180-10110-10121
v9.1
2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992
JFK Assassination System
Date:
10/21/20
Identification Form
Agency Information
AGENCY: HSCA
RECORD NUMBER:
180-10110-10121
RECORD SERIES: SECURITY CLASSIFIED FILES
AGENCY FILE NUMBER:
151-JFK
Document Information
ORIGINATOR:
HSCA
FROM:
TO:
TITLE:
06/02/1978
DATE:
PAGES:
7
SUBJECTS:
OSWALD, LEE, POST-RUSSIAN PERIOD, TRAVEL, TRIP TO
MEXICO
CIA
DOCUMENT TYPE:
SUMMARY
CLASSIFICATION:
Unclassified
1B
Redact
RESTRICTIONS:
CURRENT STATUS:
DATE OF LAST REVIEW:
OPENING CRITERIA:
08/07/1997
COMMENTS : Box 5.
NW 50955
DocId: 32263526 Page 1
KENNEDY
000044
SELECT COMMITTEE ON ASSASSINATIONS
Name Arnold Arehart (psydo)
Address Mexico City
Date 6/2/78
Time 2:00 pm
Place American Embassy, Mexico
Interview:
Mr. Arehart was interviewed by HSCA Staff members Gary Cornwell,
Dan Hardway, Edwin Lopez, and Harold Leap. He was shown a copy of the
CIA omnibus release letter and stated that he understood that it released
him of any secrecy agreement he may have signed while employed by the
CIA.
Mr. Arehart was assigned to Mexico City as a technician in 1960.
Mr. Arehart worked continuously on one project until his retirement
after Phillip Agee's revelations compromised his project. Mr. Arehart
worked outside the U.S. Embassy under deep cover. He worked inside of
the base that monitored and taped the telephones that were subject to
the CIA/Mexican liaison tapping operation. His specific duty was to
do all technical work required in the base and to keep the equipment in
working order.
Mr. Arehart stated that the base monitored 30 telephones, i.e.,
there were thirty incoming lines and thirty tape machines to record the
conversations. He stated that he was not sure where the taps were placed
or how many taps were in what locations. Mr. Arehart was in contact,
routinely, with Anne Goodpasture and Win Scott. He said that there was
Interviewer Signature
Typed Signature
- dan bardwa
(more)
NW 50955 DocId: 32263526 Page 2
6/19/78
Date transcribed
By:
Form #4-A
PAGE TWO.
000045
counterpart to him in the base in that he represented the Americans and
his counterpart represented the Mexicans. He said that the counterpart's
name was fnu Coseo. Coseo's father was the Mexican official in charge
of the Mexican's involvement in the operations. Mr. Arehart was not at
all clear about the role of Coseo Sr.
The tapeing equipment was impulse activated in that a call
coming into or going out of the tapped phone would automatically
activate the recorders.
Mr. Arehart said that he was the only American in the base.
He said that there were 6 to 8 Mexicans who monitored the conversations
and transcribed the tapes. As the Mexicans monitored the conversations
they would make summaries of the important conversations. It was up to
the monitors to decide which conversations were important enough to
summarize. Arehart was not aware of any instruction that was provided
the Mexican monitors on which conversations should be deemed important.
In addition to the summaries, the tapes from the Cuban taps and the
Spanish language portions of the tapes from the Soviet taps were
transcribed in the base. Arehart turned the summaries, Cuban transcripts,
Russian (Spanish) transcripts, and the Russian tapes, over to his contact.
He stated that his routine contact was Anne Goodpasture and that he just
assumed that she was the case officer for the project. even though he
claims that he received his orders directly from Win Scott by telephone.
Summaries were always delivered very early in the morning the day after
a conversation occured. The transcripts were literal transcriptions.
Mr. Arehart said that sometimes, if the Mexican monitors felt something
was really important, tapes and transcripts were passed immediately
NW 50955 DocId: 32263526 Page 3
PAGE THREE.
000046
to Ms. Goodpasture.
Mr. Arehart stated that he believed that the summaries would
have been maintained at the station, probably in a chronological file.
Mr. Arehart was questioned extensively about the retention
and erasure of tapes used in the listening post. Mr. Arehart said that
the tapes produced at the base would fall into three catagories:
1) tapes produced by taps on Cuban related phones;
2) tapes produced by taps on Soviet related phones;
3) tapes produced by taps on other phones such as Mexican radicals, poli-
ticians, etc.
Mr. Arehart said that the tapes produced by the Cuban taps were maintained
in the listening post. He said that he had a special rack for these
tapes in his workshop which was on the floor above the room in which
the listening post was situated. This rack had thirty slots in it.
The tapes from each day's production went into a seperate slot with
the oldest tapes going back into use in the monitor room, i.e. the tapes
from the Cuban tapes were held for thirty days before reuse. Mr. Arehart
said that he routinely got requests for delivery of specific Cuban
tapes from Ann Goodpasture but that the tapes were not routinely given
to her unless she asked for them.
Mr. Arehart said that the Russian tapes were routinely given
to Ms. Goodpasture so that she could get them to the Russian transcribers.
He said that not all of these tapes were returned to him. He said that
he knew this because his supply of tapes for the Russian taps kept
dwindling. He assumes, while claiming no actual knowledge, that tapes
were routinely retained by either the Russian translator or someone in
the Station. He does not know which because he claims to have no
NW 50955
DocId: 32263526 Page 4
PAGE FOUR.
000047
knowledge about what happened to the tapes after they left his possession
and before they were returned to him. He said that the tapes were
returned to him already erased and ready for use.
Tapes from the third catagory were not held for very long and
were routinely re-used, usually within a day or so after they were
taped.
Mr. Arehart said that he was not aware of any other surveillance
operations in Mexico City. He said that he assumed that there was photo-
graphic surveillance since the Agency would not be fulfilling their
obligations if they did not have it. Mr. Arehart said that there was
a process whereby the station could be notified that an interesting
individual, or an individual whom the station was interested in, was
at, or was going to be at, one of the Embassies.
Mr. Arehart said that
in such a situation the monitor would bring it to his attention and he
would then call Ms. Goodpasture and alert her. Mr. Arehart stated that
his second duty at the base was to alert the station to anything
important.
Mr. Arehart said that he did not know what happened to the
Soviet tapes.
He did say that for a short time he was responsible for
delivering the tapes to Boris Tarasoff in order to expedite the process.
Mr. Arehart said that he did remember a man named "Rudy" but he did not
remember what he did or what he looked like.
Mr Arehart said that it was possible that one of the Mexican
agents transcribed English language conversations. He said that these
convesations (tapes) were usually sent to the Embassy. He was not at
all certain on these points. He said that on English conversations that
NW 50955 DocId: 32263526 Page 5
PAGE FIVE.
000048
he remembers that a Mexican would often come to the second floor and
ask him to come and listen to the conversation.
Mr. Arehart was questioned about whether there was a process
whereby transcription of important conversations in English or Russian
could be expedited. He explained that there would not be such a
process for a Russian conversation since they could not judge the
importance of the conversation due to the fact that no one in the
base understood Russian. He said that there was such a procedure for
English conversations. He siad that after listening to the conversation
and deeming it important.he would Mark the tape "Urgent" and would
put it in a box and deliver it.
Mr. Arehart said that when he worked with Tarasoff that he
would pick up the tapes to reuse as well as drop them off for trans-
cription. He said that he did not pick up the transcripts from Tarasoff
and has no idea about what happened to them. Mr. Arehart said that
he did not receive all of the tapes back and just assumed that they
_ had been retained because of interest in the conversations contained on
them. He said this was routine. After getting the tapes back, either
from Tarasoff or Goodpasture depending on the time period, he would
put them back into the working order. The tapes were not retained after
they were returned to the base.
Mr Arehart said that the tape machines were activated at
approximately 7:00 a.m. They were turned off at 11:00 p.m.
Mr. Arehart said that the Russian tapes were taken off the
machines on a daily basis for delivery to Goodpasture or Tarasoff.
The Cuban tapes were left on the machines until the reel was full.
They were then removed and transcribed.
NW 50955 DocId: 32263526 Page 6
NW 50955
PAGE SIX.
000049
Mr. Arehart said that Lee Harvey Oswald never came to his attention
He does not know whether or not he was
prior to the assassination.
ever asked to retain, or turn over to the station, any tape containing
Oswald's voice. He explained that such requests would be made to
him by giving him the tape number and that he never knew what was
on any particular tape that was requested from him. He has never
heard of a tape of Oswald existing nor has he heard that such
tapes did not exist; he has simply never discussed it.
Mr. Arehart stated that there was a file of transcripts
maintained at the base of the transcripts that were produced at the
base. He remembered that after the assassination someone requested
that those files be checked. Mr. Arehart said that he was not certain
but thought that they had located one short conversation either by
or about Oswald. Mr. Arehart could not remember the details of that
conversation. He stated that he does not know what happened to the
files that were maintained at the base station after his retirement.
Mr. Arehart said that we were the first people to ever talk
to him about these events. He said that he has never talked to any-
one from the CIA about these things. He confirmed that he had never
been contacted by anyone from the IG staff in regards to the assassir
nation or Lee Harvey Oswald's trip to Mexico. Mr. Arehart said that
he had never discussed the case with anyone in the Mexico CIA station,
either at the time or since then.
Mr. Arehart said that he did not get along with Anne Good-
pasture. He said that she was a "show must go on type" that would
get angry if she tried to contact him and he happened to be out to
DocId: 32263526 Page 7
PAGE SEVEN.
Mr. Arehart said that Ann was so efficient that it was often very
irratating. He said that Win Scott was also very efficient.
He
Mr. Arehart said that he believed that the listening post
used Ampex 701's to tape the conversations they intercepted.
said that the calls were monitored by the three or four of the
employees as they came in. These employees prepared the log
sheets and the resumen (summary). The reels were then given to
the transcribers who fixed the times and reel footage cite numbers
to the specific conversations on the transcripts.
Mr. Arehart said
that the times on the transcripts would be accurate, usually, within
15 minutes more or less.
Mr. Arehart was shown transcripts from the Soviet and
Cuban Embassy taps. These transcripts were in the Spanish language.
He identified them as transcripts produced in the base.
NW 50955 DocId: 32263526 Page 8
000050