1-5 nN \ | Mr. Genzman. Would the Clerk give this document to Mr. Tarasoff? Mr. Tarasoff, have you previously been shown a copy of JFK Exhibit No. 94? de | 5 Mr, Tarasoff. A copy, the one that you gave us? | 3 | Mr. Genzman. I am directing your attention to the | = " document that the clerk just gave you, Mr, Tarasof£, Have | : | you previously been shown a COPY of that letter which has | co 9 | been labelled JFK Exhibit No. 94? : e , z | Mr. Tarasofé. Just this morning. | : US Mr. Genzman. Fine. You were shown a copy of the letter, 2 | this morning? | @ : 13 | Mr. Tarasott, Yes, | = 1 | Mr. Genzman. Thank you. Es . : 7 Is it your understanding, Mr. Tarasoff, that this | = 1s document is a letter dated March 23, 1978 from the CIA which | “ 7 | authorized any individual who has executed the Secreties , : | Agreement with the CIA or who considers himself bound by such = '¥ | a secrecy agreement with the CIA to furnish this Committee | 5 * with information within its scope and jurisdiction? | = nu! Mr, Tarasoff, Yes. ! Cb Le J Mr. Genzman. Mr, Chairman, my questions will involve /' wo uw tions in Mexico City around 1963, THen the CIA's surveillance . @ 25 | : three general areas, First, the CIA's surveillance opera- | ‘ i with specific reference to Lee Harvey Oswald's contacts with ALDCERSON REPORTING COMPANY, ING. HW 54756 Docld:322763406 Page 7
1-6 the Soviet and Cuban Embassies in Mexico City about this time. And finally, identifiaation techniques as applied to the surveillance of Oswald in Mexico City: de First of all, Mr. Tarasoff, what is your present occupation? Mr. Tarasoff, Pardon me? Mr. Genzman. What is your present occupation? Mr. Tarasoff. I have retired from the service, seven years ago. Mr. Genzman, How long have you been retired, seven years? Mr. Tarasoff, Yes, Mr. Genzman, Did you work for the CIA before your retirement? | Mr. Tarasoff. Oh, yes. Mr. Genzman. Were you an agent, an officer or an asset for the CIA? Mr. Tarasoff,. ‘IT was a staff officer, —~ “a Mr. Genzman. Could you detail for the Committee your JOH 7TH STREEL, S.W. REPORTERS AUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20024 (202) S$54-2345 20 | assignments with the CIA around the time of 1963? cee Mr, Tarasoff, I started working in Mexico city in e 7 2 | gune, 1963 and continued up until the end of October, 1970, 23 Mr. Genzman, Were you aware of any suryeillance © e 24 operations conducted by the CIA in Mexico City? | Mr, Tarasoff, Well, I was aware, because -- may I “ ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 Docld:322763406 Page 6 2. =. a een ne ee ee
HW 54756 SS Ww Mr. 3 Mr. 4 : Mr. 5 5 | a friend g 7 | I stayed € 1 . ce we 7 And < i = 10: S ; ~ ' S i a | 7) i x i = 123 es | =z ' — -& 13 = ! =z 14 | w ! % | - i. i Fe) it Pe | Lt ~ | = . | “a7! . ' x 3 | & | w” = 1 |i = 1 | ~ | S S$ 20 7 a we w - DoclId: 322763406 Page 9 Mr. Genzman. qualify my statement, expand it a little bit? Genzman,. Would you repeat that, please? farasoff. MMay I ‘expand? Genzman. Certainly, Tarasoff. In 1960, I came to Mexico City to replace of mine who was working in the same capacity and with Mexico City for four months in 1960 and I went back to my regular occupation with DDI, that is the Documents Section, CIA. And after that, I tried to be assigned to a job in Mexico City which I finally succeeded in doing, So therefore, when this friend of mine went back to Washington, I replaced him in Mexico City in June, '63, Mr. Genzman,. What were your duties in Mexico City? Mr. Tarasoff, You mean during my TDY or after? surveillance operations in Mexico City, Would you tell us what your duties were? Mr. Tarasoff, My duties were on a less permanent -- on a More or less permanent basis -- to receive the tapes first, then to translate from Russian into English the conversation that was on the tape and to transcribe the whole thing, Mr, Genzman. ‘Where did these tapes originate? Mr. Tarasoff, The tapes originated right there in ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC. I am speaking about your duties regardiing | | | | | | | | | | { | | | | ! i
HW 54756 2 3 4 | 0 | > Ss o ~ | ~ J } a . | uw fo} = | bd 7 ~ i c 8 i 5 | ~™ i i go oF | ec I = 10 | ¢ = g { e fl 2 | s ( = i an | =z org | n os { bs -: ro) i = | = . nad 13 | ao il - “4 & i 2 18) e wn = 5 } = 19 = ¢ i = 20 | | a Boe i a SOS ‘ 23 | q 24 | 25 | i iS] Docld:322763406 Page 10 1-8 Mexico City because some of the telephone wires leading to areas, establishments, were tapped, Therefore, as a ‘regult, we had these conversations on the tape. Mr. Genzman. Were some of these tapes a result of. telephone taps on the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City? Mr, Tarasoff. Pardon, I did not hear the questioni Mr. Genzman. Were some of these tapes which you dealt with the result of telephone taps on the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City? Mr. Tarasoff, That is corzect. Mr. Genzman, Were you responsible for the translation or transcription of tapes from other operations besides the Soviet Embassy operation? ; ° | Mr. Tarasoff, Yes, there were several operations going on as a result of which we got tapes also, but they were taken of the so-called bugs, were planted in several strategi spots, dealing with Soviet nationals, Therefore, I had to transcrihe them also, Mr. Genzman, Did you work inside the American Embassy? Mr.Tarasoff. The American Embassy? | Mr. Genzman, Yes. Mr. Tarasoff, Yes, when I was in [DY, Mr. Genzman, I see, But as part of your transcription and translation of these tapes, did you work inside the American Embassy or outside of the Embassy in 1963? ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. | | | | ' | | | | | | | | | ¢ { { ' | i | ‘ { i ' i
| 1 | Mr. Tarasoff. In 1963, I was completely divorced | e 2 | from the Embassy. We worked, so to speak, on our own. | Mr. Genzman. Did you have contacts inside the American | Embassy with whom you dealt in 1963? de 5 5 Mr. Tarasoff, Well, we had the so-called contact man ! 5 | who delivered the tapes and, the next day, he would pick | S 7 them up and deliver’the next batch to be transcribed and x | so it went, around the clock, with the exception of Sunday. € e | there was no delivery, but Monday I had double work to : : e| do that included Sunday's and Saturday's. | : 1 | Mr. Genzman. Are you saying that you would receive | S 12 tapes the day after they were made? | @ : 13 : Mr. Tarasoff. Yes, | | : 16 ) Mr. Genzman. And that you would deliver them the | : 13 following day, after you transcribed them and translated : 6 them? | F 7 | Mr. Tarasoff, Yes. : ‘3 | Mr. Genzman. Do you remember the names of any of your : : | contacts who either gave you the tapes or received the tapes : ¢ * from you’along with the transcriptions, when you were finished . t ESE | | | ! ) ba 22 Mr, Tarasoff, Well, the first contact was Radford 3 | Zoronde, After quite awhile, his name was Rudy. I do not | 2 | know whether it was a pseudonym or a true name. That is all. e 23 3 i Know about hin, _ . | u ABLOERSOM REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 DBocld:32263406 Page 11
1-10 Mr, Genzman. Do you know the nationality of the person you believe was called Rudy? Mr, Tarasoff, I think he was.a Pole. Mr, Genzman. Could you give us a description? de 4 = fj Mr. Tarasoff. Tall, receding forehead, light hair, m . ri ‘| more or less regular featured, nothing outstanding about & 3 Mr. Genzman. Can you give any other identifying © ~ a information for Rudy, as to his family, possibly? c i .. . tO: Mr. Tarasoff. He was married to a French woman and it S | . g 1 | seemed that they did not get along. Whether she divorced = | ws i . = 2 | him after -- it was some kind of a mix-up in his family = 1, |. life. z a | And the Chief man recognized him by the fact he worked = ;; | din Indochina as a transcriber, His Russian was nonexistent co) Hy Zz is after I found out, so he was just coasting along. = | w 7 | . Mr. Genzman. I would like to give you several pieces — 2 * of physical description and ask you if these fit the person = 19 : you referred to as Rudy, = 20 | Did this person have blond hair? | Mr. Tarasoff, As far as I recollect, IT think so, B29 3.3 Mr, Genzman. Was his height 5 foot six inches? 23 | Mr. Tarasoff, Pardon me? 2 Nr. Genzman, Was his height approximately five feet . ' : . e 25 six inches, or taller or shorter? | ALDERSON REZORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 DBocld:322763406 Page 12
: 2 4 > wy = & a ~ “~ t w a é ~ “~ : m 7 — e g Cc ~ . a ww 7 i = 10 S ram & = 4} a x = +4 te os = AJ _ = c id or a Aad & ys [onl a i] a i a 74 tS => a) 17 18 & an = 1S ~ ce ec =, a oY GC FA RCH. =) Fic CT See. of fs I wet 94 1 ae A 23 24 ae 1-11 Mr, Tarasoff. No. He was taller than I. Mr. Genzman,. Ir see, | Would you describe his face as being thin or full? Mr. Tarasoff, As far as I remember, he was regular size, but slightly slimmer. Mr, Genzman. Can you tell me whether he spoke Russian? Mr. Tarasoff, No, he did not speak Russian. As I said before, his Russian was rather limited, Mr. Genzman. Are you saying he spoke poor Russian? Mr. Tarasoff, He had hardly spoken Russian, Mr, Genzman, I see, What exactly did you receive from your contact and -What exactly did you then give to this contact after you were finished with it? — Mr. Tarasoff, After the tapes were processed by me, at first, they wanted me to do the Spanish before, but there | was such a specific volume, I just could not cope with it. So therefore, the Spanish was taken away from me and giyen back to a place where they were recorfing it for the Mexican personnel to transcribe it in Spanish, hecause most of =the 7 J people at the Embassy knew Spanish, — ALDERSON RESORTINS COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 Docld:32263406 Page 13
Lafrance mr-1 1-12 fls. Tascione Mr. Genzman. Are you saying then that you did not, in | a) : fact, transcribe and translate the Spanish sections of the . Assassin. ; tapes? / eo”: de | JFK Sub. | 3 | | Mr. Tarasoff. No, after a while I transcribed only in Russian. Mr. Genzman. As part of this operation, do you ever 2N02% (202) S54-23N5 é | . . | have occasion to have contact with a Mr. Herbert Monell? | 2 | Mr. Tarasoff. Yes, definitely. aod Mr. Genzman. Can you tell me what his position was? : a } : = 7 Mr. Tarasoff. He was an officer of some sort in charge | S = 11 | Of operations. What precisely he was doing I cannot describe! = { I = | because it was strictly his business. i ° ij ) S 13 \" Mr. Genzman. Did you ever have occasion to have contact! = 7 with Anne Goodpaster’as part of your operation? | i o4 Fa | & 1s 4 Mr. Tarasoff. I know ‘the people, Herbert Monell, Good- . = S| paster, through my stay in Mexico City in 1960 because at ~ | “ 7 | that time, I.was inside the embassy. I had to abide by the | & 18 | rules of the embassy, for instance, start work at 9:00 in Ps | : = | the morning and terminate at 6. Sometimes there was so little | ; } < 20 | work in transcribing the Russian portion of the tape that I | | 7 | : 21°! was just hanging around doing nothing. ES 44 ~N & eo u and translation operation, did you ever have occasion to make ' ae Mr. Genzman. In conjunction with your transcribing | | personality assessment or voice identification of the people + whose voices you heard on the tapes? ' ’ i | i i ALTERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 DBocld:322763406 Page 14
HW 54756 mr-2 1-13 _ sae cos emrnee me wen st after I came for my regular tour of duty, to have the voice describe a person solely upon his intonations, inflection, ‘2 re) et cetera, what he is talking about. wo in It was interesting work and I think it was appreciated ALDERSON REZORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 322763406 Page 15 Mr. Tarasoff. That was my idea that I suggested to them! i i i | t I { | i ! | | | | | | | | \ 5 ! 3 | sample. The idea was rejected. On what grounds I do not 4 : know. 2 5 | Anyway, after about. three or four months they did come. : 5 | out with a suggestion that I start saving those voice samples. § 3 I would put them on 8 millimeter reels, movie reels. -At z : first I had a -- I do my own movies. Then we had to run ; 9 around Mexico City looking for empty reels. : to : We got quite a collection of voice samples. Some of E 7 : them have been turned over to the embassy people. At the 2 12 end of my tour, of course, everything was turned over. Z 13 | Mp. Genzman. Do you ever make personality assessment? = 14 | Mr. Tarasoff. Personality assessment? : sl Mr. Genzman. Personality assessment based on the infor- “| mation which you heard on the tapes or -based upon any emotion = a | you detected from the tapes? = a Mr. Tarasoff. Will you be more descriptive if it does : Ts interfere with your time? The thing is Mr. Maqnell one z * day suggested to me that I do the character study based a | solely upon the audit part of the tapes. I thought it was fe 22 | an excellent idea because this was a challenge to me, how to
mr-3 1-14 by the station because I got my promotion very shortly ! thereafter. | Mr. Genzman. Thank you. Did you ever have any cornec- tion with the Cuban Embassy surveillance operation in Mexico 2 City? 2 Mr. Tarasoff. No. “ | g Mr. Genzman. Do you know of any people, besides the = people you have already named, who were connected with sur- | € \ ; veillance operations either in conjunction with the Soviet | : Embassy or the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City? E Mr. Tarasoff. I cannot answer that. I do not know. | m 2 Mr. Genzman. In conjunction with the personality assess g ment which you sometimes made based on what you heard from | od E tapes, do you have occasion to make comments on the transerip+ = tion sheet when you detected something about the person's | 3 personality from the tapes? | = Mr. Tarasoff. First, I used to make just a short , : synopsis saying, well, "This fellow is saying in an agitated , : voice", and sco forth. I would inject some of my personal : : feeling about a person. The station told me to eliminate | it because they did not want to see that. If I had anything | S27 2 to say about a person, I should use a separate sheet of WR paper for that purpose. et Ww Mr. Genzman. Thank you. Were the transcripts which you - made original or did they include both originals and carbon Ww in ALCERSCO™ REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 Docld:322763406 Page 16
mr-l t | | copies? | 1 original and three at first, if I am not mistaken. Then sa © , : Mr. Tarasoff. Carbon copies, I think. We made one | there was too much repetition, so one carbon copy was dis- | { | | 2. |) 6 6Carded. j | Mr. Genzman. Are you saying, then, that the procedure = os | x ‘9 | was changed so that you had one original and two carbon - | = copies? | 4 | og Mr. Tarasoff. I think that is correct. oo | : i ~ 10 | Mr. Genzman. Thank you. What did you do with the ori- . = ' i iS ’ S 1; | inal and the carbons? | _ ‘ | * 12 Mr. Tarascoff. When my wife was picked up on the payroll) 5 | . . . e 2 19 to continue her work with the CIA, her job was to mark down c . So 5 14 i the date and the embassy's telephone number or military a | cs is attache's number or whatever number it is. She was told to | = ! { ‘s) i i 7 put each conversation on a separate piece of paper and send ~ | a 17 | it to the station. ji Z 3 | Later on there was such a mess of stuff being sent back = 19 | they said, "Can't you figure out which is pertinent and which, = ; 7 | . € 20 | is superfluous and just superfluous? If somebody calls in | : | a1 and blabs about inconsequential things, tear them up and put S27 2 | them in the wastepaper basket." That is it. il it Mr. Genzman. Are you saying your wife cut up at least | one of the copies of the transcript? i w - Ss = Mr. Tarasoff. Yes. : , ALSER SUN HEPORTING COMPANY, INC. Hw 54756 DoclId: 322763406 Page 17
HW 54756 t mr-5 i ty | | | wo 8) oo ™t 309 7TH STREET, S.W. REPORTERS BUILDING, WASHINGTON, 0.C, 29024 (202) SS6-235"5 nt VAS Wa Ne Oe ts tl ws ‘Docld: 322763406 Mr. Genzman. embassy? Mr. Tarasoff Mr. Genzman. 1-16 And sent those cut-up parts to the - Yes. Was it the carbon copy she cut up and Mr. Tarasoff. One carbon copy was cut up. There were 3 | + | 5 || sent to the embassy to be filed? | | Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff. Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff. Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff. ‘Mr. Genzman. make? Mr. Tarasoff. Page 18 two carbon copies and an original went back to the station. Mr. Tarasoff, were these transcriptions you made literal transcriptions or sample conversations? I did not get the question. The transcriptions which you made, were t \ | 2 | these original literal transcriptions or were they merely | summaries of conversations? Before when I arrived at the TDY, my friends told me how it worked. It was this fellow calls up t | and says this, that and the other, hang up. Herbert Manell | insisted I do everything verbatim. Besides the little translation which you 19 | put on your transcript, did you include any comments? ) Sometimes, very short, because as I said 20 | | before, the long ones they frowned upon. "If you want it, put it on a separate sheet of paper.” What type of comments did you commonly You mean the short form-or what? ALSERSCM REPORTING COMPANY. INC.
mr-6 Mr. Genzman. The short one. Mr. Tarasoff. The short form, I said "Well, the fellow | seems to be agitated", for instance. That is all. Mr. Genzman. Did you ever make these comments on sepa- te = g rate sheets of paper? | : ‘| Mr. Tarasoff. After I started doing character studies, | g 7 | I would just keep them and consult them whenever I started | F 3 | doing one of the descriptive things. | e i : . | Mr. Genzman. Would you have put any type of identifying: : 10 information on the transcript? : B 1 Mr. Tarasoff. Can you repeat the question? | = i . * | Mr. Genzman. Besides the translation of the literal | @ Z 13 : conversation, did you have occasion to put identifying | = 14 ) information concerning the people who were speaking on the | - : re transcript, itself? r=) ; = 7 In other words, if you could identify the people speaking ‘ 7 | did you note that on the transcript? ! : a. Mr. Tarasoff. This is the way it worked. We knew | : 19 | precisely who would be living, for instance, in the film's € 20 | office. If someone answers, we know it was the chief film's | ~- a official. Once you get used to the person's voice or how he : S27 2 speaks and so forth, it was practically no trouble at all to tl a identify. nN ry Mr. Genzman. On the transcript did you ever refer to ey / e tn the speakers in any other ways aside from their names which ALCERKRSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 Docld:32263406 Page 19
1-18 | you identified? | ) . | Mr. Tarasoff. Would you clarify that question? | ; | Mr. Genzman. Certainly. On your transcripts did you : @ ‘ : ever use any other identifying information besides proper | “ | names for the individuals who were speaking? Did you ever | 2 5 | know whether the speaker was inside the embassy or whether | S r . the speaker was outside the embassy? | 5 3 | Mr. Tarasoff. Oh, that was very easy, especially if I | ; | did not know who was speaking. If the call comes in, you | : ol put down "Man Outside", "MO", or whoever answers from the | 2 a embassy you put down "MI", man inside. | 2 7 Usually the calls to the embassy came to the small | d | booth in front of the gate. There were three people usually | @ 5 4 | on duty all the time. So, their voices I knew personally, | : . well, this fellow answers, whatever the caller wants, he | 3 7 transfers the call to the main building. | = a Mr. Genzman. In your transcription do you ever make | - a comments as to the quality of the language spoken by the per- : . ‘son or did you ever make reference to any prior conversation | F 20 | which that individual had made? | a Mr. Tarasoff. Yes, I had to do that because sometimes | fa 33 | calls came in and the fellow speaks Russian. Well, you would | Y 34 have to let them know exactly how he talks. | For instance, there were several Jewish merchants in Mexico City who spoke Russian, either with a Jewish accent or ALIZASCN REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 DBocld:322763406 Page 270
t 1-19 ! | rather poorly. So I would make a comment to that effect at | I first probably, because later on if this fellow called back | and forth, his wife wanted to have a fur coat and so forth, | you do not have to mention every time that he speaks with a | terrible accent when you knew exactly who the fellow was and > os ~ i 4 | put down his name. “6 | Mr. Genzman. Do you think at this time that you would - a 7 | = i be able to recognize a transcript which you had made in . | ~ | 1963? | c | Mr. Tarasoff. It is a long time ago. I think I would | z= 10% Cc ! = | vecognize my mode of typing it out. = li = { ; 3 | Mr. Genzman. You mentioned earlier that your wife | = 12 | | 4 helped you on occasion in your operations. = 613 | C => 1 ° . , e = | Mr. Tarasoff. That is right. ao 4 ] e | Mr. Genzman. Cam you tell us exactly how she assisted & 1s | = | you? | = Mr. Tarasoff. Usually there was some English-speaking | aoa | i ss | person on the line that did not need any translation, just 4 ‘ , - | | ° 19 | ‘transcribing. Then I would ask my wife to listen. Of course = = € 20 | she had a much keener sense of hearing than I. | 1 ‘Consequently, she would take over and type out this | ers 4. particular conversation. At first she was not working for hs Le ; pe I. 2 5} Ls . Le After she was picked up, she gave me all the help necessary wn nw | 1 | | a year in Mexico City, but she was helping me out nevertheless. | : | | to°clip those entries and paste them on a paper and stamp the. | sd 2 | , tn ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 DBocld:322763406 Page 271
mr-9 | date and so forth. ray ( NS Qo . . : | Mr. Genzman. Would it be fair to say that your wife handled the English language conversation on the tapes re- ceived and you generally handled the Soviet language conver- sations on the tapes received? de —————————$— Mr. Tarasoff. Yes, but sometimes if the conversation was simple and not too long, I would do it myself. Mr. Genzman. Which language are you referring to? a Mr. Tarasoff. English. oO Mr. Genzman. Did anyone else assist you in your opera- tion besides your wife? Mr. Tarasoff. No. You see, I would like to explain, we —" . wm were completely removed from the embassy. If we got into any kind of jam, we could not count upon the help from the embass or from the CIA. We were entirely on our own. | Mr. Genzman. At this time, Mr. Chairman, do you have | any questions concerning the general surveillance operation ~ Os iene: ae ow) e in Mexico City which Mr. Tarasoff was involved with? Mr. Fithian. Mr. Sawyer? Mr. Sawyer. Not right now, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Fithian. Mr. Tarasoff, you said you worked by your- a 300 ITH STREET, S.W. REPORTERS BUTELDING, WASHINGTON, D.C, 202% (202) SS"-2345 rs ( <n Ji) fi self and if you got into any difficulty you were not to indi- ot A NE n> i) cate any association with the agency or with the embassy? > / > uw Mr. Tarasoff. That is correct, sir. Mr, Fithian. You mailed back the translations on a Wa tar ALCERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. \ HW 54756 DBocld:322763406 Page 2?
mr-10 1-21 regular basis? Mr. Tarasoff. It was not mailed. It was delivered personally. Mr. Fithian. So you went to the embassy daily? ga | . Mr. Tarasoff. No. We had a courier, or whoever he was | * " ! who would pick up the stuff and deliver the next batch to me | - | to be transcribed. ! S 7 | z . Mr. Fithian. How long did you work at this job? I | = ; think you mentioned it earlier. é - : Mr. Tarasoff. How long I worked outside? : - Mr. Fithian. Yes, in Mexico. me fli : 3 Mr. Tarasoff. About seven-and-a-half years. g 3 ! Mr. Fithian. I have no other questions, counsel. e : 7 | Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff, in the course of your duties é | did Lee Harvey Oswald come to your attention? | : 7 Mr. Tarasoff. Yes. = | Mr. Genzman. Do you remember the time? , 7 i f al Mr. Tarasoff. “The timé? s | Mr. Genzman. Around what period did Lee Harvey Oswald : | come to your attention as a result of your duties in the : | surveillance operation? eee cance Mr. Tarasoff. At the end of September I think it was, Pre cl @ “y AS 1963. et) w Mr. Genzman. How did he come to your attention? rn fn e P Mr. Tarasoff. First of all, he called -- as far as I ia ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. i HW 54756 Docld:322763406 Page. 23
mr-1i | 1-22 recall, he tried to speak Russian but I think his Russian was so poor that I did not understand. I cannot recall with-: ! out seeing the transcript | :| ; | Mr. Genzman. When you say that Lee Harvey Oswald called) - | “ _'| are you saying he called the Soviet Embassy? | 5 Sj = | Mr. Tarasoff. Yes. He called the Soviet Embassy as far| 5 6 | | S 7 | as I can remember. After that -- let us see what happened “+t 2 | = | Mr. Genzman. Let me ask you this, Mr. Tarasoff. Are Pound + = | : : . | ~ 2 you saying Lee Harvey Oswald's call to the Soviet Embassy in | = ‘o 1863 was picked up by means of this surveillance operation? z i i £ : . S Ho Mr. Tarasoff. I would say yes, I think that is what = . = t : < | happened. It was picked up on the tape. : PS 2 "3 : Mr. Genzman. Did you translate and transcribe this | “a = . : . | = re | conversation which was picked up on tape? | ‘ H . ed = , Mr. Tarasoff. Yes. As far as I remember there were ! « 34 ° iH i 3 two conversations. There might have been more. I am not a3 ~ | i ~. > | certain. n“ V7 I ‘ z ‘3 | Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff, at ‘this time I would like | ° 16 | ‘to show you several documents which deal with the Mexico City! - | ¢ 20 | surveillance operation and ask you to comment on it. | 4 | These documents, for information purposes for the Congress- oe aes 37 | men, are contained on pages one, two, ten and eleven of the packet of exhibits which was given to them prior to the / > wy 24 testimony. ae @ al Mr. Tarasoff, have you seen these documents before? ALCERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 Docld:322763406 Page ?4
mr-12 Mr. Tarasoff. Yes. oy Mr. Genzman. When were these shown to you? Mr. Tarasoff. Yesterday. Mr. Genzman. I would like to first draw your attention ied w | | | 2 § to the document which is labeled page two at the bottome of | : 4 the page, in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. I | g ‘9 | believe the first document you have in your hand is labeled : 5 3 ! "P2", De you have that document in front of you? | ; _| Mr. Tarasoff. Okay, thank you. | : 10 Mr. Genzman. Can you tell us what you know about this Z a document, Mr. Tarasoff? | 2 2 Mr. Tarasoff. This was written by me. | r : 13 | Mr. Genzman. You are referring to the handwriting on ! : 14 | the left-hand side of the page which states "Lienvoy"? | : 7” Mr. Tarasoff. That is right. That is in my pandwriting| : 7 Now, the next line where it says '28 September, 63 and 156085" = al was stamped by my wife. She was not employed yet and I had | : ] to do it.myself. She helped me to stamp this date and the | z 19 | ‘number of the Soviet Embassy below it. ; € 20 | Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff, do you remember transcribing | a! this particular conversation, and I would like to refer you | to the English speaking portion of the words on this page beginning with "Please see the Spanish transcription"? » ul Ww in Mr. Tarasoff. Yes. Mr. Genzman. Do you recall that this piece of paper was | ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 DBocld:322763406 Page 25
mr-13 HW 54756 Making this transcription? w 1-24 | | part of your transcription operation, that is, do you recall | | Mr. Tarasoff. This part is not mine at the top. But | | 3 4 below it looks like the one I used, with slashes instead s | of brackets. 7 Mr. Genzman. Would you explain what the slash marks : are used for? a! Mr. Tarasoff. It is used to make reference to extra- : neous material which is not included in the speech. It is a like a comma. vd For instance, "MO takes the phone and says in broken 12 Russian", that is my comment. 13 Mr. Genzman. Does this transcription agree with your this page of transcription agree with your recollection of { 4 | recollection of the conversation involving Oswald? Does t : | : a conversation involving Lee Harvey Oswald and a person in th Soviet Embassy in Mexico City? i 300 7TH STREET, S.W. REPORTERS BUTEDING, WASHINGTON, DLC. 2902" (202) S54-2345 1 i ir. Tarasoff. I can safely say that it does, but of 15 | cores at that time, we did not pay too much attention to 29 | this business because we had several callers who would speak | : 2; | in English or try to practice their Russian. Anyway, since EEF 3. this was of no importance I did not bother to expand. fy ne «e | | | Mr. Genzman. You stated earlier that the transcription 44 states that person spoke in broken Russian. . Does this agree : with your recollection of Oswald's voice on the tape? | | ALCERSUN REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 32763406 Page 276 enn ,, Sie
mr~i4 Mr. Tarasoff. Unfortunately I cannot recall the tone | of his voice or what he said. Mr. Genzman. Can you recall what language he used? 4 Mr. Tarasoff. If he used Russian, it was unintelligible, 2 5 That is why they probably got somebody who could speak English z | later on. | os | S "| Mr. Genzman. As a result of this conversation, were . : | you able to identify the person speaking as Lee Harvey Oswald} - | Mr. Tarasoff. I can remember two conversations that : 7 were spoken by Oswald. : 7 Mr. Genzman. I am referring to the first conversation, | z 2 | to the first document. : r g 13 Mr: Tarasoff. The first conversation, yes, I think | = | that is the one I have done. | | : is | Mr. Genzman. I am referring to this document and this | E 7 document alone at the moment. From this particular document | . | i : 7 which relates to a conversation, were you able to determine | : | that the speaker was Lee Harvey Oswald? | : . Mr. Tarasoff. I would have no idea who was talking at | : 20 | that time. va Mr. Genzman. I would next like to refer you to page | ea 10, the document labeled "P10" at the bottom right-hand corner. @ a 7 Mr. Tarasoff. Yes, I have it. | at Mr. Genzman. Could you identify this document? Mr. Tarasoff. It looks exactly like the way I would do it. ALDCERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 DBocld:322763406 Page 27
mr-15 1-26 It was inconsequential at the time. It could have been just wo ; @ mistake in phone number. I do not know why he called this | particular number if he knew the previous embassy number. te | Mr. Genzman. Aside from this document do you have any i | { | { t | Mr. Tarasoff. This particular one? | = S| independent recollection of this type of conversation? & " Mr. Genzman. Yes. z ; Mr. Tarasoff. No, it was rather run-of-the-mill conver- ; : | sation. : ‘0 | Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff, I would next like to direct | S 8 | your attention to the document labeled "P1" in the bottom | = . = 2 | right-hand corner. Could you identify this document? | e 3 3 : Mr. Tarasoff. This is definitely mine. | 5 | Mr. Genzman. What makes you say that? | n : is | Mr. Tarasoff. Because I underlined -- maybe I will e | start from the beginning. | : al We got a request from the station to see if we can pick : 7 up the name of this person because sometimes we had a so-called E 19 | "defector" from the United States that wanted to go to Russia | ¢ 20 | and we had to keep an eye on them. Not I -- the station. | | Consequently they were very hot about the whole thing. | bal | They said, "If you can get the name, rush it over immediately," © 23 | Therefore, it is very seldom that I underlined the name be- } | 24 | cause I put them in capitals. In this case I did because it | Wwe in was so impcertant to them. ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC. HW 54756 DBocld:322763406 Page 23
mr-16 1-27 Mr. Genzman. Can you tell us exactly what lead to this request? i] Mr. Genzman. Can you tell us exactly what lead to this tn t | | | | Mr. Tarasoff. What? | | | | | request? | > os 2 | Mr. Tarasoff. JI have no idea what lead to it. That | . . . x was my only main point, to find the name, to get the name of ! & 7 | ~ . . . . . of = 3 | this person and deliver it as soon as possible to the station} $ S i ~ | Mr. Genzman. Can you speculate as to why this request | eT . S | was made? 2 10} | S ; Mr. Tarasoff. It would be simply a speculation. If he | Be fli | = x | called the Cuban Embassy and ‘our people knew about it, then | - . Z 12 they really would be pressed to get the name. a  ] > | Mr. Genzman. Aré you saying then that there is a possi- et a| wn } E s, bility that Oswald spoke to the Cuban Embassy personnel in | 2 3: . ° i H ts 7 addition to the Soviet Embassy personnel and that the people | coma ~ | . : ~ 7 | you dealt with in your operation made that connection and ‘ i . ! i | consequently made an urgent request that this person be = i = ° | ‘identified? EF | e 20 | Mr. Tarasoff. There is a possibility, I think, that. 4 | that is exactly what happened. aoe | LAN, : . : “SG. Mr. Genzman. Again, can you tell us what features con- | 4 ‘Fhe : =~ t cerning this document labeled "P1" at the bottom lead you to to ws . Mr. Tarasoff. Which one, "Pl"? | I | believe that it was done by you? ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 DBocld:322763406 Page 29
HW 54756 mr-17 + 1-28 is underlined? Mr. Tarasoff. Yes. w Mr. Genzman. Yes. You stated earlier that "Lee Oswald"! | i | ; Mr. Genzman. Do you remember this conversation indepen-! e dent of this document? | ~ i i 2 7 Mr. Tarasoff. Independently, no. ! 4 s | Mr. Genzman. Do you remember whether Oswald spoke Englibh z ? or Russian during this conversation? | e 3 | Sc | : ~ 2! Mr. Tarasoff. As far as I remember, he was speaking ~ | < a English. Whenever he did slip a couple words of Russian in, | z iy ¢ ,, | it must have been unintelligible. pony bef = i ; H 2 - Mr. Genzman. There is a comment between slash marks on = i | 5 { . . 2 13 | this page which states, "The same person who phoned a day or | 5 | : : . _ = . . | 5 rg | SO ago and spoke in broken Russian". | wn ij & a Mr. Tarasoff. Yes. & 3: | ° it j bs a Mr. Genzman. Are you now saying that you believe that | 8 ~ | a | this person spoke in English and not in Russian? W * t 5 1 Mr. Tarascff. I believe he spoke in English. ; Mr. Genzman. Based on this possible discrepancy, do you e 1 | ¢ 20 | have any feeling as to whether this document is authentic as a | opposed to being a forgery or an amended version of the original document? Mr. Tarasoff. I cannot conceive of this document being much stronger. There is the whole thing, the spacing, I ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. DoclId: 322763406 Page 30 a forgery. I have an idea in the back of my head that:it was |
HW 54756 TS eS 4 d | 3 | | 4 | ” = § jj “ < ' 3 6 | a. gS 7 | ~ 3 | = i < | 3S 5 it Y H ce | z id! Ss ‘ = : g i = i 3 sx i = i2 id =< i 513 an a Td { a i ra | i | & 13: co) 1 a. | a ! « la | : | rr _ | 7 & 1g | & nn = 19 | * | < s 20 | | | wi! eit oo alll : vi am 4 pe ha | DocId: 32263406 ing more substance than is in this document which you have before you, | | versation --- pendently of this document which you do not see in this document. of Oswald having mentioned his financial situation during _that. appears that, Mr. Tarasoff, the number 151? 1-29 | cannot say that it was longer than it is now. 1 Mr. Genzman. Do you recall this conversation as includ-, labeled \ | py "9 | | Let me rephrase that. Do you recall items in the con- ) Mr. Tarasoff. Items? Mr. Genzman. Items, topics, in the conversation inde- 1 i i Mr. Tarasoff. Unfortunately I do not. I am not certain, Mr. Genzman. Do you have any independent recollection Mr. Tarasoff. No, I do not have any recollection of The main idea was to get the name of the person for- ! | | -_ conversation? . | | | i) | | | warded as soon as possible. Mr. Genzman. At the beginning of this conversation there "In at" and "168" which is crossed out. Do you see Mr. Tarasoff. I put a question mark at the time. Mr. Genzman. Can you tell us what that would mean? Mr. Tarasoff. The question mark means that I did not i get the time when the call came through. Mr. Genzman. Do you have any explanation for that feature? \ ALCERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Page 31
mr-19 1-30 Mr. Tarasoff. No. Mr. Genzman. Can you also tell us what the words "pre- te. | viously transcribed" mean? Mr. Tarasoff. "Previously transcribed" means, for in- i 4 “ | stance, I went to the embassy first and the embassy number : ; was 605055. Now this number 501264 belonged to the film's : s , | office. So consequently if that particular call went out of | £ ; the main building to the film's office and it had been tran- | ~ | _ scribed before, that is exactly what I would do, put down | < : "previously transcribed". So there was no question of doing. = (19 : 7 : it twice. | | = 1 | Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff, you mentioned earlier that - | . @ z 13 | this transcription has the words "Lee Oswald". Were you | E 4 ) able to identify the speaker in an earlier conversation | : | based on this conversation? I would like to refer you back 1 | to the document labeled "P2". | 2 a I believe you said earlier that the conversation contained 5 al on "P2" did not contain any identifying information. | : . Mr. Tarasoff. It was just a repeat job at first. | : 20 | ‘Mr. Genzman. Were you able to identify the individual | — 1 | speaking on "P2" by means of this conversation on "Pi"? | SS on | Mr. Tarasoff. "151. The same person who phoned a day e 14 | or so ago and spoke in broken Russian". That is the one right . here. | @ 25 Mr. Genzman. You are saying from this conversation you ! ' | ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 Docld:32263406 Page 32 ,
mr-20 HW 54756 de wt = § = § GN t a 6 ~«~ a . < 7 — S 8 Cc ™ . a“ cs ¥ e = 10 S eo = 1 = ie o x = 42 cs = = 13 —_ _ e 14 wt: [- 4 [ow & 18 Oo o. oo ad 16 > & red 1 & 18 = wn = 19 ~ td Ss 20 21 Sar ct 1-31, | identified the speaker as Lee Oswald? Did you also make the | { | inference that the speaker of the conversation at page "P2" was also Lee Oswald? Mr. Tarasoff. No, because -- this is the 28th of Sep- tember -- it is out of my hand. But the next one is October lst. Mr. Genzman. Let me rephrase the question. The cotober { lst conversation contains the name Lee Oswald, does it not? Mr. Tarasoff. It does. - ot Mr. Genzman. The September 28 conversation does not contain a name? Mr. Tarasoff. It does not contain the name. That is probably why they wanted to know the name. 28 conversation you could not make any identity of the speake | | Mr. Genzman. So, at the time you received the =_—_ | Mr. Tarasoff. No. | Mr. Genzman. After you saw the October 1st conversation, which contained the name Lee Oswald, did you then make the | inference that the speaker in the September 28 conversation was Lee Oswald, the same speaker who spoke on October lst? Mr. Tarasoff. I guess he called up and just previous | | | to that called the embassy and identified himself. I think it says -- I was not sure whether this particular number was. a military attache or anyway it is one of the Soviet's. Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff, I am asking whether you at ALDCERSCN REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 322763406 Page 353
any time were able to identify the speaker in the September t | | 2 | 28 conversation? ! | | Mr. Tarasoff. No. | { : : \ 7 Mr. Genzman. Did you ever make the inference that the | | | 2 3 speakers on September 28 and October lst were one and the “ } 5 ‘| same person? | ~ & 7 Mr. Tarasoff. I sure did, right here, under item 151, | <= | a | under "Pl", e 3 i { < | | oR i Mr. Genzman. Thank you. c 2 10 Mr. Fithian. Mr. Tarasoff, I did not follow you exactly rs i ; = eae . gy where you made that indication. | rw ‘ ! = \ : wu | ° . = 19 | Mr. Tarasoff. It is on "P1" and starts at 151 and then | { ‘ es | raj i} I have slash marks, "The same person who phoned a day or so a 13 % 14 || ago and spoke in broken Russian”. That particular sentence t . a . | & y. 1 refers to the "P2",: e 4 | i ' & 6 Mr. Genzman. Are you saying then that you were able to “ - | make the connection between the two speakers based on your ." i é a recollection of the voice from the September 28 transcript? | e = 19 | Mr. Tarasoff. Exactly. | - | ; i e 20 | Mr. Genzman. Would you also state whether the language on "Pl", the October lst conversation, I quote "I was at your! Sat alll i‘f place last Saturday and spoke to the consul", did that ‘language also contribute to your inference that the September’ | | 28 speaker was the same as the October lst speaker, namely Lee Oswald? ALDERSO™M REPORTING COMPANY, INC. HW 54756 Docld:322763406 Page 34
mr-22 Mr. Tarasoff. Yes. | Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff, do you recollect any other Mr. Tarasoff. Would you repeat that? Mr. Genzman. Did you identify the voices of these people | | 2 | . 3 | conversation or any other details about Lee Harvey Oswald's ! | calls? + | w Mr. Tarasoff. Unfortunately I do not recollect any more = 5 | . ~ i . : conversations. || Mr. Genzman. Can you say whether you remember any = 7 | | = H other calls by Oswald or any other details which are not . e 8: * | reflected in these documents, the three we have shown you? | cs FG . S ! Mr. Tarasoff. To be frank I do not remember any other. | = 10) ~) \ : 5 Mr. Genzman. Mr. Tarasoff, I would like to ask you a | pe fly “3 ! few more questions concerning voice comparison. Did you as | 1201 @ | a routine procedure identify the voices of the participants | 13 . 14 | l | | speaking if you were able to do so? Would you identify them in the conversation if you could? | | | Mr. Tarasoff. I certainly would because some of them, it was not difficult, you could not mistake them for anybody | on the transcript? | | else. (| 200 7TH STREET, S.U. REPORTERS BUILDING, WA % 4 I | | | e, Mr. Genzman. As part of this procedure, did you ever make use of identification tapes and comparisons between tapes? i i awd to Mr. Tarasoff. No. They wondered whether I could preserve ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC.