paine got OSWALD a job along a likely parade route. This does not mean she was a part of any conspiracy. All it means is that someone told her to babysit OSWALD and get him a job in downtown Dallas. When OSWALD began working at the Texas School Book Depository, the conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy was well under way. OSWALD had ordered the rifle, visited the Soviet Embassy and Cuban Consulate in Mexico City and was ripe for a setup. It was not by accident that, through her father, her brother, her brother-in-law and her sister, Ruth Paine traced back to ANGLETON and ANGLETON led to HUNT, PHILLIPS et. al.

On Friday, October 18, 1963, Buell Frazier drove OSWALD from the Texas School Book Depository to Irving. Since it was OSWALD'S birthday, Marina Oswald and Ruth Paine had arranged a small celebration.

The FBI: "A Secret, October 22, 1963, Airtel, from Dallas to the Bureau, bearing dictator initials of 'JPH' advised FBI Headquarters that S.A. Hosty received information from Immigration and Naturalization Service, Dallas, Texas, on Friday, October 18, 1963, that 'an individual, possibly identical with LEE HARVEY OSWALD, was in contact with the Soviet Embassy, Mexico City.' S.A. Hosty explained: "Immigration and Naturalization Service, Dallas, merely advised that they were in possession of a communication indicating (deleted)." [Hosty to Shanklin FBI Dallas-10461 12.6.63 also 62-109060-7959]] The FBI: "On October 18, 1963, Mr. Jeff Woosley, Supervisory Clerk, INS, Dallas, advised S.A. James P. Hosty that their office was in receipt of a communication, classified 'Secret' from CIA Mexico City. This communication indicated copies were furnished to the FBI. This communication indicated that an individual, possibly identical with OSWALD, was in contact with the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City." [FBI 100-10,461-47; NARA FBI 124-10171-10138]

James Hosty stated: "I found out from the Dallas Immigration and Naturalization Service that they had gotten a CIA communication. It was verbal information [I received] from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. I then wrote to FBI Headquarters, and then to New Orleans, and they sent me a copy of another CIA communication. The FBI sent the communication to New Orleans, which was the office of origin at the time. The Dallas Office did not get a copy." [FBI DL 100-10461-47; FBI Bufile 105-82555-39] In 1978 James Hosty's attorney, Francis X. Lilly, told the FBI "prior to the assassination, certain information was not known to S.A. Hosty. In particular he had not been advised of the visit of OSWALD to Mexico City, and was not aware of the people to whom OSWALD spoke in Mexico City. Nor did he know the real identity of these people...this information was not made available to S.A. Hosty...and it is doubtful whether Bureau regulations would have allowed Mr. Hosty to interview OSWALD even had additional information been made available to him " [FBI Bassett/Ryan 10.4.78 re: Hosty's attorney Francis X. Lilly]

The FBI document that concerned OSWALD'S Soviet-contact was routinely channeled to S.A. Hosty. S.A. Hosty's name appeared in the appropriate place in the block stamp. After the assassination, S.A. Hosty's name was erased from the block stamp, and the serial was initialed to file by FBI Supervisor Kenneth Howe. [FBI ltr. Ryan to Bassett 10.4.78] James Hosty; "It was crossed out, not erased. That's when they were hiding things from me. They took it out of my workbox. My lawyer was confused." [Interview with A.J.W. 1993] Hosty told the Warren Commission he first became aware of OSWALD'S contact with the Soviets in Mexico City on October 25, 1963.

The minute Hosty discovered that OSWALD was in touch with Soviet Intelligence he should have interviewed him immediately. He lied to the Warren Commission and told them he first became aware of OSWALD'S contacts with the Soviets on October 25, 1963 rather than October 18, 1963. He never interviewed OSWALD.

On Sunday, October 20, 1963, OSWALD stayed with Ruth Paine's children, while Ruth Paine drove Marina Oswald to Parkland Hospital, where she gave birth to a second daughter, Rachel Oswald. On Monday, October 21, 1963, OSWALD visited Marina Oswald in the hospital and spent the night in Irving.

Why would OSWALD assassinate the President one month after his wife had given birth to another child? Was he untroubled about the prospect of abandoning his newborn daughter?

OSWALD wrote the Communist Party that, on the evening of Wednesday, October 23, 1963, he had attended a meeting sponsored by General Edwin A. Walker. [11WH425] This meeting was also sponsored by the National Indignation Committee. William Coleman and David Slawson: "Investigation has led to the conclusion that this must have been an anti-Castro meeting." [WC To: Rankin Summary of Evid. of For. Inv.] Edwin Steig, a DRE sympathizer reported having seen OSWALD at a DRE meeting on October 13, 1963. [WCD 205 p646 cited by Scott]

JOHN MARTINO spoke to a group of John Birch Society members in September 1963. A member of the Dallas Chapter of Alpha-66 attended this meeting in September 1963 and informed the FBI that bumper stickers bearing the words "Kan the Kennedy Klan" had been sold there. One member of Alpha-66 changed the word "Kan" to "Kill" before pasting the bumper sticker on his car. [FBI 105-96777 6.25.64]

Ruth Paine described the gathering on Wednesday, October 23, 1963, as a meeting of The National Indignation Committee. The National Indignation Committee was founded in Dallas, in October 1961, by Frank McGehee in reaction to the United States having trained Yugoslavian pilots in Texas. The National Indignation Committee was an anticommunist umbrella group with Birchite and Walkerite ties. By February 1962 the National Indignation Committee had held 175 rallies and was tooling up a pressure campaign to force Congress to halt all military aid to any Communist regime anywhere and to fire any government official responsible for any in the past. [Life Magazine 2.9.62 pages 110 to 129]

OSWALD lost touch with the White Russian exile community after he returned to Dallas. The only people known to have been associated with OSWALD at this time were the Paines. On Friday, October 25, 1963, OSWALD accompanied Michael Paine to a meeting of the American Civil Liberties Union, at Methodist University. OSWALD spoke at this meeting. He said that two days earlier he had infiltrated General Edwin Walker's meeting and General Edwin Walker and his fellow John Birchers were anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic. General Edwin Walker had been responsible for the violence directed at U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson.

OSWALD associated with George DeMohrenschildt and Guy Banister, two anti-Semites. As stated, OSWALD'S believed the opposite of what he said and wrote. If OSWALD said he was against anti-Semitism, he was for it. If OSWALD said he was for communism, he was against it.

Michael Paine believed OSWALD was sincere: "I didn't know DeMohrenschildt. But I should say that I had, at the time, absolutely no question in my mind that LEE described himself as Communist." Michael Paine equated OSWALD with his father: "He thought his important mission in life wasn't working, he wanted to raise a family, but that was kind of trivial. A more important activity was social change. And I accepted that, I had no quarrel with it." Michael Paine was asked if it had even crossed his mind that OSWALD was a tool of right wing forces: "No. Definitely not. He resented authority. He resented his employer at the photo company. This was not part of his cover. I wouldn't have said LEE was a powerful intellect. He said you got your directions from reading between the lines in The Worker and The Militant, and I asked him to show me how to do it. So he got out the paper, and put it across our knees, and he wasn't actually able to do it, but I accepted that as that's what he felt - I could see that. I remember the newspaper had many articles from Italy criticizing David Rockefeller. I don't know why they had such a vendetta against David Rockefeller."

Michael Paine brought his friend, Frank Krystinik, to the American Civil Liberties Union meeting with OSWALD. Krystinik told the FBI: "There was a question and answer period, and the presiding officer made reference to the fact that Ambassador Stevenson had been struck on the head by a sign poster at a meeting in Dallas the day before. LEE OSWALD jumped to his feet and interjected himself into the discussion by stating that General Walker was both anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic. Krystinik, a member of the Roman Catholic faith, followed OSWALD from the room when the meeting adjourned at approximately 10:00 p.m. and began questioning him in general about the anti-Catholic allegation against General Walker. The discussion between them became rather heated, and OSWALD told Krystinik that Krystinik was a 'petty capitalist.' This apparently arose because OSWALD had learned that Krystinik had a home wood-workshop where he manufactures birdhouses and occasionally employs three men in the manufacture of these birdhouses. OSWALD told Krystinik that he was exploiting workers. Frank Krystinik asked OSWALD about his political belief, and OSWALD stated he was a Marxist. Frank Krystinik asked, "Does that mean you are a communist?" OSWALD then said, "All right, if you want to call me that, that is what I am, a Communist."

In 1964 Ruth Paine told the Warren Commission that OSWALD "I would say that he was a combination, that the man within was an introvert, preferred the company of the television set or a book, but that he could, as I have said, be a genial host or go to a meeting of the American Civil Liberties Union with my husband and I understand that he made a fairly good impression upon some of the people there...I have recently, perhaps a year ago, became [sic] on the membership committee of the Dallas ACLU Chapter. That chapter only just opened a year and a half ago."

On Friday, October 25, 1963, S.A. Milton Kaack learned from the FBI's contact at the Post Office, that when OSWALD left New Orleans, his mail was forwarded from Box 30061 to Ruth Paine in Irving. On October 25, 1963, the FBI Headquarters and Dallas were advised of OSWALD'S new address. [FBI 105-1435-13; FBI 100-10461-51 NARA 124-10171-10141] On Friday, October 25, 1963, S.A. DeBRUEYS prepared an FBI report on OSWALD and the New Orleans Fair Play for Cuba Committee. This report was generated because of OSWALD'S brush with the New Orleans Police Department. It dealt with the BRINGUIER incident, and OSWALD'S appearances on William Stuckey's radio program. It did not mention OSWALD'S change of address, although it contained information developed by S.A. Kaack, as well as a four-page appendix, and another copy of S.A. Agent Quigley's interview with OSWALD. On Friday, October 25, 1963, an index card on OSWALD was created by Plans. This card read:

OSWALD, LEE H.

SEX M DOB OCTOBER 18, 1939 100-300-011

USA NEW ORLEANS DBA-55777 OCTOBER 25, 1963 P2

CIT ?

OCC ?

USA, NEW ORLEANS 4709 MAGAZINE. MEMBER OF THE FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA COMMITTEE WITH HEADQUARTERS AT 799 BROADWAY, NEW YORK CITY. SEE DOCUMENT REGARDING DISTRIBUTION OF CUBAN PROPAGANDA.

On November 23, 1963, OSWALD told the FBI he lived at 4706 Magazine Street. The card contained the number 100-300-011. This was the CIA's Fair Play for Cuba Committee file. The CIA stated it contained 30 CIA-originated documents. On Friday, October 25, 1963, the CIA generated a cryptic dispatch, most of which was deleted. Presumably, it concerned OSWALD: "Please transmit the attached envelope to (deleted) only. Att sent DDP by (deleted) October 30, 1963." [CIA Allen v. DOD #15027]

OSWALD allegedly spent the weekend of Saturday, October 26, 1963, to Sunday, October 27, 1963, with his wife and newborn infant in Irving. JOHN MARTINO was in Dallas at this date.

The FBI: "Three communications relating to and setting forth some details of OSWALD'S contact with the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City, including the name of a Soviet that OSWALD contacted [Valeriy Kostikov], were block stamped into the Dallas Office on Friday, October 25, 1963, were routinely channeled to S.A. Hosty by the Desk on Monday, October 28, 1963, and were not retrieved from S.A. Hosty's personal work box until after the assassination on November 22, 1963, according to a notation on Dallas serial 100-10461-50 by Dallas Supervisor Kenneth C. Howe."

This document stated: "Re: New Orleans airttel to Dallas October 2, 1963. Enclosed for Dallas is a copy of a radiogram from Legat, Mexico City, to Bureau October 18, 1963, and a copy of Bureau cablegram to Legat, Mexico City October 22, 1963. For the information of the Bureau, New Orleans Airtel to Dallas October 2, 1963, requested Dallas to locate Subject and his wife...48-49-50 go to James P. Hosty October 28, 1963. Obtained from his box and initialed into file to complete his file following November 22, 1963 - Howe." [FBI File 100-10461]

S.A. Hosty had failed to add this documents to the other serials on OSWALD when he received it on his desk on October 28, 1963. Dallas Supervisor Kenneth C. Howe had to do it after November 22, 1963. Hosty was again staying away from OSWALD. The FBI wondered why Hosty had not glanced at these documents prior to the Kennedy assassination. The FBI: "In short, absent mitigating circumstances, it is unusual for any Agent to claim ignorance of the contents of three communications residing in his personal workbox for approximately 26 days.

"Dallas file 100-10461-48, -49, -50, and Bureau file 105-82555-42 and -43. Bureau file serial 43 corresponds to Dallas serial 48 and is classified SECRET."

Serial 48 was the CIA'S report on OSWALD'S visit to the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City, and included the name of Valeriy Kostikov, serial 49 was a summary of information that FBI Headquarters had on OSWALD.

James Hosty stated that he neglected to retrieve these three documents (in addition to the October 22, 1963 Immigration and Naturalization Service document) from his personal work box until after the assassination, however, in a report dated December 6, 1963, S.A. Hosty wrote he postponed a interview with Marina Oswald "despite the information received shortly prior to that time to the effect LEE OSWALD had been in touch with the Soviet Embassy, Mexico City..." That indicated that he had looked at least one of the reports.

James Hosty remarked, "[The FBI reports about OSWALD] disappeared from my workbox. They took them out of my workbox. See, the Bureau is trying to cover up the fact that they were doing the coverup. They took that stuff out of my file drawer because it referred to Valeriy Kostikov. See, I was aware he had made contact with the Embassy, but I didn't know who Valeriy Kostikov was, and anything that had his name on it, disappeared. They put it back in the file later." [FBI Dallas 100-10461-48, 49, 50]

James Hosty's explanation made no sense. S.A. Hosty was avoiding the OSWALD case by not serializing and filing "hot" reports on OSWALD.

S.A. Hosty explained why OSWALD'S name had not been entered on Security Index of the FBI or furnished to the Secret Service despite OSWALD'S contact with Valeriy Kostikov, who was believed to be a KGB assassin: "Dallas was not in possession of any information indicating OSWALD had any vicious potential or capabilities [S.A. Hosty knew OSWALD beat his wife], nor any other information concerning him which would have made it appear desirable to furnish Secret Service information concerning him."

FBI Serial 50 informed the Dallas FBI Office that OSWALD had returned to Dallas. S.A. Hosty should have known OSWALD was in Dallas on Monday, October 28, 1963. On Tuesday, October 29, 1963, S.A. Hosty received additional notification of OSWALD'S new address from S.A. Milton Kaack. S.A. DeBRUEYS had not furnished the address to S.A. Hosty in an earlier report.

James Hosty: "I did not know OSWALD was in Dallas at this time. As far as I knew, he was in New Orleans. I was told he had returned to Dallas on Friday, November 1, 1963, when Ruth Paine told me that. I got that lead from New Orleans." [Dallas FBI 100-10461-47 Bufile 105-82555-39]. James Hosty stated: "I got the address on Tuesday, October 29, 1963, and I had to verify it and check Ruth Paine out. I went out on Friday, November 1, 1963. Two days."

On Friday, November 1, 1963, OSWALD opened Post Office Box 6225 at the Dallas Post Office Terminal Annex. OSWALD listed his address as Beckley Avenue, although he gave a false house number. [WR p313] He paid the rent in advance through December 31, 1963. There was no indication in the Warren Report that the FBI authenticated the signature on the application for Post Office Box 6225 or on the change of address card that routed his mail from Post Office Box 30061 to Ruth Paine's address. Withheld postal application forms included "Qc37 & 38," which were examined by the FBI laboratory in an effort to identify OSWALD'S signature. [FBI LAB report d-436518 11.26.63; WR p312, 566]

On Friday, November 1, 1963, when OSWALD rented Post Office Box 6225, he indicated that the box would be used to receive mail for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union, which he had recently joined. Under "Kind of Business" OSWALD wrote 'non-profit.'OSWALD wrote the Communist Party: "Could you advise me as to the general view we have on the ACLU? And to what degree, if any, I should attempt to heighten its progressive tendencies?"

Louis Nichols was head of the Bar Association of Dallas. He visited OSWALD on November 23, 1963. OSWALD told him he wanted John Abt for an attorney. Abt defended numerous Communists. Nichols wrote: "He then asked me if I knew any Dallas lawyer who was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union. I told him I did not. He then stated that he was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union. I again asked him whether he desired that either I, or anyone else of the Dallas Bar Association, do anything at that time toward getting him an attorney to represent him. He stated that if he could not get the New York lawyer, or if he could not get a lawyer who was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union to represent him, and if there was an attorney in Dallas who believed as he did, and believed in the things he believed in, and believed in his innocence as much as he could, that he might call on us in the following week about getting such as lawyer."

Michael Paine was asked why OSWALD opened a post office box in the name of the American Civil Liberties Union? He answered, "I didn't know he did that and I can't begin to guess why. [Paine was mailed documents] I was surprised and confused. The last thing I heard from him was that he couldn't join the organization. The reason he couldn't, was that he really didn't approve of protecting the rights of people like General Walker to talk. Then I learned he had joined, after the assassination. Becoming a American Civil Liberties Union member, then committing a heinous crime, would sully it."

OSWALD hated the ACLU just as he hated the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. OSWALD had no affiliation with the ACLU and had no right to receive mail in the name of the ACLU. OSWALD was about to launch an operation against the ACLU. After he was arrested as a suspect in the assassination he used the opportunity to further "dirty-up" the ACLU by associating himself with it.

S.A. Hosty was determined to avoid OSWALD, however, he had to conduct a superficial investigation of OSWALD due to OSWALD'S contact with the Soviet espionage apparatus. Instead of beginning his investigation of OSWALD with a personal interview of the Subject that would have given him first hand insight into OSWALD'S personality, S.A. HOSTY interviewed Ruth Paine and Marina Oswald about LEE HARVEY OSWALD. Why did Hosty go to secondary sources when the primary source was available on weekends or at work?

In 1993 HOSTY stated that he was not avoiding OSWALD: "I could not interview OSWALD since he had been in touch with the Russian Embassy. Are you aware of that? I was aware of this prior to the assassination and that put a bar on any interview. It's the rules, go check the rules. See, you're supposed to be an expert on this. Stop and think. If I went up and talked to him and said, 'Hey, why are you visiting the Russian Embassy?' wouldn't that have given away our technique? It's in the Senate Intelligence Committee Report. The damn Warren Commission, those idiots, didn't understand that. But the intelligence committee got it straight. I was following the rules. Question Headquarters. The damn Warren Commission shot off its mouth, they didn't know what the hell they were talking about, and they didn't bother to ask me why I didn't interview him. I didn't think an interview would be productive. He'd been interviewed three times unsuccessfully."

1. After the assassination Ruth Paine stated that S.A. Hosty had visited her "for the purpose of arranging an interview with OSWALD." S.A. Hosty denied this: "One of the purposes of the visit was to arrange an interview for Marina Oswald. It would appear either Mrs. Paine has been misquoted by the newspapers or she may have been confused on November 1, 1963, and thought I desired an interview with LEE OSWALD rather than Marina Oswald. This could explain the Subject's having the my name and the office telephone number in his possession. It should be noted at the time of this interview, Mrs. Paine was speaking in Russian and in English to this writer and to Marina Oswald and may have confused my request. This should be a matter of record in view of the allegations in this case." [FBI 100-1944-285A 12.3.63 to SAC]

2. James Hosty said he was trying to interview Marina Oswald: "One of the purposes of the visit was to arrange an interview for Marina Oswald. [Mrs. Paine] may have been confused on Friday, November 1, 1963, and thought I desired an interview with LEE OSWALD rather than Marina Oswald." Why was S.A. Hosty more interested in Marina Oswald than LEE HARVEY OSWALD? Marina Oswald was not a member of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. She had not visited the Soviet Embassy and Cuban Consulate in Mexico City.

3. When Hosty testified before the Warren Commission he stated: "I then told her the purpose of my visit, that I was interested in locating the whereabouts of LEE OSWALD..."

On Friday, November 1, 1963, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Ruth Paine and Marina Oswald received a visit from S.A. Hosty in Irving, Texas. OSWALD was at work. S.A. Hosty said he had no information on Ruth Paine, but after a background check, he found she was "a responsible and reliable citizen." Hosty checked with Bell Helicopter and discovered Michael Paine had a security clearance. He checked with Edward T. Oviatt, the headmaster of the St. Marks School where Ruth Paine was employed as a Russian teacher. The Paines had good credit and no criminal record. The interview with Ruth Paine lasted about 20 to 25 minutes. Ruth Paine told S.A. Hosty that Marina Oswald and her two children were living with her, and that OSWALD was in Dallas. Ruth Paine told S.A. Hosty OSWALD was living in Dallas because she did not want him at her home, although she was willing to let him visit his wife and children on weekends. Hosty "I asked her if she knew where he worked. After a moment's hesitation, she told me he worked at the Texas School Book Depository near the downtown area of Dallas. She didn't have the exact address and it is my recollection she went to the phone book, found it to be 411 Elm Street." Ruth Paine: "We did talk about the importance of Hosty not going to where he was working. I got Hosty's card and told him if you want to see LEE, he's coming out this evening. You can certainly see him here. Hosty never came."

Ruth Paine had no reason to withhold this information from Hosty- she knew nothing about the Kennedy assassination plot nor the part that the Texas School Book Depository would play in it. If S.A. Hosty wanted to interview OSWALD, he could have driven to the Texas School Book Depository, or he could have returned to Irving that evening. He could have interviewed OSWALD on Saturday. He did not.

Hosty asked Ruth Paine if she knew OSWALD'S address in Dallas. Ruth Paine, who knew OSWALD'S telephone number in Dallas, indicated that she thought she could find out where OSWALD was living, and would let S.A. Hosty know. Hosty was asked by the Warren Commission if he asked Ruth Paine for OSWALD'S telephone number: "No sir, I didn't ask her about a telephone number and she didn't volunteer. She told me she did not know where he lived." Ruth Paine told the Warren Commission:

Paine: He asked me if I knew where LEE lived. I did think of these phone numbers but -

Jenner: During the course of the -

Paine: Or later.

Jenner: Of the interview?

Paine: At least between that time and the time he came again, but I have been impressed with what I have now concluded was a mistaken impression I have which effected my behavior; namely that the FBI was in possession of a great deal of information, or so I thought, and certainly would find it very easy to find out where LEE OSWALD was living. I really didn't believe they didn't know, or needed to find out from me. This is a feeling stemming from my understanding of the difficulties they faced working in a free society. I would behave quite differently now, but I have learned a lot from this particular experience.

Jenner: Did you make any effort to obtain OSWALD'S address so that you could give it to the FBI? Paine: No. As I have testified, I really thought they had it."

Ruth Paine wrote: "I assumed [S.A. Hosty] wanted to see LEE. The FBI has to follow the activities of a good many two-bit communists, and I was certain they kept themselves informed on LEE'S whereabouts...It was the first time I had talked personally with an FBI agent and my already great respect for the agency went up. We discussed the difficulty in a free society of politely watching people with queer, possibly dangerous ideas. Unlike public opinion or a congressional committee, the FBI never even mentions an individual in public until they have evidence that will stand up in court. I never felt so proud to pay my taxes, and to live in this country as after talking with the FBI man." [WCE 460 p191]

Ruth Paine gave Hosty OSWALD'S work address. If the FBI visited OSWALD on the job it would have caused him more problems than if the FBI visited him at his rooming house. If Ruth Paine was told by a family member that OSWALD was 'alright' perhaps she believed his covert activities centered around his rooming house? Ruth Paine's story that she believed the FBI already had OSWALD'S home address in Dallas was absurd. If the FBI already had OSWALD'S address, why had S.A. Hosty asked her for it?

Ruth Paine said OSWALD told her: "He had been upset by the FBI's coming out and inquiring about him, and he felt it was interference with his family. He said to me that the FBI was inhibiting his activities...I asked whether he was worried about losing his job, and he was." Albert Jenner asked Paine: "Did he say so, Mrs. Paine?" She responded: "I recall particularly a telephone conversation with him. On one of those in which he called out to talk to Marina...I said to him if his views, not any references now to the FBI or their interest in him, but if his political views were interfering with his ability to hold a job, that might be a matter of interest to the American Civil Liberties Union, that he should, in our country, have a right to unpopular views or any other kind. This I believe was after he had been to a ACLU meeting with my husband, that meeting having been Friday, October 25, 1963." S.A. Hosty told the Warren Commission that OSWALD "had alleged that the FBI had him fired from every job he ever had. I told her this was not true...I wanted to know his place of employment for the purpose of determining whether or not he was employed in a sensitive industry, and when I found out he was working in a warehouse as a laborer, I realized that this was not a sensitive industry."

S.A. Hosty testified that when Marina Oswald came into the room during his interview with Ruth Paine, Marina Oswald became very disturbed. According to S.A. Hosty, Ruth Paine had to assure Marina Oswald that the FBI was not a secret police force like the KGB, and would not harm her. Ruth Paine testified that Marina Oswald had not been intimidated by S.A. Hosty: "And I can't recall certainly who brought it up, but I think Marina asked of Hosty what did he think of Castro? He said, 'Well, he reads what is printed and from the view given in the American newspapers of Castro's activities and intentions, and he certainly didn't like those intentions or actions.' And Marina subsequently expressed an opinion, but contrary, that perhaps he was not given much chance by the American press, or that the press was not entirely fair to him. This I translated." Ruth Paine said that S.A. Hosty had also asked her if OSWALD had been active in the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Marina Oswald told this interviewer in 1994: "I discussed nothing with Hosty. No questions. Never expressed any favorable opinions of Castro to him. I do not know what they were talking about."

S.A. Hosty told the Warren Commission that he did not question Marina Oswald; instead he asked Ruth Paine to assure Marina that the FBI was not like the KGB or Gestapo. On another occasion, Hosty said he asked Marina Oswald only one question, using Ruth Paine as an interpreter; it concerned "approaches by foreign agents." He told his FBI superiors that "no interview was conducted of Mrs. Oswald because Dallas was awaiting information from New Orleans." S.A. Hosty advised them that the investigation was designed to avoid having OSWALD'S wife "gain the impression she was being harassed or hounded because of her immigrant status so that the interview, when conducted, would be as productive as possible." J. Edgar Hoover commented: "I just don't understand such solicitude." [HSCA V8 p516] James Hosty commented, "He was a horse's ass. The solicitude is referring to my not interviewing Marina. He thought that if I interviewed Marina, she would have confessed her husband was going to kill the President six months ahead. And besides, that's what the Manual said, I was just goin' by the Manual."

When OSWALD saw Ruth Paine that evening, she said she gave him information on S.A. Hosty. Ruth Paine said Hosty gave her his card. Hosty told the Warren Commission: "I then gave her my name and telephone number. I wrote it down on a piece of paper for her. I am fairly certain I printed it so she would be able to read it alright. I printed my name and wrote down my office telephone number, and handed it to Mrs. Paine. No address, no license number. It was my recollection it was on my paper. I took a piece of paper off, tore it in half...we don't carry cards. We are not allowed to carry cards." Neither the card nor the slip of paper was recovered.

On November 22, 1963, the FBI found S.A. Hosty's name, telephone number, license plate number (one digit off), and office address, in OSWALD'S address book, all written in the same ink. How did OSWALD find out S.A. Hosty's license plate number? Was it on Hosty's first visit or his second visit? Or was it from another source?

Marina Oswald testified to the Warren Commission that while S.A. Hosty was talking with Ruth Paine during his first visit on, Friday November 1, 1963, she went outside and copied down S.A. Hosty's license plate number, as OSWALD had instructed her to do if S.A. Hosty harassed her. Marina Oswald: "LEE had asked me if an FBI agent were to call, that I note down his automobile license number, and I did that." [Marina Oswald WC Test. P48] James Hosty stated, "She snuck out and copied the plate numbers."

S.A. Hosty told the Warren Commission that he parked his car down the street so that Ruth Paine's neighbors would not become aware of his presence. If this was true how could Marina have found the vehicle and copied it during Hosty's first visit?

During his second visit to Ruth Paine on Tuesday, November 5, 1963, Hosty parked in front of the house; however, Ruth Paine testified that Marina Oswald remained in her room throughout the short interview, and that she could not have seen S.A. Hosty's car except when he pulled away. Ruth Paine told this researcher: "So far as I can recall Marina wasn't present [during the second visit from S.A. Hosty]."

Ruth Paine told the Warren Commission: "To the best of my recollection I have to say to you that I cannot be absolutely certain that the blue Oldsmobile was in front of my house on that day. I don't remember for certainty. My best recollection was that it was on the street." Albert Jenner went to Ruth Paine's home and determined that if the car was parked on the street it would have been impossible for anyone inside Ruth Paine's home to have copied the plate number.

Ruth Paine told the Warren Commission:

Paine: Hosty, I, and a second agent was with him, I don't know the name, stood at the door of my home and talked briefly about the address of OSWALD in Dallas. Marina was in her room feeding the baby, or busy some way. She came in just as Hosty and I were closing the conversation, and I must say we were both surprised at her entering. He then took his leave immediately. I was aware that he had parked his car out in front of my house. My best judgement is that the license plate number was not visible, however, while it was parked; not visible from my house.

Jenner: Did you see the car?

Paine: I saw the car.

Jenner: Parked?

Paine: Yes, I noticed it particularly. Because the first time he had come on November 1, 1963, he had parked down the street, and he made reference to the fact that they don't like to draw attention for the neighborhood to any interviews that they make, and in fact my neighbor also commented when she had talked with him a few days previously that his car was parked down the street and wasn't in front of my house. So I noticed the change that he had parked directly in front. But to the best of my recollection, in back of the automobile of my husband.

James Hosty told this researcher: "The car was right in the driveway and there were two license plates. She was there at the front door with Ruth Paine. She could have just looked over her shoulder and saw it." Hosty was asked by this researcher, "I thought she said she snuck out and copied it?" James Hosty stated, "Why don't you ask Marina about that?"Marina Oswald told this interviewer in 1994: It was during the second visit. [The car] wasn't at the front. Hosty doesn't remember. It doesn't mean he's lying. Yes, I copied the plate number. Anything coming from me, you don't believe it, do you?"

There is a lot of conflicting testimony regarding this notation in OSWALD'S address book. Ruth Paine testified that she did not see Marina Oswald copy the plate number on a piece of paper immediately after Hosty left nor did Marina mention anything to Ruth Paine about a plate number. Ruth Paine testified she gave OSWALD S.A. Hosty's address and phone number on Friday November 1, 1963. Marina Oswald said she gave him the license number on that same day. How could she have given him this information when S.A. Hosty's second visit had not yet occurred? Was the plate number written in the same ink as the rest of the information?

Oswald obtained the number himself, and this was why the address of the FBI also appeared.

After the assassination, the notation in OSWALD'S address book of S.A. Hosty's name, address and licence plate number led to speculation that OSWALD was an FBI informant. S.A.'s Robert Gemberling and John T. Kessler covered up the S.A. Hosty/OSWALD contact and omitted S.A. Hosty's name, address, telephone and license plate number in the early report on OSWALD'S address book that was sent to the Warren Commission. S.A. John T. Kessler admitted to the HSCA that he did it because "He did not want to cause Hosty any unnecessary unpleasantness or exposure."

The weekend after S.A. Hosty's visit, Saturday, November 2, 1963 to Sunday, November 3, 1963, OSWALD was allegedly in Irving, Texas. Marina Oswald testified that OSWALD told her he was going to the FBI "to ask them to leave you out of all these visits." [HSCA V12 p328] On Monday, November 4, 1963, S.A. Hosty allegedly telephoned the Texas School Book Depository and found that OSWALD was working there. He was given the address of Ruth Paine as OSWALD'S residence "which I knew not to be his correct address." This was what S.A. Hosty told the Warren Commission. [Hosty's WC test. p452]. It was not recorded in the OSWALD Dallas Field Office file, nor did anyone in the Texas School Book Depository remember the call. James Hosty recalled, "I did a credit verification type of pretext call. I didn't identify myself. They wouldn't have remembered it that much later. It was a routine call. It is in the file." S.A. Hosty told the Warren Commission that on Monday, November 4, 1963, he requested that Dallas again be made the office of origin for the OSWALD case. On Monday, November 4, 1963, S.A. Hosty sent a letter to the Little Rock FBI Office advising it to discontinue its investigation of OSWALD'S whereabouts. (Robert Oswald lived in Little Rock, Arkansas)

On Tuesday, November 5, 1963, S.A. Hosty, and Gary S. Wilson, an FBI Agent-in- training, drove to Irving. S.A. Hosty said he stood at the door and talked briefly with Ruth Paine. She told him that OSWALD had been there that past weekend. She testified: "Agent Hosty asked me, and I am not certain which time, but more likely the second, since so far as I can recall Marina wasn't present, if I thought this was a mental problem, his words referring to LEE OSWALD. I said I couldn't understand the mental processes of anyone who could espouse the Marxist philosophy, but this was far different from saying he was mentally unstable or unable to conduct himself in normal society." S.A. Hosty said Ruth Paine told him OSWALD was "a very illogical person and that he had told her that weekend that he was a 'Trotskyite Communist. Since she did not have his address she thanked him and left.'" S.A. Hosty did nothing further with the OSWALD case.

HEMMING told this researcher: "Oh boy. Hosty is gonna get pissed off. Don't play this for Hosty. This is your deep throat word on Hosty. Hosty, on more than one occasion, used his good offices for the Domestic Contacts Division people in dealing with the émigré community. Quite often these immigrant assholes did not want to talk to CIA, or did not want to talk to FBI. So they traded back and forth. In fact, a couple of the Domestic Contacts Division people were given the ID card with the badge to pose as FBI people questioning these emigres. Because nobody wanted an official record of a CIA operative, even Domestic Contacts Division, talking to these people. They didn't want any dangles. And they wanted to keep Hoover happy that the Bureau was handling all this shit. So Hosty did this on a fairly frequent basis. Now if he was the guy that was told by the Agency to lay-off OSWALD, it would have been a completely normal thing."

S.A. Hosty was censured and put on probation for "inadequate investigation, including earlier investigation of OSWALD'S wife, delayed reporting, failure to put Subject on Security Index, and for holding the investigation in abeyance after being in receipt of information that Subject had been in contact with the Soviet Embassy, Mexico City." [HSCA V8 p519]

James Hosty: "That Security Index means you get picked-up in times of national emergency. If he was on that, it would not have prevented the assassination. Only two people were on the Index in Texas."

The FBI: "Past research in the OSWALD file discloses no justification for a statement that Bureau regulations would have precluded an OSWALD interview prior to the assassination." A December 10, 1963, memo from J.H. Gale to Tolson stated in part: "His wife should have been interviewed before the assassination and investigation intensified, not held in abeyance after OSWALD contacted the Soviet Embassy in Mexico. While reference to 'investigation intensified' does not specifically state that OSWALD should have been interviewed, there is no justification for assuming that an intensified investigation would have excluded an interview of OSWALD. An Agent with Hosty's experience (Entered On Duty January 21, 1952) would be expected to conduct the interview of a security Subject without compromising classified information. Also, OSWALD had been interviewed previously by Bureau Agents on June 26, 1962, August 16, 1962 and August 10, 1963." [FBI Memo From D. Ryan to Bassett 10.4.78] William C. Sullivan commented: "His activities as disclosed by sources and interviews did not warrant day-to-day surveillance."

James Hosty: "They are damned liars. You can put that in there. It was only if I had been granted permission. CIA would have had a say so in it. Somebody in the Bureau is just trying to cover their ass." Michael Paine: "I think Hosty was coming around and trying to be quite circumspect. He was coming around when LEE wasn't there, asking to talk to people like Ruth Paine or Marina. OSWALD didn't want to talk to the government. He didn't want to allow the government to ask him questions. He hated authority. Hosty tried to be discreet about it. He must have felt a little embarrassed. I thought he was a nice gentleman, and I'm sorry it turned out so unfortunate for him. I assume Hosty also felt that he had to do his job, but he was watching a lot of people who he didn't think were too significant. I think he didn't think LEE was significant."

On Wednesday, November 6, 1963, OSWALD charged out, from the Dallas Public Library, The Shark and the Sardines, by former President of Guatemala Juan Jose Arevalo. This book was translated by June Cobb. The book was due on November 13, 1963. The book was never returned to the library. [WCE 2642]

On Thursday, November 7, 1963, J. Edgar Hoover sent S.A. Milton Kaack's October 31, 1963, New Orleans FBI report on OSWALD to the CIA. [CIA DBA-55715] J. Edgar Hoover hadn't sent the CIA anything on OSWALD since the interview in August 1962 conducted by S.A. John Fain, which had been sent in September 1962. These reports were shopped by the Records Integration Unit and CI/SIG had a look at them. CI/SIG's interest in OSWALD was understandable in 1963: it knew of OSWALD'S visit to the Soviet Embassy, Mexico City, and contact with the KGB.

On Friday, November 8, 1963, J. Edgar Hoover sent a report dated September 24, 1963, on OSWALD, to Richard Helms. The CIA received it on Tuesday, November 12, 1963. This was a New Orleans FBI Letter Head Memorandum on OSWALD'S Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities. On November 8, 1963, the FBI received a report from MEX-118. The report was received by Matthew D. Crawford Jr. in person on November 6, 1963: "Brief description of activity or material: NO INFO LOCATED RE LEE HARVEY OSWALD - Gobernacion. File Where Original is Located 134-325A Remarks NO CC - negative info. 1-105-3702 L H OSWALD (PECK)." [FBI 1053702-10; NARA FBI 124-10230-10425]

On Thursday, November 14, 1963, the CIA received S.A. Kaack's report dated October 31, 1963, on OSWALD'S activities in New Orleans. The S.A. Milton Kaack report was sent with a cover letter dated November 7, 1963. The CIA described to the HSCA the Routing of this FBI document: "It was transmitted to CIA by the FBI under a cover note dated November 8, 1963. The date stamp on the reverse of the cover sheet indicates it was logged into the Agency on November 12, 1963. The Deputy Director of Plans (DDP) Counter-Intelligence Staff (deleted) received it on November 15, 1963. The report then went to DDP Special Activities Staff Counter-Intelligence Office that was then concerned with Cuban matters. The registry for the Special Activities Staff, Counter-Intelligence Office, handled the report on November 21, 1963. On November 22, 1963, the report was received by the DDP Counter-Intelligence Staff CI/SIG presumably because it concerned a former defector to the Soviet Union. Apparently it was being processed by that office when President Kennedy was assassinated. Prior to the assassination the CIA had no information concerning OSWALD'S activities in New Orleans beyond this report." [CIA 1634-1088 p3]

A CIA Routing and Record Sheet was dated November 14, 1963.

FROM: RECORDS INTEGRATION DIVISION/ANALYSIS-4

TO:

1. COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE/LS November 15, 1963. (Initials JAN)

3. SAS/CI Horn. (Initials AN)

9. SAS CI CONTROL November 21, 1963 (Initials CR)

10. CI/SI November 22, 1963 (Stamp CI/SI, not Officer's Initials)

11. CI/IC

DBA-55715

File Title (None)

Abstract X

Index

File Number (Primary Code) 201-289248

Document Date: October 25, 1963.

A Routing and Record Sheet from RID/AN -6 contained this additional information: The words "Cuban WAVE" in the comments section, "Microfilmed November 14, 1963, Doc. Micro. Ser." "Index" now had an X next to it. The "File Number (Primary Code) E 100-300-11" was present but was crossed out. In all of the Routing and Record sheets this researcher has examined I have never seen Officer's Initials entered with a rubber stamp. S.A. Milton Kaack's widow was contacted in August 1993. She said her husband died "a long time ago."

Before this final report, DeBRUEYS reports on OSWALD reached the CIA. S.A. DEBRUEYS report contained New Orleans Police Department report on OSWALD and part of S.A. Quigley's report on OSWALD. S.A. Quigley's interview with Frank Bartes that concerned OSWALD was absent. The only additional information in S.A. DEBRUEYS report was interview with Jessie James Garner regarding a Fair Play for Cuba Committee meeting at Magazine Street and that "On October 7, 1963, NO T-1 advised that there is no such Post Office Box as 30016 in the New Orleans area." [WCD 692]

The CIA: "As of November 1963, HUNT was assigned to (deleted) however, apparently Mr. HUNT had some collateral duties with Deputy Director Plans/Domestic Operations Division/Facilities Branch. Mr. HUNT was assigned to such tasks from November 1961 to February 1965." [HUNT as leader of Cov. Ops. of DOD: Complaint HUNT v. ajweberman USDC/SD Fla. Miami 76-1252-Civ-PF filed 7.28.76 para. 4B]

The CIA reported: "On November 19, 1963, DO/OPRP, in the person of HOWARD HUNT A/DO/CA, requested a PCSA to utilize (Deleted) #344, 074, as a ghost writer in the United States and abroad under DODS Project (deleted). The routing sheet attached to the request indicated that (Deleted) was known to Mr. John Greely, DO/AF." [CIA Memo Edmund X. Klipa to Solie undated] On December 9, 1963, HUNT asked for approval to hire #377 955 as a ghost writer for the Domestic Operations Division. On August 21, 1964, Elizabeth McIntosh (now deceased) DO/CA requested a PCSA/CSA to utilize #397 025 Quentin James Reynolds, who wrote for Readers Digest and Random House, as a witting ghost writer in the United States. The request was denied by Edmund X. Klipa, Chief, Investigations Division, who reported to Bruce Solie that Quentin Reynold's was a security risk. Quentin Reynolds (born April 11, 1902 died March 17, 1965) was one of America's most popular correspondents during World War II. He was a colleague of Daymon Runyon and Heywood Broun. In 1952 he wrote an article for Reader Digest and a book for Bennett Cerf on George DuPre, a Canadian who claimed to be a British Secret Agent during the war. DuPre was an imposter.

On Friday, November 8, 1963, OSWALD went to Ruth Paine's house for the weekend. Before he did, he wrote a note to the man he erroneously thought was one of his CIA Case Officers, Mr. E. HOWARD HUNT, who used a Mexico City address. The HSCA asked Marina Oswald:

Q. Did your husband ever mention the name HUNT; H-U-N-T?

A. No.

Q. Are you sure?

A. Yes, right now I am sure, if I said before than maybe I just don't remember the name.

Q. Did you ever hear about a letter - withdraw that.

A. That he supposedly wrote?

Q. I don't want to hear what the media may have said, I want to know if you have any knowledge of him writing a letter to anybody named HUNT?

A. No.

Q. Did he write many letter to people?

A. No. [HSCA V12 p339]

In August 1975 a copy of OSWALD'S letter to HOWARD HUNT was mailed to researcher Penn Jones. It was postmarked Mexico City. After a reproduction of this letter was turned over to the FBI, Director Clarence Kelley stated: "Investigation to date has failed to produce evidence that the alleged letter was written by OSWALD." This was untrue. The Justice Department reported, "The copy of the purported OSWALD letter has been subjected by the Bureau to handwriting analysis. The results are inconclusive. The writing is sufficiently similar to known samples of OSWALD'S handwriting, that Bureau experts cannot eliminate the possibility that the letter is genuine. Neither can they say definitely that it is OSWALD'S writing." The FBI: "The photocopy...does not reproduce the handwriting on the original document with sufficient clarity of line detail for adequate handwriting comparisons or any definite determination whether that handwriting was, or was not, prepared by LEE HARVEY OSWALD, whose available genuine writings consist of a large number of documents previously submitted in this investigation. However, from such comparisons and examinations as could be made, significant similarities in letter formations were noted as well as a number of unexplained handwriting variations. In the absence of the original document...or a clear photograph of the original document it is doubtful whether OSWALD can be definitely identified ,or positively eliminated, as the writer of the questioned letter." [FBI 62-2115-760]

Three handwriting experts retained by the Dallas Morning News in 1977 concluded that the letter was "OSWALD'S authentic writing, written by him." OSWALD had misspelled the word "concerning" the same way once before. [Summers Conspiracy p626]

The HSCA could not discredit the letter from OSWALD to HUNT. HSCA investigator Kenneth Klein questioned handwriting expert Joseph P. McNally:

Klein: At this time I would direct your attention to the document marked JFK-506, dated November 8, 1963...For the record could you read that document please.

McNally: 'N-o-v 8, 1963: Dear Mr. HUNT: I would like information concerning (concerding) my position. I am asking only for information. I am suggesting that we discuss the matter fully before any steps are taken by me or anyone else. Thank you LEE HARVEY OSWALD.

Klein: Using the blowup, will you explain why the panel could not reach a conclusion with respect to that document?

McNally: Number one, this is of course a photo reproduction. It is a peculiar type of photo reproduction...it has some of the characteristics of being a photo reproduced from a microfilm enlargement which was originally out of focus...This is an extremely good reproduction of that particular fuzzy original photo reproduction...this document itself, although the writing pattern, or the overall letter designs, are consistent with those as written on other documents, this is much more precisely and much more carefully written. There is no great deviation from the writing of OSWALD insofar as individual letter design forms are concerned...

According to Joseph P. McNally, the forger composed the text of this letter. After that he studied OSWALD'S handwriting, and did a good job of reproducing it. Upon completion, he misspelled LEE HARVEY OSWALD'S middle name when he signed it. Instead of correcting this error, he microfilmed it slightly out of focus, developed the microfilm negative, and printed it. Then he photographed that print. These last steps were unnecessary. Why didn't the forger simply photograph the original forgery? This indicated the letter was opened, microfilmed, then resealed, and sent to its original destination. Someone obtained a print made from an original microfilm negative, photographed it, and mailed it to Penn Jones. The HSCA testimony continued:

Klein: I have but one question. On balance, this HUNT letter, do you find more similarities or dissimilarities overall in the comparison to the other writings or letters, words that all seem to agree in other documents?

McNally: There are no dissimilarities in the body of this particular letter, the context, until you come down to the signature...a part of the signature agrees with OSWALD'S signature...and part of it does not agree...and for these reasons we were unable to come to any firm conclusion regarding this particular document...we are not able to accurately determine that it is specifically a forgery...

Klein: Is it in your opinion a fake?

McNally No, I am not certain on this particular document.

According to Joseph P. McNally there were no dissimilarities in the body of the letter and part of OSWALD'S signature "agreed with the signature." The HSCA focused on the one part that did not agree. The preponderance of evidence showed that OSWALD wrote the letter, and a small part indicated he did not. Shouldn't the HSCA have concluded OSWALD wrote it? Instead, the HSCA, like the FBI, said it could not come to a firm conclusion regarding it. The HSCA's handwriting experts were "not able to accurately determine that it is specifically a forgery." If something was not a forgery, it was authentic. There was no twilight zone.

Joseph McNally's statement that this letter was "much more precisely and much more carefully written" was interesting considering that the day after OSWALD wrote this letter, he wrote a letter to the Soviet Embassy, Washington, which the Warren Report stated was much more carefully written than his previous letters. OSWALD prepared two handwritten preliminary drafts: "According to Marina Oswald, OSWALD he retyped the envelope 10 times." [WR p309]

Was the letter mailed to Penn Jones by a Mexican police official? HUNT'S Mexico City address was an anti-Castro safehouse, in which the Mexican police had an interest, since anti-Castro attacks had been planned from there. During his HUNT v. ajweberman deposition, HUNT stated: "I traveled down there [Mexico] in 1960, I was there with my family until the early fall when it became apparent that the Cubans [exiles] had incurred the hostility of the Mexican Government. At that point I sent my wife and my family back to the United States..." In Give Us This Day, HUNT wrote: "In Mexico I was to be treated by the station as a separate unit responsible for all frente matters including the Mexico City delegation of the Cuban Revolutionary Front. We found a small furnished house in Lomas de Chapultepec...I established a private office, moved in a large safe and worked out operation schedules with my station contact...the delegation reported increasing harassment from Mexican officials. Finally Sam reported having been trailed to the safehouse and when I looked down from the third floor window, I could see a sloppily dressed surveillant slouched against a lamppost. A counter-surveillance team traced the man to Mexican Police Headquarters." [HUNT Day pp. 51-58] The CIA was still supporting anti-Castro elements in Mexico City in September 1963: "Basic Headquarters position is to render assistance any responsible group carrying fight to Castro. (Deleted) falls in this category and Headquarters interested in effecting procurement as well as receiving details thereof. While [we] obviously do not wish to have (Deleted) involved in any overt exile activity, there is no objection to (Deleted) rendering purely covert assistance provided does not jeopardize his operational utility." [CIA Special Affairs Staff 9.30.63 to JMWAVE Mexico City from J.C. King]

The CIA reported that HUNT had set up a Washington, D.C., "Letter Address" in 1963 and terminated it in 1965: "Address still being used by (deleted)."

DO/SEC 63-72

June 18, 1963

MEMO FOR: Deputy Director of Security (Investigations and Operational Support)

ATTENTION: Mr. (Deleted).

SUBJECT: (Deleted) Request for

This will confirm a verbal request to your office for a (deleted) in Washington, D.C. to be set up in the (Deleted). It will be used for an indefinite period of time, should be service daily and the volume should be light. Please confirm the activation of this facility as soon as possible. The (deleted) is being forwarded under separate cover.

Joseph R. Murphy

DODS Security Officer.

Penn Jones received a cover letter with the HUNT note: "At the end of the last year I gave Mr. Kelley, FBI Director, a letter from LEE OSWALD. It is my understanding it could have brought out certain circumstances in the Kennedy assassination. Since Mr. Kelley has not responded to that letter, I've got the right to believe something bad might happened [sic] to me, and that is why I see myself obligated to keep myself away for a short time..."

This letter was originally sent to the FBI with a return address "Insurgentes, Sur No. 30, Mexico, D.F., Mexico" on it, and it bore the initials "P.S." Whoever sent it, mistakenly expected a response. Earl Goltz reported that the address was a working class apartment building in Mexico City. The FBI reported that this address "is a postal box for 'The Picadilly,' a hotel for transients in Mexico City." When the sender failed to receive a response from FBI Director Clarence Kelley, he decided to avoid the address on the letter for a short time, or had moved permanently. The letter was from someone who had experience with the heavy-handed tactics of the Mexican police. The FBI denied having received this letter: "After a check of all appropriate personnel and files, the Bureau reports it has no record or other indication of receiving this letter. FBI Agents interviewed the now retired documents analyst who would have been responsible...He has no recollection of the OSWALD letter." [DOJ File Hantman to Civiletti 6.24.77]

This letter gave some idea of what really went on between HUNT and OSWALD:

"I would like information concerding my position..." HEMMING deceived OSWALD into thinking that OSWALD worked for the CIA, and that HUNT and PHILLIPS were his Case Officers. HUNT and PHILLIPS could easily have shown him their CIA identification cards, and made it possible for OSWALD to verify their employment with the CIA. But if HUNT and PHILLIPS were working for the CIA, and not a rogue element within that agency, why couldn't they prevent S.A. Hosty from bothering his wife? A phone call from the CIA to the FBI should have put an end to this. Just what was OSWALD'S position anyway? Was he a snitch who was not carried on the books, or was there paperwork about his undercover work at the Agency? "I am asking only for information." OSWALD was not asking for documentation. He just wanted a verbal report. "I am suggesting that we discuss the matter fully..." OSWALD was willing to discuss the matter with his Case Officer "before any steps are taken by me or anyone else." Before he or HEMMING did anything else on behalf of the Agency.

James Hosty was asked about the HUNT letter: "Well it was a forgery, and I can tell you the guy who did it. How did OSWALD sign his name? The only trouble is he signed it 'LEE HARVEY OSWALD.' He never used his middle name. He spelled his own middle name wrong." [see LEE HENRY OSWALD]

Recently declassified Justice Department documents revealed that its investigation of the HUNT note focused on Nelson Bunker and H.L. Hunt. E. HOWARD HUNT was not mentioned. Internal Revenue Service informant Paul Rothermel brought the letter to the attention of the FBI coupled with allegations that the Hunts had been involved in the JFK assassination. Robert Keuch drafted a Memorandum dated January 27, 1977, which suggested various prosecutorial strategies, should a conspiracy in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy come to light, which involved the Hunts..

The same day OSWALD wrote the letter to HOWARD HUNT, Friday, November 8, 1963, OSWALD went to FBI headquarters in Dallas and asked to speak with S.A. Hosty. Ruth Paine testified to the Warren Commission: "LEE told me he had stopped at the downtown office of the FBI, and tried to see the agents, and left a note. And my impression of it is that this notice irritated, that he left the note saying what he thought. This is reconstructing my impression of the fellows bothering him and his family and this is my impression then. I couldn't say this was specifically said to him later...I will just go on to say that I learned only a few weeks ago that he never did go into the FBI office. Of course knowing, thinking, that he had gone in, I thought that was sensible on his part. But it appears to have been another lie."

Nancy L. Fenner, the secretary at Dallas FBI Field Office who spoke with OSWALD, gave the following statement to the FBI:

"I, Nannie Lee Fenner, being duly sworn, hereby make the following free and voluntary statement to Assistant Director Harold N. Bassett, and the Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Office, Theodore L. Gunderson.

"Mr. Bassett advised me that information had come to the Bureau's attention indicating the possibility that LEE HARVEY OSWALD had personally appeared at the Dallas Office sometime prior to the assassination of former President Kennedy. He also advised that as a result of the information received, indications were that I was the receptionist who was present when OSWALD appeared at the office.

"The following, to the best of my recollection, is what occurred relative to the above.

"Approximately one week or ten days prior to November 22, 1963, an individual appeared at the reception desk and asked to see S.A. HOSTY. I checked to see if he was in, and learned that he was not, and so informed this visitor. He then left a note. On the envelope there appeared the name 'S.A. HOSTY.' The envelope was not sealed, and the note was partially sticking out from the envelope. Accordingly, I pulled the note out and it said something along the following: 'Let this be a warning. I will blow up the FBI and the Dallas Police Department if you don't stop bothering my wife. Signed, LEE HARVEY OSWALD.' From photographs I saw in the newspaper, I recognized the person who delivered the above note to be LEE HARVEY OSWALD.

"As best I can recall, I took the note in to the ASAC, Kyle Clark. Kyle Clark, after reading the note, stated that he was just a nut, and gave it to S.A. Hosty. Following return from Kyle Clark's office, I showed the note to Helen May and sometime shortly thereafter, when James White and Joe Pearce were near my desk, Helen May told me to show the note to them and I did so.

"Sometime later in the day, S.A. HOSTY came to the office and I personally gave him the note, he read it and made some comment to the effect that OSWALD was a nut..." Nancy Fenner, contacted in August 1993, declined comment.

Nancy Fenner was re-interviewed by the FBI on September 2, 1975. She stated that the statement she initially furnished on July 15, 1975, was accurate. "She categorically stated that the note which she received from OSWALD made absolutely no mention concerning President Kennedy. It is her recollection that the note was handwritten, which she described as a large scrawl, very childlike in nature. She indicated that on giving this matter additional thought she was now of the opinion that Miss Helen May may have seen OSWALD as he was departing the office after he delivered the note. It may be recalled that in Mrs. Fenner's initial statement of July 15, 1975, she advised that she had shown the note in question to Joe Pearce. On September 5, 1975, an additional statement was taken from Mrs. Fenner, and at this time she advised that it is her clear recollection that Pearce did not see the OSWALD note, but that he had the envelope and/or letter in his hand, and she is certain now that he did not read the letter. She claimed that she told Pearce that 'some nut' had left the letter and he merely picked it up and laid it down."

"Miss Helen Lee May was re-interviewed on September 2, 1975, and she categorically denied ever seeing OSWALD at any time, or ever seeing the note or letter which he delivered. She did recall that sometime subsequent to the assassination, Mrs. Fenner again brought up the subject of the OSWALD note, and stated that Clark (former ASAC Clark) had told her to forget about it."

"Miss Marian F. Roberts, the former secretary of SAC Gordon Shanklin, was interviewed on September 6, 1975, in Sun City, Arizona. She advised that she was aware that OSWALD appeared at the reception desk and left a note with a Mrs. Fenner for S.A. Hosty prior to the assassination of President Kennedy. She stated that she had never seen the note and was not aware of its contents although she had heard the letter wanted Hosty to stop harassing OSWALD'S wife. She related that she recalled entering the Dallas Office at about the same time that Helen May was entering, at approximately mid-day. To her recollection, this was a few weeks before the assassination, and she and Mrs. May saw a slender, dark haired, young man hand something to Mrs. Fenner. This was not significant to her at the time; however, following the assassination Helen May said something to her to the effect, 'You remember, Marian, we were coming into the office about the time OSWALD handed Fenner the note.' She stated that after she saw pictures of OSWALD after the assassination she can easily assume that he was the individual she saw handing something to Mrs. Fenner. She recalled that on the same day she observed this person, Mrs. Fenner told her a short time later a man had left a note for Hosty to quit bothering his wife. She said that Mrs. Fenner told her the man did not say much, but he was 'teed off' at Hosty. This, according to Mrs. Roberts, tended to further her belief that the man she and Miss May saw was OSWALD. She said, in her opinion, OSWALD'S appearance at the Dallas Office, and the note he left for Hosty, were common knowledge among Dallas Office personnel, who were there at the time of the assassination. She stated that after the assassination, she heard from an unrecalled source that it was decided to destroy the note, but she does not know who made this decision to have the note destroyed. She stated she recognized the importance of the note after she heard of the decision to destroy it." On September 5, 1975, S.A. Joe A. Pearce was re-interviewed. He categorically denied he ever saw OSWALD, that he had ever had in his hands or in his possession any note left by OSWALD, and that he ever read any note left by him. He said that after deliberating on the matter since his prior affidavit of July 22, 1975, he recalled that there were several discussions in the latter part of the 1960's concerning a note left by OSWALD for Hosty. During some of these discussions Mrs. Fenner remarked to others in his presence that Pearce had seen the note. He admitted that he did not contradict the statement, and explains his failure to do so on his lack of appreciation of the seriousness of what she was communicating to the people involved." S.A. Drain said he heard about the letter from Fenner. S.A. Charles T. Brown Jr. told the FBI he first heard of the note in the early part of 1964, during a conversation with S.A. Vincent Drain. When Mrs. Martha Ann Campbell heard about the note from Fenner, she brought it to the attention of her boss, Kenneth Howe. "She said that upon hearing Fenner's name, Howe made a 'face,' and Howe told her that she was not to discuss the visit or the note any more and it was emphatic enough that she followed his instruction. She said that she had enough sense to realize that something was being held back at that time but she said nothing about it."

On August 31, 1975, Tom Johnson, publisher of the Dallas Times Herald telephonically contacted Assistant to the Director, Deputy Associate Director (Investigation) James B. Adams. Tom Johnson stated that he received an anonymous call from a female who stated: "Not everyone in Dallas knew about it, and she thinks it is unfair to leave the impression that many of the men knew about it. In case you are interested, Mr. Hosty destroyed the note on orders of Mr. Howe. Mr. Gemberling was handling the case. Mr. Bill Anderton, and Mr. Urial Horton, also know if it. Mr. Gemberling knew about the note, and saw it, but it was destroyed on the instructions of Mr. Howe...

"At the time of this current inquiry, S.A. Robert Gemberling was on sick leave, having been diagnosed by his doctor on August 2, 1975, as having had a heart attack. In the absence of obtaining clearance from his physician, who was out of town, and whereabouts unknown, Gemberling was not interviewed at this time." S.A. Gemberling was out for about two months.

S.A. James Anderton said he heard about the note from Fenner. S.A. Ural Horton could not recall the circumstances when he first learned about the note. The FBI interviewed S.A. James W. Bookhout on September 2, 1975. "He advised that sometime during the investigation of the assassination case, he greeted S.A. Gemberling in the office, and asked him how it was coming. He recalled that Gemberling responded that everything was fine, and his only current problem was to decide to propriety of putting a certain OSWALD letter into the assassination report. Gemberling said it was not so much his problem as it was of S.A. Hosty. According to Bookhout, he immediately terminated the conversation, since Hosty had already received newspaper publicity in connection with the assassination. and he did not want to have any knowledge of Hosty's problems, and did not want to get involved with them."

Special Agent J.V. Almon heard of the note, possibly from Gemberling. [FBI 62-19060-7302X] Another former FBI agent, Joseph L. Schott, told the Associated Press that the note threatened the life of S.A. Hosty.

On September 8, 1975, S.A. Howe...advised that while he can't remember specifically why he knew the note in question was from OSWALD, he knows it was either signed by him, or OSWALD'S wife's name, Marina, was mentioned therein. He stated at that time they had a case on Marina, and he knew her to be the wife of LEE HARVEY OSWALD. He recalled that the note was on plain paper, and was either handwritten, or hand printed, and was threatening in nature either concerning some action OSWALD said he was going to take possibly against S.A. Hosty, or against the FBI Office. He said he can't remember whether he found the note before, or after, OSWALD was shot, but believes it was after. He advised that he found the note in Hosty's workbox, and considered it of sufficient import to be brought to the attention of the SAC, and took it immediately to Shanklin. He can't remember what wording he used to convey to Shanklin what he had, but knows that Shanklin was made aware by him of what he had. He recalls that Shanklin's reaction was to wave him away and say, 'Don't tell me about it. I don't want to hear, and I don't want to know anything about it.' He said from this reaction it was his impression that Shanklin had possibly heard of the existence of the note, but he does not know this to be a fact.

"Continuing, Howe stated that he cannot remember whether he left the note with Shanklin, but feels that at this point one of three things had to have occurred:

(1) He left the note with Shanklin.

(2) He returned the note to Hosty's workbox.

(3) He held the note and personally gave it to Hosty. He claims that he subsequently told Hosty what had happened, but he does not recall having any discussion with him concerning it. He stated that at that stage he felt it was a matter for the SAC to resolve with Hosty, and having told them both about the matter, he took no further action. He claims that he did not subsequently discuss it with Shanklin, Hosty or anyone else. He denies instructing Hosty to destroy the letter, and denies receiving any instructions from anyone else that he should tell Hosty to destroy the letter. He said he never knew of the ultimate disposition of the letter. He claims he has no recollection of having prepared a memorandum, or having made any written record of the note.

"Howe was confronted with the information furnished by his former secretary. He advised he does not recall this, nor under the circumstances as they existed at that time can he categorically deny it didn't happen. He said at the time the matter was still in the hands of the SAC, and until some adjudication by him, he felt the matter should not be discussed. He claims that if any decision was made that information concerning the note should or should not be included in a communication, he had no part in that decision."

"James Hosty was re-interviewed on September 22, 1975. Hosty stated that his best recollection is that the note sent by OSWALD was in the nature of a complaint, complaining about Hosty having interviewed OSWALD'S wife. He stated that he recalls it said: 'If you have anything you want to learn about me, come talk to me directly. If you don't cease bothering my wife, I will take appropriate action and report this to proper authorities.' [Hosty: "Which he did. He reported it to the Soviet Embassy, right? It was not threatening."] Hosty did not recall a signature, and did not recall the name of Marina Oswald having been mentioned. He still maintains at the time he received the note he thought it was from a prior Subject, Jimmy George Robinson, but realizes how 'stupid such an assumption was on my part' when advised that his interview with Robinson took place in June 1963."

OSWALD would not have threatened S.A. Hosty by saying he was going to report him to higher authority. OSWALD threatened some sort of violence in that note, yet S.A. Hosty did nothing about it. Could anyone, even S.A. James P. Hosty, be that stupid to confuse these two cases? S.A. Hosty ignored it because he believed OSWALD was part of a government operation, and was ultimately on the same side he was on.

The FBI: "He refused to sign an Interrogation; Advice of Rights form, and also refused to be placed under oath. However, upon arrival of the Inspector, he made available a three-page typed statement concerning this matter. Among other things, Mr. Sullivan, in his statement, noted that on one occasion during a conversation with Mr. Shanklin that latter mentioned that he had internal personnel problems in the OSWALD case because one of his agents (the name was not given to Sullivan or if so he had forgotten) had received, while OSWALD was alive, a threatening letter from him because of the agent's investigation of OSWALD. According to Sullivan, he raised a question as to the details, and Shanklin seemed disinclined to discuss it other than to say he was handling it as personnel problem with Mr. J. P. Mohr. He advised he did not press the matter, and they went on to other topics. Further, no mention was made of anything being destroyed. Continuing, Mr. Sullivan advised that in another later conversation, Mr. Shanklin mentioned to him that Director J. Edgar Hoover was furious at one of his agents, James Hosty, and was going to give him a transfer out of Dallas. When he inquired why, Shanklin replied that Mr. Hoover did not like the way Mr. Hosty had handled his part of the OSWALD investigation, it was then Mr. Shanklin told Sullivan that it was Hosty who had received the threatening message from OSWALD before the assassination. He stated that Shanklin did not mention that any message had been destroyed."

"FBI Dallas SAC Gordon Shanklin was re-interviewed on September 25, 1975. He was allowed to review the four affidavits previously furnished by Howe, and two affidavits furnished by Hosty and the and the affidavits of Ural Horton of July 23, 1975, and of Marian F. Roberts of September 6, 1975, as well as the FD-302 concerning the interview with William Sullivan. He categorically denied having any knowledge or recollection of S.A. Kenneth C. Howe having brought the matter he mentioned to Shanklin's attention either before, or after, the assassination. He also had no independent knowledge of S.A. Hosty ever discussing OSWALD being in the FBI office, or leaving a note, or telling him to type up a memorandum and later telling him to destroy it...Concerning Sullivan's comments, Mr. Shanklin stated that he is completely at a loss to understand why any comments Sullivan made concerning their conversation regarding any note received from OSWALD. He said he did discuss the OSWALD investigation on a number of occasions with Sullivan, and certainly Hosty's name came up, particularly in connection with the allegation that OSWALD was an FBI informant. He also notes that on a number of occasions he may have discussed disciplinary action against Hosty and other Agents with Sullivan, and certainly with John P. Mohr, but categorically denied that there was any such comment made as it relates to a note. He also denies having any knowledge of a meeting which allegedly transpired for the purpose of making a decision as to whether the note should be destroyed." The FBI reported: "Two Special Agents in Charge who were assigned to Dallas during periods covering the OSWALD investigation were censured for their overall responsibility in the matter." Gordon Shanklin died in July 1988, at age 78.

The note from OSWALD was put in S.A. Hosty's work box, where it joined the other documents on OSWALD. As stated, in S.A. Hosty's statement on July 17, 1975, he told the FBI that, at the time he received the note, "He thought it was from another Subject of his, one Jimmy George Robinson, a Ku Klux Klan leader from Garland, Texas, who had made a complaint to the Dallas Office of the FBI alleging his civil rights had been violated by the Garland Texas Police Department. Hosty stated that he and another agent went to Robinson's residence and not finding him at home, interviewed his wife, who gave them a completely different version of his allegation against the Garland Police Department. Her statement completely wiped out the civil rights complaint according to Hosty...Robinson was placed in jail in June 1963, for assaulting his wife. While in jail his wife allowed Garland Police Department officers to search his residence, including the area claimed to be his study. He claimed that his wife had no right to let the police search his office as it was not under her control; hence he felt his civil rights had been violated. As noted in this report, Hosty in company with another agent, interviewed Robinson's wife on June 24, 1963. She said that while still married to Robinson she left him following the assault on her person. She stated she allowed the police officers to conduct a search."

When OSWALD saw S.A. Hosty during his interrogation by the Dallas Police Department on November 22, 1963, OSWALD was angry. OSWALD became upset when he identified himself, and OSWALD accused him of having bothered his wife. S.A. Hosty quoted OSWALD as saying: "'So you are Hosty. I've heard about you." All during this interview OSWALD was extremely hostile toward the FBI an uncomplimentary toward the Director and all FBI agents. At one point in the conversation, OSWALD stated 'I'm going to fix you, FBI.'" [FBI Memo from Hosty to SAC 11.29.63 100-10461-134] Captain Will Fritz, who headed the Dallas Police Department Homicide Squad, told the Warren Commission that OSWALD had said S.A. Hosty "accosted his wife on two occasions. He practically told her she would have to go back to Russia."

After the assassination the note was discovered by Hosty's Supervisor, S.A. Kenneth C. Howe. James Hosty explained, "That's when he came to take the Kostikov stuff out of my workbox. He was getting the stuff away from me, and that's when he found it." S.A. Hosty told the FBI in 1976: "About an hour following his interview with OSWALD, on the day of the assassination, he received a message at the police department to return to the Dallas Office. He recalled Mr. Gordon Shanklin, and Mr. Kenneth Howe, being present. They had his work box in their possession, and either Gordon Shanklin or Kenneth Howe showed him the note from OSWALD, and asked him what it was all about. He then explained his previous interview of Mrs. Paine, and OSWALD'S wife, at the Paine residence on Friday, November 1, 1963, and the vehement protest that OSWALD made to him during the interview on November 22, 1963. [James Hosty told this researcher in 1993: "They just had the note, not the work box."]

"After explaining this to Mr. Shanklin, he instructed him to set forth in memorandum form the information which he had orally explained, making specific reference to the note. He stated he dictated this memorandum, as instructed, to Miss Martha Connally (now Martha Campbell), and that the memorandum was addressed to the SAC under the caption 'LEE HARVEY OSWALD aka: IS-R-CUBA.' He stated he did not have the note from OSWALD in his possession when he dictated his memorandum, it having been left with Mr. Shanklin. He said the memorandum, when typed, was an original, and there was one copy, and was possibly three or four pages in length. He said he remained in the office while Miss Connally transcribed his dictation, and when it was completed, carried the memorandum to Mr. Shanklin, and it was probably about 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. He handed this memorandum to Mr. Shanklin, and recalls no pertinent comment made at that time."

In the late afternoon of November 22, 1963, S.A. Hosty spoke with Dallas Police Lt. Jack Revill. Lt. Jack Revill testified that S.A. Hosty had said the FBI had information that OSWALD was "capable of committing this assassination." Lt. Jack Revill noted this, and his secretary testified that she prepared a report for him that afternoon. S.A. Hosty denied, under oath, making this statement to Lt. Jack Revill. He told this researcher, "Revill was a typical Texas redneck and he hated Kennedy. He wouldn't believe a Communist did it. The word 'capable' is inaccurate. I said he did do it." According to S.A. Hosty, nothing further occurred concerning the memorandum or note until Sunday, November 24, 1963.

When Hosty told Revill that the FBI had information that OSWALD had violent tendencies, he was making reference to the threatening note OSWALD left for him.

Nancy Fenner: "It is my recollection that I was called to work on Sunday, which would have been November 24, 1963. Sometime during my working on that date, ASIC Kyle Clark said to me 'Forget about the OSWALD letter.' At a subsequent date, while assembling a report on the assassination case, S.A. Hosty was present, and at that time I asked S.A. Hosty whatever happened to the OSWALD letter to which S.A. Hosty stated 'What letter? --- I don't know what you are talking about.' Sometime after this, perhaps two or three days, Supervisor Kenneth Howe said, 'Nan, forget the letter.' The foregoing are the only individuals to my personal knowledge who apparently read the letter delivered to me as mentioned previously. All of the above people are either working or did work for the FBI. Other than advising my husband, I have never furnished this information to anyone either in or out of the Bureau." [Fenner 7.15.75]

According to S.A. Hosty nothing further occurred concerning his memorandum about the threatening note until Sunday, November 24, 1963. He said he was on duty in the office on that date handling various duties, when he learned that OSWALD had been shot. Approximately two hours later he met with Gordon Shanklin and Kenneth Howe: "On entering, Gordon Shanklin stated 'OSWALD is dead now. There will be no trial.' He then handed S.A. Hosty his Memorandum dated November 22, 1963 , with the OSWALD note attached, and told him to get rid of it. He claimed the memorandum had not been block stamped or serialized. He tore up both copies of the memorandum, and the note, in Gordon Shanklin and Kenneth Howe's presence, and threw them in the wastepaper basket in Gordon Shanklin's office. He advised that Gordon Shanklin, then said: 'Get rid of it, get it out of here!' He said he then took the torn pieces out of the wastepaper basket, went to the men's wash room and flushed the scraps of paper down the commode. He said that no one was with him when he did this."

S.A. Hosty was asked if the fact the memo had not been block stamped or serialized indicated the FBI never intended to include it in the OSWALD file. He stated, "That's an assumption on your part. They hadn't decided what they were going to do. It was never a government record. It was never accepted into the records. It's possible they had no intention, but we don't know. We didn't do it until after he was dead."

Between 1963 and 1975, the existence of the note was kept secret by the Dallas FBI. In 1975 FBI Director Clarence Kelley stated: "The note contained no reference to Kennedy, or in any way would have forewarned of the subsequent assassination." The HSCA regarded all of this as "a serious impeachment of Gordon Shanklin and S.A. Hosty's credibility..." [HSCA R p196] S.A. Hosty stated that he had not destroyed evidence, or obstructed justice, since OSWALD was dead, and the Warren Commission had not been formed at this time.

James Hosty: "I was ordered to do it. I didn't want to do it, but I was told to do it. I figured he had to know some reason." The FBI: "In the September 15, 1975, issue of Time magazine there appears an article on page 19 captioned 'The OSWALD Cover-up.' This article makes reference to OSWALD'S visit to the Dallas Office prior to the assassination and delivery of a threatening note. This article claims that FBI sources close to the investigation believe the note was more ominous than Director Kelley implied, and that the Bureau's Inspectors have learned that OSWALD specifically threatened to take action against the government. This article points out that, according to present and former FBI officials John P. Mohr, then the Bureau's administrative chief, told the Dallas agents to destroy it. Continuing, the article claims that Mohr, who retired in 1972, denies any knowledge of OSWALD'S note or its disappearance. So too do his former aides in the Administrative Division, Nicholas P. Callahan, James B. Adams and Eugene W. Walsh...On September 11, 1975, Time Magazine reporter Sandy Smith came to Bureau Headquarters to see Mr. John B. Adams. Mr. Smith had previously indicated a desire to to talk with Mr. Adams. On this occasion Smith was advised that his article troubled Mr. Adams because for the first time there was an allegation that any cover-up which might have taken place could be an institutional cover-up by involvement of FBI superiors in Washington, concerning the OSWALD note. Mr. Adams noted that if Smith did not act in good faith in preparation of the article, and if he could not back it up, such might be construed as being malicious, and grounds of libel. Mr. Smith stated that he received this information from four, five or six separate officials, present or former, and he was sure the information was true...In view of the above, Mr. John P. Mohr was re-interviewed on September 12, 1975...Mr. Mohr was advised of the information which Mr. Smith had furnished, and he advised he had no intention of filing a libel suit because of the high costs involved, and the fact that he was already engaged in a suit that which may prove financially burdensome. Nevertheless, he stated that if the Government could file a suit in his behalf, he would be more than willing to appear before any body, including a grand jury, to testify to the accuracy of his prior sworn statement in which he denied having any knowledge of the OSWALD visit until it appeared in the newspapers."

In 1974 FBI Director Clarence Kelley ordered "J. Adams" to help conduct the FBI investigation of many of the allegations in Coup D'Etat in America. Circa 1975 James B. Adams testified before the SSCIA about a letter and magnetic tapes that had been sent to Martin and Coretta King by William C. Sullivan. The tape contained evidence of infidelity on the part of Martin Luther King, and the note urged that he commit suicide, "the one honorable thing left for you to do." James B. Adams testified he could find no basis for the conclusion of the staff of the SSCIA that the letter was a "suicide urging." That annoyed Senator Frank Church and he asked: "It is certainly no Christmas card, is it?" James B. Adams agreed. [Wise The American Police State 307 f.n.] FBI Director Clarence Kelley and James B. Adams questioned S.A. Hosty about the note on July 7, 1975. James Hosty stated: "James B. Adams was to low down on the totem pole to have ordered the destruction of the note. James B. Adams never interviewed me."

In July 1975 J.B. Adams of the FBI noted: "Mr. (Deleted) dictated to Mrs. Metcalf his recollection of the information furnished to him, pointing out that he did not take notes at the time the source was furnishing him the information, but later made notes. The results of this dictation are attached, along with other notes dictated during the interview with Mr. (Deleted). Mr. (Deleted) specifically requested that his identity as a source of this information be concealed and not revealed without his permi