Compounding this erroneous Conclusion was the fact that, when 7 ? . - of ~ 1 oa ~ - sne had been Shown a Copy of the same PlOtOgraph in her appearance before the Commission, it had been cropped by the FBI in Washing- ton in a Slightly different manner, 4, Although in nO way related to Lee Harvey OSWALD or his unidentified man originated during OSWALD's Stay there. It is. important, therefore, to an understanding of the acquisition and handling of the Photographs by the Mexico Station to TeVview what the Station ascertained and did With the information it developed about OSWALD in Mexico City, together With Headquarters action on that information. incidentally, added since the exhaustive work of the Warren Com- - mission), Lee Harvey OSWALD Spent four (4) full days and two (2) 70:00 a.m. 27 September *963 to abot 8:50 a.m. 9 October 1963. His place of residence Was a smal] Commercial traveler hotel, not frequented by "gringos" —- the Hotel Commercio -. where he was Tecgistered under alias. Exhaustive and detailed interviews and pede interrogation by the Mexican authorities ang the FBI after the 4SSaSsination established that, in the recollection of all hotel | Pevsonnel, he left and returned late €ach day of his Stay, att ied 6. Allowing for the fact of date arrival and early departure, and assuming that he Slept One-third of the time of his Stay (38 or 39 hours) , there remain some 78 hours of activity to be Se beg ee 6 HW 54653 DBocld:3242735611 Page
TMA aay vtA'S. information Can account Only for very brief periods during 28, 29 September and 1 October, All Coverage. by CTA during the entire period Was technical, The 7.. It Should be noted that OSWALD. was inno sense "under investigation.» None of the facts Of his defection and stay in the USSR and return to the JU, S., 1959 - 1962, were known to the Mexico Station or in its files before 19 October 1963. ‘On that date, the bare bones of his biography Were forwarded by Head- quarters in Fesponse to a Station Cabled Teport of 8 October which had forwarded, On 4 routine basis, what appeared to be a contact by an American for a visa to Cuba in transit to the USSR, This was indicated anq deduced from fechnically acquired infor- mation on ] October, which was the first and only occasion On that “visit in which OSWALD was recorded as identifying himsei¢ (partially) by true name, | 8. At no time during his Stay in Mexico City did the CIA @Cquire a photo of OSWALD. A carefuj review of al] Coverage = | = oo a technical as well .as Photographic -- was Conducted by the Station On 22 and 23 November 1963 after the “SSassination, including materials back to August 1963, This confirmed that there Was no CIA photo COVerage of OSWALD at any time during his Mexico trip Or stay in Mexico City. Moreover, although. it had made a Cabled Be) Fe Prana repsg gree request on 1S October, the Mexico Station had NO photo of OSWALD in its records, nor did it Te€C€ive one from Headquarters -- which did not have one Clther -- before 22 November 1963, 3 Ca tetat ie 6 ALA G Y aod la ali Jsving 7 54653 DoclId:32423611 Page Hw
HW 54653 9. It must be stressed that what technical information the. Station had was not (and normally is not) processed in "real time." The means of acquisition and the volume of the infor- mation preclude anything but the spot reporting of items judged to be of more than ordinary interest and, therefore, noted in summary logs. Full texts of selected items require consultation of the tape and eithér a full transcription or full translation or both. . Photo coverage tends to become available in quantity lots which requires scanning and selection on a rapid and accelerated basis. in four or five day "peaks." One of the "triggers" that normally operates to focus and accelerate more speedy review and reporting of this kind.of raw intelligence is the mention of a name. This was precisely what occurred in the second of two conversations on 1 October, during which the speaker said he was "Lee OSWALD." It was this information reported by the Station to Headquarters in its first indication on OSWALD on 8 October 1963. ; 10. The Mexico Station did one more thing in its 8 October report on Lee OSWALD based on the + October information: it coupled the data with. descriptive information it had acquired from a sensitive source -- a photograph of a male individual, apparently an American, who was observed entering an Embassy ‘on 1 October. The Station reported this detail on the 8th as a matter of coincident fact. The Station did not assert or suggest that the data led to any deduction that the photo was in fact OSWALD or, indeed, was in any way related to OSWALD. DoclId: 3274273611 Page 6 Fi a gS faa = ey ATS REET WII RELL ERNE LER TERLET COSTE EY
See bag we Pay One additional element o¢ background MUSt be stipulated NOW as the final Precond; anding the belevance (or irrelevance) o¢ the f the unknown ‘ndiviauay Placed in the Chain of €Vidence On 23 November in Batlas by the FBI agent: caverage o¢ OSWAL "s activity What was the totality Of CIA Mexico: 2S of the afternoon Of the 23rd then alj available Coverage had been Checked? 12. The totality of Mexico Station Covera ime discusseg with, Staffers in Headquarte the “amera registereg into an Embass E i @Pinion of ‘the Station, day, individual. In the Persons photographed that - | } ; among al] the he appeareg to be t he only non-La . =~ who entered, £0 an analytic amounted "quantum leap," of the OSWALD as Status identification. @ similar kind o¢ thing can be foung in the day-t O-day recorg of Station-Heag ©°rrespondence Garters and reporting, Page 9 653 DoclId: 324273611 HW 454
me es 15. On 22 November 1963 the Mexico Station Cabled Heaq_- qéiters at 22297 time after learning of the arrest of Lee H, O#ALD, age 24, POSSibly in Connection With the “SSaSsSination, a®. referenced its Carlier messages of 8-9 and LS October and Hedquarters' rep1y of 10 October, The Station requesteg by: Can check alq recent Coverage for OSWALD, Porward- ing Soonest Copies of Only visitor on 1 October who could be identical With OSWaLp.» L6. This Obviously was for Comparison at the Station IED turned up on 4 and 15 October, The, text Of the 22 November 1963 Ss pouched dispatch read: ST a AS Snee "Ih, Attached are copies of the only Photographs Obtained, , >On 1 October 1963 which @ppeared to be an American. This same man visited (an! Embassy on 4 October 1963, "2, Copies of these photographs Were shown to the U. S, Ambassador On 22 November 1963 and a Copy of €ach of the two photographs Was given to Chief FBI, Mexico, On that date, 10 54653 Docld:32423611 Page Hw