14-00000 12 l2 12 13 16 18 18 27 SECRET December 1963 DIR 88643 Subject: Letter Relative to Assassination of President Kennedy Sent to United States Embassy in Costa Rica. Recipients: FBI, State, White House. [Warren Commission] December 1963 DIR 88682 Cuban Ambassador to France received instructions not to comment upon the assassination. Recipients: FBI, State, White House. December 1963 DIR 88747 Subject: Second Interrogation of Silvia DURAN. Recipients: FBI, State, White House. December 1963 CSCI-3/779,136 Subject: Mexican Interrogation of Gilberto ALVARADO. Recipient: FBI. [Warren Commission] December 1963 CSCI-3/779,135 Subject: Peter DERYABIN's Comments on Kennedy Assassination. Recipient: FBI. December 1963 DIR 89970 Further Information on Richard Thomas GIBSON. Recipients: FBI, State, White House; Secret Service received copy. [Warren Commission] December 1963 DIR 89980 Subject: Actions of Silvia DURAN after her first interrogation. Recipients: FBI, State, White House; Secret Service received copy. [Warren Commission] December 1963 CSCI-3/779,297 Subject: Assassination of President Kennedy (arranged by the Cuban Government and the Communist Chinese). Recipient: FBI. iy rr CRET.,
14-00000 SECRET 3 January 1964 Unnumbered Memorandum Telephone contact with S. PAPICH on 3 January 1964 regarding newspaper article appearing in £1 Caribe on 27 November 1963 and possible connection with ALVARADO's interview in the U.S. Embassy on 26 No- vember. Recipient: FBI. 10 January 1964 CSCI-3/779 ,482 Subject: Second Mexican Interrogation of Silvia DURAN. Recipient: FBI. [Warren Commission] 27 January 1964 CSCI-3/779,729 Subject: Possible Relatives of Marina Nikolayevna OSWALD. Recipient: FBI. 30 January 1964 CSCI-3/778,814 Subject: Jack L. RUBY, Lee Harvey OSWALD. Recipient: FBI. 4 February 1964 CSCI-3/779,817 Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD. (Information on names, addresses, and telephone numbers relating to the Soviet Union.) Recipient: FBI. 18 February 1964 DDP 4-0860 Memorandum for the Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Subject: Assassination of John F. Kennedy. ("In connection with our efforts to assist the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy by providing information which might be helpful in interpreting available ma- terials relating to OSWALD's activities abroad,
14-00000 SECRET; % we have considered the entry with regard to attempted suicide. We consider this entry as being of consider- able importance and one which might be subject to verification.") Recipient: FBI. [Copy to Warren Commission] 18 February 1964 DDP 4-0861 Memorandum for the Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Subject: Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (". . . 47 photographs which were among the effects of Lee Harvey OSWALD, . . . . It appears that most of the photographs were taken in the USSR and depict Soviet contacts of OSWALD or scenes in the Soviet Union.") Recipient: FBI. [Copy to Warren Commission] - 18 February 1964 DDP 4-0862 Memorandum for the Chief, United States Secret Service. Subject: Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (Verification of entry in "Historic Diary" relating to OSWALD's attempted suicide.) Recipient: Secret Service. [Copy to Warren Commission] 18 February 1964 DDP 4-0864 Memorandum for Mr. Thomas L. Hughes, The Director of Intelligence and Research, Department of State. Subject: Assassination of President John F. Kennedy - Verification of Entry in "Historic Diary”. Recipient: State. [Copy to Warren Commission] 20 February 1964 CSCI-3/779 , 988 Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD. (Information regarding Annette SETYAEVNA and Lillie May RAHM. ) Recipient: FBI. 22 February 1964 DIR 03101 Subject: Further Information Provided by Moroccan Student Mohamed REGGAB. Recipient: White House (attention Secret Service. ) 42 : SECRET,
14-00000 SECRET, 11 March 1964 CSCI~3/780 ,344 Subject: Summary of Findings in Regard to Allegations by Mohamed REGGAB Relative to Marina OSWALD. Recipient: FBI. 20 March 1964 CSCI-3/780,612 Subject: Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (Photograph of an individual closely resembling OSWALD. ) Recipient: FBI. 16 April 1964 CSCI-3/780,881 Subject: Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (Information regarding Lydia DYMITRUK. ) Recipient: FBI. 8 May 1964 DDP 4~2351 Memorandum from Richard HELMS, DDP, to J. Lee RANKIN. Subject: Marina OSWALD's Notebook. Recipient: Copy of attachment forwarded to FBI. [Warren Commission] 11 May 1964 CSCI-3/781,172 Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD. (Traces on Soviet names, addresses, and telephone numbers from an address book belonging to Marina OSWALD. ) Recipient: FBI. 13 May 1964 CSCI-3/781 ,282 Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD. (Identification of photographs sent to CIA by FBI.) Recipient: FBI. 15 May 1964 Memorandum from Richard HELMS, DDP, to J. Lee RANKIN. Subject: Role of Cuban Intelligence Service in Processing Visa Applicants; Reaction of the Service to the Assassi- nation of President Kennedy. Recipient: FBI. [Warren Commission] 43 (SECRET
14-00000 SECRET. 5 June 1964 CSCI-3/781 ,543 Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD. (Use of Machine Colla- tion Program to Check Out Cubans Mentioned in Letter of 27 November 1963 from Mario del ROSARIA Milina. ) Recipient: FBI. 10 June 1964 CSCI-3/781 ,841 Subject: Information Concerning Jack RUBY. Recipient: FBI. 29 June 1964 CSCI-3/782 ,085 Memorandum from Richard HELMS, DDP, to J. Lee RANKIN. Subject: Investigation of Allegation that OSWALD was in Tangier, Morocco. - Recipient: FBI. [Warren Conmission] 2 July 1964 DDP 4-3401 Memorandum from Richard HELMS, DDP, to J. Lee RANKIN. (Remarks made by Soviet Consul Pavel Antonovich YATSKOV.) Recipient: FBI. [Warren Commission] 27 August 1964 CSCI-316/00856-64 Subject: No Indication of Subject's Defection Having Been Used for Propaganda by the Cuban Government. Recipient: FBI. [Warren Commission] 3 September 1964 DDP 4-4600 Memorandum from Richard HELMS, DDP, to J. Lee RANKIN. Subject: OSWALD Documents Supplied by the Cuban Government. Recipient: FBI. [Warren Commission] 6 October 1964 CSCI-316/01446-64 Subject: VIADUCT Interview on 9 September 1964; His Comments on Seven Photographs Forwarded by the FBI. Recipient: FBI. 44 SECRET.
14-00000 SECRET 23 December 1964 CSCI-316/02545-64 Subject: Allegation of Unidentified Scientist of Cuban Involvement in Assassination. Recipient: FBI. 2 March 1965 CSCI-316/00925-65 Subject: Marvin KANTOR, Possible Connection with Investigation of Lee Harvey and Marina OSWALD. Recipient: FBI. 30 June 1965 CSCI-316/02654-65 Subject: Silvia DURAN. Recipient: FBI. 2 September 1966 CSCI-316/04482- 66 Subject: Rima ZMITROOK, Lee Harvey OSWALD's In- tourist Guide in Moscow. Recipient: FBI. 14 June 1967 CSCI-316/03243-67 Subject: Allegation of Oscar COUNTRERAS, Mexican Newsman, That OSWALD Visited UNAM Campus Shortly After the Cuban Embassy Refused Him a Visa to Visit Cuba. CONTRERAS’ Statement of Dubious Credibility; Information Passed to Mexican au- thorities. MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED BY CIA TO THE WARREN pa COMMISSION ON RUMORS AND ALLEGATIONS RE- bn LATING TQ THE PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION = 31 January 1964 Subject: Information Developed by CIA on the Activity of Lee Harvey OSWALD in Mexico City, 28 September - 3 October 1963.
14-00000 ‘SECRET 5 March 1964 Subject: Summary of Findings in Regard to Allegations by Mohammed REGGAB Relative to Marina OSWALD. 18 March 1964 Subject: Article Alleging that OSWALD was interviewed by CIA in Moscow. _ 31 March 1964 DDP 4-1655 Subject: Reports on Activities and Travel of Lee Harvey OSWALD and Marina Nikolevna OSWALD. Enclosures include the following: Teletype Message No. 87515, 29 November 1963 - paragraph g - Marina SNETHLAGE. Teletype Message No. 85182, 22 November 1963 - Remarks made by Richard Thomas GIBSON. Teletype Message No. 85665, 28 November 1963 - Remarks Made by Maria SNETHLAGE and Third Secretary Ricardo SANTOS of the Cuban Em- bassy in The Hague. 3 April 1964 DDP 4-1699 Subject: Richard Thomas GIBSON. = 7 April 1964 DDP 4-1784 Subject: Mohammed REGGAB. 4 May 1964 DDP 4-2256 Subject: Additional Information on Lee Harvey OSWALD. "A survey of Agency files indicates that all. . information known to the Agency on OSWALD's association (with communists or criminals, either in United States or abroad) has been made available to the Commission." 8 May 1964 DDP 4-235] Subject: Marina OSWALD's Notebook. (Compilation of traces on what appear to be Soviet names, addresses, and telephone numbers from an ad- dress book identified by Marina OSWALD as belonging to her.)
14-00000 SECRET 15 May 1964 Subject: Role of the Cuban Intelligence Service in Processing Visa Applicants; Reaction of that Service to the Assassination of President Kennedy. 19 May 1964 DDP 4-2534 Subject: Allegations of PFC Eugene B. DINKIN, U.S. Army, Relative to Assassination Plot Against Presi- dent Kennedy. 22 May 1964 DDP 4-2624 Subject: Anonymous Telephone Calls to United States Embassy in Canberra, Australia; Relative to Planned Assassination of President Kennedy. - 27 May 1964 DDP 4-2688 Subject: Letter Accusing the Chinese Communists of Plotting the Assassination of President Kennedy. (Comment: Letter received at U.S. Embassy, Stockholm. ) 1 June 1964 DDP 4-274] Subject: Gilberto ALVARADO Ugarte. Enclosures: Out Teletype No. 85089, 26 November 1963. Out Teletype No. 85199, 27 November 1963. Qut Teletype No. 85662, 28 November 1963. Out Teletype No. 85666, 28 November 1963. Out Teletype No. 86063, 30 November 1963. Out Teletype No. 87667, 7 December 1963. Memorandum, 12 December 1963, Interroga- tion of Gilberto ALVARADO. 3 June 1964 DDP 4-2769 Subject: Documents on Lee Harvey OSWALD Furnished by the Soviet Government. 4 June 1964 DDP Subject: Information Developed on the Activity of Lee Harvey OSWALD in Mexico City. 47 SECRET,
14-00000 10 June 1964 Subject: Information Concerning Jack RUBY (aka Jack RUBENSTEIN) and His Associates. 12 June 1964 Subject: Letter Relative to Assassination of President Kennedy sent to United States Embassy in Costa Rica. 29 June 1964 DDP 4-3347 Subject: Investigation of Allegation that OSWALD was in Tangier, Morocco. 2 July 1964 DOP 4-3401 - Subject: Lee Harvey OSWALD. 28 August 1964 DDP 4-4479 Subject: Konstantin Petrovich SERGIEVSKY. 15 September 1964 DDP 4-4808 Subject: Information Concerning Jack RUBY (aka Jack RUBENSTEIN) and His Associates. 17 September 1964 DDP 4-4839 Subject: Valeriy Vladimirovich KOSTIKOV. 17 September 1964 DDP 4-4922 Subject: Eusebio AZQUE - Former Cuban Consul, Mexico City. 18 September 1964 DDP 4-4953 Subject: Identification of Persons Appearing in FBI Photograph No. D 33-46 (Commission Exhibit No. 2625).
14-00000 SEGRET  SENSITR™ Intelligence Sources on Oswald's Visit to Mexico City in 1963 Ts (unittterei] coveraae: b4 From the time the Mexico Station was opened fin April 1947 \unti1 the arrival of Mr. Win Scott as Chief of Stationfin ©? 1955] the Station had developed a support apparatus to exploit leads from the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City. This umbrella type project (LIPSTICK) consisted of multi-line phone taps, three photographic sites, a mobile surveillance team and a mail inter- cept operation. - Telephone taps (LIFEAT) were placed by fan emp] ayee of the local telephone company who was] handled by a Station case officer. The number of lines tapped was limited only by the avail- ability of a listening post nearby and the availability of language (English, Spanish, Soviet, Polish, Czech, etc.) transcribers. Generally, these were Mexican or Mexican-American recruited agents. Three photographic sites were handled by a Station case officer assisted by technicians on TDY from Headquarters who advised the Station on the best types of cameras, films, and con- cealment devices. These operations had sub-crypts under project LIPSTICK (namely: LIMITED, LILYRIC and LICALLA). LIMITED was a fixed site directly opposite the Soviet Embassy (across the street) which had both a vehicle and a pedestrian entrance. The E2 IMPDET CL BY 004645
14-00000 gate to the Soviet Embassy was on the northwest corner of tke Soviet compound and the LIMITED site was diagonally across a double laned street on the southeast corner of that block (See attached diagram). LIMITED was the first photo base and opera- ted strictly on an experimental basis in the early stages. This base, however, was closed when the Station received word that the photograph of the "unidentified man" was being released by the Warren Commission. LILYRIC was an alternate photographic base. It was located in an upper story of an apartment building on the same side of the street as the LIMITED site but in the middle of the block south. It had a planted view of the front gate of the Soviet Embassy. LICALLA, the third photographic site, was located in one of a row of four houses on the south side of the Soviet Embassy compound. This site overlooked the back garden of the Soviet Embassy compound. The purpose of this operation was to get good identification photographs of Soviet personnel. The three - photographic sites were managed by a recruited agent who was a | Mexican citizen, the son of an American mother and Mexican father (deceased). This agent collected the film from the LIMITED and LILYRIC sites three times a week. The film was then devleoped and printed into 8 x 10 contact print strips. LICALLA film was ori- ginally processed in the Station but in early [1999] due to the resignation of a technician, this film like that of LIMITED and LILYRIC was processed on the outside by a recruited agent. ny;
14-00000 SEGRE! SENS! nr Mobile surveillance was conducted by two American staff officers. These two officers organized a surveillance team of six recruited agents which used late model cars and a panel truck for surveillance. The team could be activated by radio from the LIMITED site whenever someone of interest left the gate of the Soviet Embassy. These agents were aware of the LIMITED site since they had been issued LIMITED photographs for identification purposes. The Station also conducted a [unilateral] mail intercept -~ operation, LIBIGHT, which was handled by an American case officer. [A recruited Mexican agent > who had a semi-official status| obtained selected letters from a sub-agent femployed by the’Mexican postal system, | . 24 2. Liaison \Coverage: _ 24 . . [Liaison]coverage was unreliable and insecure as charac- terized by the nature of the Mexican Services| at that time. The Mexican Direction of Federal Security (DFS), fwith whick We con- ducted liaison,] was a hip-pocket group run out of the Mexican Ministry 2f Government. This Ministry was principally occupied with political investigations and control of foreigners. Their agents were cruel and corrupt. (A Station officer trained a number of them in name tracing and travel control. (In 1958, at the instigation of a Mexican official, a joint telephone tap operation came into existence. The operation,] SECRET , SENSHTHE rm] 4
14-00000 [wich became known as tewoy Zats run by a Mexican officerd| The listening post had 30 lines connected at one time. The transcription room was staffed by[Mexican Any officers In 1961,}/ because of mismanagemevd by the Mexican principals, ( the Station Chief, himself, became the project case officer. A Station officer assisted him in the daily supervision of the listening post and in picking up the transcripts and the tapes. There was also an American technician inside the listening post. 3. Oswald Coverage: Z In mid-1962, (the Mexican officer id charge of LIENVOY (the joint tap operation) asked the American officer at the LIENVOY listening\ post for the telephone numbers of the Soviet, Cuban and Satellite Embassies in anticipation of pdssible cover- age. | The Station inmediate1y [disconnected all of the ny lateral telephone taps on these Embassies so that they would not be dis- covered when the Mexicans hooked up their taps. The Nexicans “| soon thereafter connected five Cuban lines, five Soviet lines, three Czech lines, two Polish lines, and one Yugoslav line. At the listening post, a live monitor made short summaries of con- versations of interest which were then included in a daily re- sume for the Chief of Station. Later, when a reel was completely recorded, full transcripts were typed and passed to the Station; however, there was usually a time lag of a day or two. Reels which contained Russian or a language other than Spanish or
14-00000 SECRET /SENSITIVE wt English were taken to another location for translation and typing. Mr. Boris Tarasoff did the Russian translations but because of the volume of Russian conversations, the trans- lations usually ran about a week behind the date of the con- versation. All transcripts were made in either Spanish or English since the Chief of Station could read only these two languages and because he personally screened the transcripts for operational leads. As soon as the Station learned that an American iden- tifying himself as Lee Oswald phoned the Soviet Embassy, Miss Ann Goodpasture of the Station started screening all photographs. However, here again, there was a backlog because the photographs were picked up three times a week, but those picked up were usually for dates a few days before since the technician who was proces- sing the film did so on a night-time basis. Further, photographs were not made initially until a complete roll of film was used. Later this was changed and the operator cleared the camera at the end of each day regardless of amount of unused film remaining. The instructions were to cover the entire work day (office hours) and to photograph all Soviets, their families, all foreigners, and cars with foreign license plates. Human error did occur but generally the agents were conscientious. The Cuban Embassy cover- age had more sophisticated equipment using a pulse camera which frequently developed mechanical difficulties. CEOTET /€0N SeoneL /SE a
14-00000 - SECREL SENSITIVE eq Oswald came to the attention of the listening post operators from a tap of the Soviet line. It was picked up and taken to Mr. Boris Tarasoff for translation because the caller was trying to speak in Russian. There was some delay because Station personnel waited to review the photographs coincidentally with the typed transcript. 4. Airport Coverage: This is discussed at Tab B. _ 6 CTHSITIVE C-s ret co rr pan
14-00000 a In the course of the research effort leading to this general report, there were newspaper stories relating to the assassination of President Kennedy and to CIA. Some of these appear to have been based on specially designed stories emanating from the House Select Committee on Assassinations. At the time of their appearance they were the subject of comments prepared in CIA. These newspaper stories and the comments are attached. The following newspaper stories and comments are listed below: Tab Tab Tab Tab Tab Tab Tab Tab G.] G.2 G.3 G.4 G.5 G.6 G.7 ~ Jack Anderson column on 6 May 1977 alleging CIA activity in Dallas, Texas in 1963. Jack Anderson column on 20 January 1977 alleging that CIA is tied to a false Oswald story. Norman Kempster story on 1 January 1977 alleging that CIA withheld data on Oswald. Clare Booth Luce involvement with Cuban exiles. Ronald Kessler story on 26 November 1976 alleging CIA withheld details of Oswald tele- phone calls, with report on handling of documents. John Goshko story on 13 November 1976 alleging that Oswald ‘told the Cubans of his plan to kill Kennedy. Tabloid Midnight story on 2 August 1976 regarding CIA and Castro. G.8 Washington Post story on 1 October 1976 concerning CIA consideration of possibly interviewing Lee Harvey Oswald in 1960.
14-00000 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence VIA : Deputy Director of Central Intelligence FROM : Jona H. Waller Inspector General SUBJECT :  dack Anderson 6 May 1977 Column Entitled "Odd CIA Activity in Dallas in 1963" REFERENCE : OLC Memorandum for Director of Central Intelligence - OLC 77-1816 (attached) 1. Action Requested: None, for information only. 2. Background: The attacned Jack Anderson column is a mixture of some fact and error. At least portions of it seen to have been leaked by someone connected with the House Select Committee on Assassinations. 3. Factual information on matters covered in the article follows: a. Alpha 66 was an anti-Castro Cuban Exile Organization. Antonio Veciana was one of its founders. Veciana contacted the Agency on three occasions for assistance in an assassination plot against Castro (December 1960; July 1962 and April 1966). Gn each occasion he was turned down. The Agency had no rasponsibility for or sponsorship of Alpha 66. b. Veciana was registered in the Inter-Service Ragistry by the U.S. Army for the period November 1962 to July 1966 at which time he was terminated without prejudice. c. Veciana reportedly collaborated with a Cuban Government Intelligence Officer, Guillermo Ruiz, in connection with Alpha 66 activities. Ruiz is married to a cousin of Veciana. B2, HPD CL OY boa:
14-00000 rd pi ~ d. Anderson attempts to connect one Morris Bishop with CIA in Dallas; newspavers in Da Has have tried to identify Bishop with our DCD repre sentative in Dallas, Mr. J. Walton Moore. A cording to our records, no Agency officers ever used the name of Morris Bishop as an alias. No one named Morris Bishop was ever employed by tne Agency. e. The FBI identified the three men who visited Mrs. Odio. Lee Harvey Oswald was not one of them. The Warren Commission was satis- fied that Oswald could not have been in Dallas at the time of the visit. vielen 3 Jobe BV iulor John H. Waller Attachment - 1 Distribution: Original - Director of Central Intelligence w/att. ~ Deputy Director of Central Intelligence w/att. ~ Assistant to the Director (Public Affairs) w/att. - Office of Legislative Ccunsel w/att. - Office of General Counsel w/att. - Executive Registry w/att - IG Subject w/att. ! ~ IG Chrono w/att.’ ~ d.l.Leader Chrono w/att.,-— cond mee owed — aed ened cel med mel { a O1G/J.L.Leader:aa]
emegrenee sae os sme + 2 a haeaneeeteencnnoteacnanieteunnph actif, sete sient ek ne ae ween ane ates + enema (sete ADEA AAEee aati + = Jack Ander rSOn ¢ “and and Les ‘fhe secret files ot the House Assas- . sinations Committee contain repocts of strange CIA activities in Dallas on the eve of the Jona. B. Kenned iy assassina- tion, - aad Credible witnesses” have confirmed _ our past reports that the accused assag~~ sin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was in touch: - with ant-Castro Cubans ‘tin Dallas. One confidential repoct states that “in 1953, .: Oswald was seen leaving the Dallas of-:;- fice of Alpha 66." This was a Cuban commaado group trained by the CLA. ¢ - A Cuban CIA operative, Antonio V2- ciana, also told investigators that he . had been summoned to Dailas in Au-. gust.1963, by his CLA contact—a myste-" rious man who went by the uame of Morris Bishop. States a coufideatial - summary: “When (Veciana) arcived, - _. Bishop was accompanied hy another... > raan, Lee Harvey Oswald” ’ Another witness who impressed the : investigators, Sylvia Odio, told them that two anti-Castro Cubans had intro- duced her to an American by the name | of Leon Oswald. She was told that Os- wald was trying “to convince ante Castro Cuban groups. . to kill Presi- dent Kennedy.” After the assassina- tion, she recognized this American as Lea Harvey Oswald. The House investigators don’t really beliave that the CLA had any part la the murder of President Kennedy. More ikely, they suspect the CIA may have tried to cover up some embar- rassing contacts with Oswald in Dallas. In any. casa, the CLA took pains to give the impression that Oswald was in. Sexico City at the time Lhat witnesses claimed he was dealing. with the CLA- guided Cubans in Dallas. Veciana, for exainole, told of a strange call he re- cs THE WASHINGTON POST _ Les Wii /Ritten ceived from his CLA ‘contact afte er Kou _nedy was killed. The CLA man, Morris Bishop, asked Veciana to contact his cousin, Buil- lamo Ruiez, who worked for the Cuban embassy Jn Mexico City. Relates a con- wffdentlal report: “Veciana was to relay Bishop's offer ‘to’ pay Rulez and his * wife to say that they had mat with Cs" wala in Mexico City.” .This aot only would nave placed os "wald out of Dallas but would have thrown suspicion on the Castra gov- ernment. The ruse was later called off. instead, the CIA cited secret‘tapes and photographs a3 evidence that Oswald had been in touch with both the Cuban . and Soviet embassies in Mexico City. ‘The CIA kept tapes of all phone cails going in and out of the bvo embassies. - Photographs were also taken of every- " gne entering and leaving these embas- “Odd CTA Nelivin yin. Dalles ia LOC sies. On Oct..1, 1983, the CIA notified - other US. embassics that “an Ameri-_ can male, who identified himseif as Lee Oswald, contacted the Soviet Em- bassy in Mexico City.” Oswald was described in the cable as “approximately 35 years old, with an athlete build, about six feet "tal, with a receding hairline.” The cemmittee files note that this “ta no way physi- cally resembles the Lee Harvey Os- wald accused of assaasinating Pr esl dent Kennedy.” ° The CiA songnt photographs isom the “navy to compare with is pho tographs of Oswald at the Soviet em- bassy. Declares a committee report “These photographs, though obviously ‘not of the correct Lea Hrvey Gswald, became the Warren Commission’s 2x- hibit 207. The CiA admitted thai there hed been. 2 micup but never cleared the inatter up.” A CiA witness has tld committer } a yestivaiors, meanwnile, taat the CLA’: monitcring camera happened +o break down on the day that Oswald allegediy visited the Soviet Embassy. Bul the CLA tap on the Soviet mbassy's 8 phone produced an alleged telephone cai _ from someone who ideatified bimsel/ as “Lee Heary Oswald’ The CLA -wiiness claimed that the ne- tual voice recarding of the telephone conversation “was destroyed ia rou- tine destruction procedures approxi - yoately One week after it was ve esived.” Yet more than seven week3 later, the FBI claimed to have heard the telephone conversation that the CA said bad been destroyed. Th2 FBI's 3 judgment: ‘was that the voice did not beiong to OswaliL Wrote the late FBI director J. Edear "Hoover on Nov. 23, 1863: “The Central Intelligence Agency advised taat on Oct. 1, 1663, an extremely sensitive * source had reported that an individual Yadentified bimself as Lee Cswaldd, who contacted the Soviet Embassy 32 ja Biexica City 3 inquiring as to any mess fing . “Special agents of this bureau, who have conversed with Oswald in Dallas, Tex, have chservet photographs ot te tote sent bon ae ene the individual referred to above and -- have listened to 2 recording of his yoice. These special agents are of ihe” ouinion that the abovereferred-to in- dividual was not Lea Harvey Oswald” The House investigators are beyia- ning to wonder whether the CLA con-  encted the whole Oswald adventurs in Mexice City in a0 attemot to cancaar -- nus, real activiiies in Dallas,
14-00000 ij agit: tyre L. A/COG/02L-77 MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Operations FROM , > Raymond A. Warren Chief, Latin America Division & SUBJECTS > A, Jack Anderson 20 January 1977 Column Titled "CIA Tied to False Oswald Story" B. Identification of the Mr. X in the Anderson Column 1. The attached column, citing the testimony of a Mr. X, alleges that a CIA agent tried to link Oswald to Cuban intelli- gence officers in Mexico. There is, of course, no substance to the column's allegations. The column identifies the source as Mr. X because of attempts on his life, but subsequently gives enough information. on Mr. X to establish his identity. ' 2. According to the Anderson column, Mr. X was first met by his CIA contact in Havana before relations with U.S./Cuba were severed. Mr. X had helped to organize bank accountants to em- bezzle Cuban government funds to finance anti-Castro causes. Mr. X was reportedly recruited by a Morris Bishop (CIA contact), to ‘plan an attempt on Castro's life. The plan was to fire a bazooka from a nearby apartment building while Castro was deliver- ing one of his marathon speeches. According to the Anderson column, the plot was discovered by Castro's police and Mr. X escaped to Miami. Mr. X also reportedly tried to assassinate Castro in Chile in 1971 in league with the Venezuelan Luis Posada Carriles, who is now being detained in Caracas for the 6 October Cubana airline bombing. The Anderson column ends with the report that Mr. X worked for CIA until 1973 for expenses, but ‘was paid $253,000 in cash by Morris Bishop when he was terminated. | dey ape WARNING NOTICE a or — Sas INTELLIGENCE SOURCES AND METHODS “INVOLVED 3 va SECRET B2 IMPDET CL BY 02525] {3 . 4 ‘ | i i on 4 + \ : , H io: : r . Hl a ee een een re et — co rte one nae mony at fhe, o , ony - Af Og acne ete memee of ot ae ae le ae ote AMO HEL
14-00000 3. Frow the above description of Mr. X, tt is reasonably clear that Mr. X ts Antonio Carlos VECIANA Blanch (201-312966). VECITANA, an assistant bank manager and past president of a pubtic accountants dssociation in Havana, first contacted CTA in HWavaninae, in December 1960 when he asked the COS, at that time Pian Ay noe ,| to help in an assassination plot against Castro. VECTANA asked 'for visas for ten relatives of the four men assigned to kill Castro, and also requested four MI rifles with adapters for grenades plus eight grenades. The COS did not encourage VECIANA and subsequently checked with an Embassy officer who reported that VECIANA had made Similar "wild-eyed" proposals to him. On 23 November 196L the Miami News published a report of an unsuccessful attempt by Antonio VECIANA to kill Castro. VECIANA reportedly had arranged to assassinate Castro and Cuban President Osvaldo Dorticos on 5 October in Havana, but the bazooka he was using failed to fire. 4. There has been no Agency relationship with VECIANA. A POA, which was granted for his use in para-military affairs in January 1962, expired in November 1962. VECIANA was born on 4 October 1955 in Havana. He was a member of the People's Revo- lutionary Movement, an anti-Castro group. in Cuba during 1960-6], and was one of the founders of Alpha-66. A certified public accountant by trade, VECIANA was with’ A.I.D: in La Paz in 1968-72. VECTANA was registered in ISR to the U.S. Army in November 1962 and he was terminated without prejudice in July 1966. On 23 July 1962 VECIANA was interviewed, at his request, by Mr. Harry Real from the- DCD New York office. VECIANA asked Real to arrange a meeting with a senior CIA officer to discuss Alpha-66's plans to assassinate Castro and to request CIA's assistance (U.S.$100,000; 10,000 Cuban pesos; 48 hand grenades). There is no indication that this request was ever acted upon by CIA. Q3 "S. In April 1966 a LA Division officer, (Jonn R. Lucy} using the alias John Livingston, met VECIANA in New York City. Phe meeting was arranged by a retired naval officer, James Cogswell, who had informed Chief, WH Division that he had information of valuc concerning Cuba. When (&ey] arrived in New York City for the meeting, he was introduced by Cogswell to VECIANA. He imnediately launched a discussion of the Cuban political situation and noted his strong feeling that the only solution “was the assassination of Castro. (Laty advised VECIANA that he was in no position to provide him with assistance or encourage him in an assassination attempt and was only interested in gathering information which he thought was the purpose of the meeting. VECIANA subsequently said that his roommate Helix ZABALA, a_Cuban refugee, had excellent contacts in Havana. It was clear to Lacy) however, VECIANA was attempting to use ZABALA poten- tially to get Agency financial support for his organization. * oom ” . é ‘ SECRET 2 an-G
14-00000 ° 7] Py VECTANA sugeested that $50,000, would be needed to get his activities off the pround. [L8ty)indicated to VECIANA that’ he would Look into the ZABALA watter and would probably arrange for ZABALA to be ‘contacted in Puerto Rico, 6. There is no indication in the file that any Agency officer in contact with VECIANA ever used an alias Morris Bishop. There is no Morris Bishop listed in true name in the DDO rolls. There was never any contractual relationship with VECIANA and he was not paid CIA funds. 7. On 11 January 1977 a sanitized copy of VECTANA's 201 [ile was made available to staffers from the Senate Select Committee on ~ Intelligence. sisucd Raymond A. Warren Raymond A. Warren Attachment Od DDO/C/LA/COG/OPS AWJDevine\js (9229) (21 January 1977) - Distribution: Orig & 1 - Addressee . 1 - ADDO 1 - LA/COG/Chrono 2 - C/LAD 1) - 201-312966 1 - held otf OPS - f - ASST. TEOCE Sb Cc RET fA
14-00000 i Amystery witness has sworn to con gressional investizutors that 2 Central Intelligence Agency agent introduced him to Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas three months before Oswald gunned ‘down President John F. Keanedy. - ' The witness, whom we have agreed - ‘to identify oniy ag Mr. X because of at- ~ tempts of his life, is the founder of a- Cuban terrorist group that worked - closely with the CLA. . The group held secret meetings ‘at . 3126 Hoilandale in Dallas before the as- " gassination. Not long after Kennedy ~ was shot, a Dallas deputy sheriff was . told by an informant that Oswaid had - been associating with some Cubans ate. 4 5 “3128 Harlendale.” < : “Mr. 3’s dramatic testimony. ‘casts * new Ught.on the story Sylvia Cdio, .. .. daughter of a wealthy opponent of Cu - ~ban Premier Fidel Castro, teld to the FSI Two montks before the Kennedy -- killing, she related, she was visited in -: her Dallas apartment by three men - who identified themselves | as Arends '. of her father. One was introduced to her 2 ‘28 5 “Leon ’ Oswald.” When she saw the picture ia ’ the newspapers of the man who had - Shot Kennedy, she fainted from shock. ’- Jt was the same Oswald, she was cer- -tain, who had visited her apartment. . Congressional investigators have -now learned that the Jate J. Edgar " sHoover deliberately misled the War- | - ren Commission about Odio’s mysteri- ous visitors. She waa such a persuasive witness that the commission staff was preparing to investigate her story . thoroughly. Staff members even speculated, ae- cording to one internal memo, that the . THE WASHINGTON POST See SRAL Jack. Anderson and Les VW} ultten Mystery 3; iiness ” anti-Castro” forces might have re- _eruited Oswaid, a known, pro-Castro activist to xil Kennedy. - . “The motive on this” states the me mo, “weuid of course be the expecta-. tion ibat after the Presideht was | killed, Oswald would de caught or at “He would then blame the assassination on the Casire government; and the call: - fora forceful overthrow would hei irre: - :.Sistible.” - But Hoover ‘abruptly blocked. this: “tine of inguiry by notifying the War- - rea Commission on Sepr. 21, 1964, that the FBI had Iccated and identified : Odio’s callers. He named them as “Loran Hall, Lawrence Howard and. William Seymour, all anti-Castroites. . Hoover even suggested that Odio could ~ . have confused the names “Loran Hall” . and “Leon Cswald.” : Now the congressional investigators have uncovered evidence that all three - denied visiting the Odio apartment - and that the ¥BI had obtained their deniais before Hoover wrote his letter © ‘tothe Warren Commission. - The investigators have alse obtained _ the tape of a fascinating conversation, ’ predicting two weeks in advance that _ Kennedy would be shot “from an off- - . dice _building with a high-powerec ri- fie.” The prediction was made by the - late Joseph Miteer, a right-wing rab- “ble rouser, who also happened to have - close connections with antiCastro leaders. .- dep tt 7 The conversation © was taped on Nov.‘ 9, 1983, in Miami by an FBI informant named Willie Somersett, who turned the tape over to the FBI the next day. ‘Milteer is heard on the tape describing . Wednesday. January 19, 1977 * least his identity ascertained; the law .. enforcement authorities and the pub--. fa - feer. ve ‘wald in. the company of a CIA agent... ‘. the mystery witness closely on three oe _ Oswald sighting.” - nedy’s killer. - man was Oswald. Mr. & replied, ac-:: _.cosding to the memo, that he had*: Fh IFK Inquiry bie rouser added knowingly that ken. a oe nedy “knows he is a marszed man.” . Milteer later admitted to the FBI” 2 ss : 3 how Kennedy would die. Then the rab: at J that he had been in Dallas in June,- 3? 1963, but denied having any knowl" 4 edge of the Kennedy assasssination, 4. However, the informant told the FBI. 4-- that he asked Milteer after the shoot-: ‘ing whether he had known about it in. on advance or had merely been guessing. - “YT don’t do any guessing,” replied 1 Mi. . But the most explosive “development 4 oH is Mr. X’s statement that he met Os-.. ’ Congressional investigators questioned - . Separate occasions. “They finally con-- . cluded that “his credibility is strength-~: ened py the details’he provides consist-: - ent with what he told us before. Signif-- icantly, ne remains very strong on the ‘ The encounter occurred in a down. fen town Dallas building, where Mr. X had ‘8 -.: an appointment with his CLA contact. §° ¢ . The agent was accompanied by a man: whom Mr. X later recognized-as Ken “When he saw if was Oswald that fot killed Kennedy,” the investigators re-~ § ported in a confidential memo, ‘he’ nearly freaked out, but he never said: anything.” a The investigators tried to pin down. e . Mr. X on how he could be sure that — learnea “how_to retain the character-=" — + ics of a person; he had trained himself*: @-". to do that. And if it wasn't Oswald, it. 2. was someone who was exactly like Os oe _“wald, his exact double. wl nae: coo : 1 we ond sear wee ede ah elt fe:
14-00000 ins ce 10 January 1977 MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Counterintelligence Staff FROM : Russell B. Holmes CI Operations Group SUBJECT : Article by Norman Kempster Appearing in the Los Angeles Times of 1 January 1977 and Entitled "CIA Withheld Data on Oswald" (copy attached) In light of the inaccurate and misleading statements attributed by Kempster to Sprague, the following comments are offered in rebuttal. a. "The CIA withheld from the FBI for almost two months in 1963 information that Léé Harvey Uswald had talked with Cuban and Soviet officials about his A en aE Rr TT, Ray Se Aenea EE h Siena nanan desire to visit those countries ... Comment: Oswald's name did not surface in Mexico City until J October 1963 when a hitherto unknown male telephoned the Soviet Embassy. During this telephone call, the caller identi- fied himself as "Lee Oswald.'' On 8 October 1963, the Mexico City Station cabled to Headquarters the highlights of the transcript of the conversation. (1) On 1 October 1963, an American male who spoke broken Russian and said his name was Lee Oswald (phonetic), stated he was at the Soviet Embassy on 28 September when he spoke with a consul whom he believed to be Valeriy Vladimirovich Kostikov. Oswald asked the Soviet guard Ivan Obyedkov, who answered, if there was anything new regarding a telegram to Washington. Obyedkov upon checking said nothing had been received yet, but the request had been sent. (2) Mexico Station said it had photographs of a male who appeared to be an American entering the Soviet Embassy at 1216 hours, leaving at 1222 on 1 October. His apparent age was 35, athletic build, about six feet, receding hairline, balding top. Wore khakis and sport shirt. PR yO ren € pats t Tes ‘ ‘ Rae Ut:
14-00000 (3) No local dissemination was being made by the Station. [MEXI 6453 (IN 36017), 8 October. ] (Note: Cablese has been rendered here into readable English, without substantive changes or omissions. Cryptonyms and pseudonyms have been omitted or put into clear text.) The above information was received in Headquarters on 9 October; the following day Headquarters incorporated this information in an electrical dissemination to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of State, the Department of the Navy, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. (1) On 1 October 1963 a reliable and sensitive source in Mexico reported that an American male who identified himself as Lee Oswald, contacted the - Soviet Embassy in Mexico City inquiring whether the Embassy had received any news concerning a telegram which had been sent to Washington. The American was described as approximately 35 years old, with an athletic build, about six feet tall, with a "receding" hairline. (2) It is believed that Oswald may be identical to Lee Henry [sic] Oswald, born on 18 October 1939 in New Orleans, Louisiana, a former U.S. Marine who defected to the Soviet Union in October 1959 and later made arrangements through the United States Embassy in Moscow to return to the United States with his Russian-born wife, Marina Nikolaevna Pusakova [sic] and their child. (3) The information in paragraph (1) is being disseminated to your representatives in Mexico City. Any further information received on this subject will be furnished you. This information is being made available to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. [DIRECTOR 74673, 10 October 1963. ] (Note: It should be pointed out that for some unknown reason the Headquarters desk responsible for making the dissemination neglected to include the information that Oswald had visited the Soviet Embassy on 28 September 1963.) It was not until 22 November 1963, when the Station initiated a review of all transcripts of telephone calls to the Soviet Embassy
14-00000 that the Station learned that Oswald's call to the Soviet Embassy on 1 October 1963 was in connection with his request for a visa to the USSR. Because he wanted to travel to the USSR by way of Cuba, Oswald had also visited the Cuban Embassy in an attempt to obtain a visa allowing him to transit Cuba. Inasmuch as Oswald was not-an investigative responsibility of the CIA and because the Agency had not received an official request from those agencies having investigative responsibility requesting the Agency to obtain further information, the Station did nothing other than ask Headquarters on 15 October 1963 for a photograph of Oswald. [MEXI 6534 (IN 40357), 15 October 1963. | On 25 October 1963, Headquarters sent a request to the Department of the Navy for a photograph of Oswald. [DIRECTOR 77978, 24 October 1963.] It was not until 26 November 1963, however, that the Navy Department apparently responded to this request. by sending directly to the Mexico City Station a photograph of Oswald. In response to a question from the Warren Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on 6 April 1963 stated that: "The investigation of Oswald in 1963 prior to receipt of the Central Intelligence Agency communication dated 10 October 1963 was directed toward the primary objective of ascertaining the nature of Oswald's sympathies for, and connection with, the FPCC (Fair Play for Cuba Committee) or subversive elements. The Central Intelligence Agency commmication which reported that a man, tentatively identified as Oswald, had inquired at the Soviet Embassy concerning a telegram which had been sent to Washington did not specify the nature of the telegram. This contact with the Soviet Embassy interjected a new aspect into the investigation and raised the obvious questions of why he was in Mexico and exactly what were his relations with the Soviets. However, the information available was not such that any additional conclusions could be drawn as to Oswald's sympathies, intentions or activities at that time. Thus, one of the objectives of the continuing investigation was to ascertain the nature of his relations with the Soviets considering the possibility that he could have been recruited by the Soviet Intelligence Services. The Central Intelligence Agency commmication, dated 10 October 1963, stated that any further information received concerning Oswald would be furnished and that our liaison repre- sentatives in Mexico City were being advised. On & 4 TSE Va athe d 7 Bee £ ste ‘ ake ote
14-00000 1 a Keon 7 4 -- 4 -- 18 October 1963, one of our FBI liaison repre- sentatives in Mexico City was furnished this infor- mation by Central Intelligence Agency and he arranged follow-up with Central Intelligence Agency in Mexico City for further information and started a check to . establish Oswald's entry into Mexico. Subsequent to the assassination, Central Intelligence Agency also advised us of Oswald's contact with the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City at the time of his visit there." {Commission Exhibit No. 833 (FBI Letter to J. Lee Rankin, dated 6 April 1964).] b. "Chief Counsel Richard A. Sprague said that the committee staff had learned that a CIA message des- cribing Oswald's activities in Mexico to federal agencies such as the FBI had been rewritten to elimi- - nate any mention of his request for Cuban and Soviet visas. The message was sent in October, more than a month before the November 22,1963 assassination." Comment: It is not CIA practice to disseminate raw information in the form it is received from the field. Field reports are received in Headquarters where they are first reviewed by the action desk. The information is then written in a form suitable for dissemination to the intelligence community, including additional information, if available, from the Agency's central counterintelligence files to make the report more meaningful to the recipient(s). Upon learning that on 1 October 1963 an American identifying himself as Lee Oswald had telephoned the Soviet Embassy, the Mexico City Station cabled to Headquarters on 8 October 1963 the highlights of Oswald's conversation with the Embassy. Because the Station at that time did not know that Oswald was Lee Harvey Oswald and that he had come to Mexico to apply for visas to the Soviet Union and Cuba, the Station reported only that information obtained through telephone tap operation against the Soviet Embassy. On 10 October 1963, the day after it received the information relating to Lee Oswald and his contact with the Soviet Embassy, Headquarters incorporated this information in an electrical dissemi- nation to the commmity and included a brief summary of biographic information obtained from central counterintelligence files on the possible identity of Lee Oswald. Since Headquarters had no indi- cation before 22 November that Oswald had gone to Mexico to apply for Cuban and Soviet visas, there was no question of eliminating any
14-00000 mention of Oswald's request for such visas. Within its limitations and capabilities, Mexico Station had complied with the Agency regulations pertaining to reporting on Americans abroad. The Station had informed Headquarters which in turn had alerted those agencies with an investigative or policy interest in Oswald as an American in the United States. Headquarters also instructed the field station to inform the local representatives of those agencies. As mentioned above, the action desk in Headquarters neglected, for unknown reasons, to include the fact that Oswald had visited the Soviet Embassy on 28 September 1963. Had this information been included it would have indicated to recipients of the report that Oswald had more than a fleeting reason to be in contact with the Embassy; however, as already stated, the reason for the 28 September contact and the subject of the telegram to Washington were, at that time, unknown. c. "The CIA's decision to withhold information ane eo S Ceca sion to withnoid_inrormacion was reversed shortly after Kennedy was killed." Comment: This statement is patently false and misleading. It is totally incompatible with Sprague's remarks to Agency representatives in Headquarters on 24 November 1976, i.e., "he will not prejudge the Agency for any sins of 'omission or commission'." d. "Sprague told a press conference that it was impossible without more information to know why the CIA hat censored its own message.’ Comment: If Sprague needed more information, why did he not ask the Agency for an explanation, instead of making it appear to the public that the Agency has been dishonest in its dealings with the intelligence community? e. "But he said the incident raised two interesting uestions: what might the other agencies have done differently if they had been more fully informed, and why did the CIA decide to remove ‘information that was considered pertinent enough to be put in an initial draft of the message?! " Comment: As already mentioned, the Agency did not know initially why Oswald was in contact with the Soviet Embassy in October 1963. Saris an fey Qa doe BE
14-00000 #% It was only after the news of the assassination had reached the Station that the Station initiated a review of its holdings. As a result of this review, the Station learned that Oswald had also visited the Cuban Embassy and that Oswald's contacts with the two embassies were in connection with his desire to travel to the Soviet Union by way of Cuba. As to what "other agencies" might have done had they had more information, attention is drawn to the FBI's comment in response to the Warren Commission's question. According to the FBI's response, some investigation had been initiated on or about 18 October in Mexico. By the 25th of October, FBI headquarters had informed its field office in New Orleans "that another Agency had determined that Lee Oswald was in contact with the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City in the early part of October 1963." The New Orleans field office in turn informed the Dallas office which had juris- diction over Oswald's place of residence. (For further detail, see IV H 447 and 459.) There was, however, no request, official or otherwise, from any of the responsible departments and agencies in Washington for further details as to Oswald's presence in Mexico and his reasons for contacting the Soviet Embassy. f. "The committee said its staff investigators had recently questioned a former CIA agent who had ‘personal knowledge’ of Oswald's visits to the Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico. As a result of that interview, the report said, staff members were sent to Mexico, where they found and questioned additional witnesses." Comment: Sprague's characterization ''a former CIA agent" is probably in reference to David Phillips. The latter's "revelations" to staff investigators (and also to Ronald Kessler) were unfortunate to say the least, in that they were inaccurate, so far as we know. There is no indication in the Oswald files that Oswald wanted to make a deal with the Soviets in return for a free trip to the USSR. The “additional witnesses" in Mexico, it is believed, are Boris Tarasov and his wife, both of whom had been under contract with the Agency in 1963. We have not been informed, officially or otherwise, by Sprague what Phillips and the Tarasovs told the staff investigators. g. " 'These witnesses had never been sought out before by any investigative body, notwithstanding the fact that they had important information concernin Statements by Lee Harvey Oswald in Mexico within 60 days of the assassination of President Kennedy ,' the report said."
14-00000 Comment: If "these witnesses" include people other than the Tarasovs it would be impossible, at this time, to make an appropriate comment. The fact remains, however, that if Sprague had obtained additional details, he should hold such information and not make it public until the Agency has had a chance to review it and comment. There are many examples in the Oswald files of statements made by people claiming to have knowledge of Lee Harvey Oswald which have been proven to be fabrications. One such person was Gilberto Nolasco Alvarado Ugarte who, on 26 November 1963, came to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. He claimed he had been in the Cuban Consulate in Mexico City on 18 September 1963 when a man he later recognized to be Lee Harvey Oswald received $6,500 in cash to kill an important person in the United States. After thorough investi- gation by Mexican authorities, the Mexico City Station, and the FBI, it was concluded that Alvarado had completely fabricated his story about Oswald. om Russell B. Holmes Attachment
14-00000 ’ Jearned ‘that a CIA message describ- = . <9 ose te -ue RS att a " IA Withheld: rat PA wee, .C a i" of vy ae, mre oe rs fe IR ssassinations Panel:- sues Report to House er re =: BY NORMAN KEMPSTER — >: =i 7 WASHINGTON—The" CIA . with- held: from: the ‘FBI for almost two "nonths in 1933 information that Lee ‘Warvey Oswald-had talked with Cu-": ban-and Soviet.officials about his de- :Sire to visit those countries,'a House :committee reported Friday. 28/227 ch ; ‘:7 The Select Committee on Assassin- | ations indicated in.a report ta the full - "House that its investigation of the- -raurder of President John F. Kennedy, ° “would focus early in 1977 on a trip - “Oswald had made:to’Mexico City in - ? October; 1983: ies.cttipei eS i te; Chief Counsel Richard A.-Sprague | “said that the’committee staff had - « oe ing: Oswald's activities in Mexico to sfederal agencies such.as,the FBI had “peen rewritten to eliminate. any men~. “tion of his request for Cuban arid So- aviet visas. The message was sent-in LOctober, more than a month before : 4the- Nov. 22, 1963, assassination. “<=--! 2“The CLA discovered Oswald's. pre--! wsence at-the eimbassies:through: its: >youtine survelllance.of those facilities. . 3 Because Oswald had once ‘defected to ethe Soviet Union, the CIA and FBI oe #22" been interested in_his activities gee ey Ce * . oS Ree . éven-before the Kennedy-assassina- ° pion Bits : “et IUE ya yee £ aw bend ~ we ate OE oe Oe 27 te:CLA’s decision to.withhold in- *; formation was reversed shortly after | ‘PRennedy-was killed.. The egency-re-: sported Oswald's efforts to.visit Cuba send:the Soviet Union, both to tae FBI: THE LOS ANGELES TIMES 1 January 1977 a . ee ee ee 7 District of Columbia's congressional dels- and to the Warren Commission, which con+*"* Bate and the chairman of the King subcom- eluded that Oswald was the assassin and mittee’ said that no decision had been made 4ad acted alone. -. Seu egtate on accepting Ray's offer.--.----° +. - Sprague told a press conference that it *_ However, Sprague indicated that it proh- _was iropossible without more information _ably would beacceébled, 2 SF vei * o know why the CLA had censored its own | “any and all people who have relevent nessage. - a re "information will be interrogated,” Sprague :” But he said the incident raised two inter- ‘said, ey rsting, questions: what might the other. .-In a personal statement issued.in con - igencies have done differently if they had junction with the report, Rep. Henry 3. seen more fully informed and why didthe Gonzalez (D-Tex.), who is to become com:- ATA decide to remove’“information that * mittee chairman in the new year, said « was considered pertinent enough to he put - thorough investigation was needed 10 atic ‘ian initial draft of the message?” 2. 24. § . i swer hundreds of pressing questions, | .. There were no firm conclusions in the * Gonzalez said that the committed Hiope) report,’ which the 12-member committee .to discover whether former FBI Director J, prepared after the first three months of its~ -Edgar Hoover's now. well-known animosi- : investigation inta the murders of Kennedy | bY toward King had affected the FBI's in- cand civil rights-Jeader. Dr;-Martin Luther: “vestigation of the assassination. 775 .. 0 s4) "King. uit BAG STS Gaile abs ES However, Gonzalez said, the cormrniltee's | . * Pechnically; the comiimittee-goss out of 3. Wark could go well heyond.the killings ci | _business Tuesday with the end of the ses~ . Kennedy and King. sq ti.ias ce 35 22 71} sion of Congress in which it was-formed. . -* - ‘The committee can shed light on the | ‘The purpose of the year-end report was to Jarger issue of-political. murder and vi- i | | | | annette urge the new Congress to reestablish the 2 olence,’ Gonzalez said. “We should nc! - committee and to give it $6.5,million to pay. -forget that President, Ford had his awn for the first year of what could be a two-'s narrow escapes, No member of the House year investigation.” f+. 73) pioh 3a Oh atighould : Shes ae nei Tore: Tiagtest, oes? Ee SAG th a eit feeb | thal the Pag the three months since its establish //POMOCS. 40.5 ARENT 0 Sab Lath s ment, the committee has initiated prelim~' ie He, sald the commilter's ultimate tas inary investigations into new and pre-'/5, ty tO fine out not Just what happen rVicusly unpursued leads in both-assassina | PUL? bye ee lee eee ae tions,” the report sald, 2254 ag YR tT -" The committee said its staff investigators had recently “questioned a. former CIA:: -agent-who had .“personal knowledge’. of . Oswald's visits-to the Soviet and Cuban - embagsies in Mexico: As a result of that in- terview,: the’ report said, staff. members’ “were sent to Mexico; where they found and “questioned additional witnesses. «7.2524 ee “* “These witnesses had never been sought] - out befdre-by- any investiga'liva body, not~-| svithstanding the fact that they nad impor-): dant information concerning statements hy “Lee Harvey: Oswald in Mexico within-60 days of the assassination of President Ken- nedy,” the reportsaid.; “S25 4f 3°, fp :° ‘The report said also that the commuiltee staff had interviewed a person who assert. | “ed that he had discussed the King murder | ‘with James Earl Ray, whe pleaded guilty | to the crime. The unidentified witness said ‘ that Ray had told him about contacting an ‘associate in Europe to receive further in- structions. The story, Which was told tore- porters by a committee member’ several "weeks ago, has not been verified p-:1.5.°5. ‘> na letter to New York Times columnist “Anthony Lewis, Ray offered this week to testify under oath at a committee hearing. : But Sprague and Walter F. Fauntroy, the. _ ~t3” EES ad _ Capitol 7Building : aa 3 wad pened eee Eee Sets THe SE et RT
14-00000 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence VIA : Deputy Director of Central Intelligence FROM : John H. Waller Inspector General SUBJECT : President Kennedy Assassination - Mrs. Luce Story 1. Action Required: None; for information only. 2. Background: In 1975, Mrs. Clare Boothe Luce telephonically informed Director William Colby of support she had rendered to certain Cubans who were conducting their own independent operations against the Castro Government in 1961 and 1962. Mrs. Luce stated that she and Mr. William Pawley, an American financier long associated with the Dominican Republic, helped finance a motorboat for three Cubans. The three Cubans, concurrently, were members of a CIA supported Cuban exile organization. After the 1962 missile crisis, all resistance groups against Castro were ordered to cease operations. At this time, Mrs. Luce and Mr. Pawley also ceased their financial support. In 1963, very shortly after the assassination of President Kennedy, the Cuban captain of the motorboat, which Mrs. Luce helped to subsidize, phoned Mrs. Luce to inform her that "Oswald was a hired gun". She, in turn, informed him to tell all to the FBI. At the behest of Director Colby, Mrs. Luce passed the story on to Senator Richard Schweiker, chairman of the subcommittee investigating the Warren Commission Report. A version of the information was given to columnist Betty Beale and was published in the Washington Star on 16 November 1975 (attached). A staff member of the Senate Select Committee, on 10 December 1975, inquired as to what the Agency thought of the story. The Agency oral response was that it had nothing to add to the news- paper story and that since this query involved U.S. resident Cuban refugees, the FBI would be the proper agency to contact.
14-00000 t The transcripts were received by CIA's Inspector General on 22 December 1976 from Mr. Colby's secretary. At the suggestion of the Inspector General, the Office of Security sent copies of the transcripts and a background note to: the Federal Bureau of Investi- gation in January 1977. We do not know whether the FBI passed this information to the House Select Committee on Assassinations. This story is summarized here for your background in the event that it should be replayed. by the press as a result of releases which may be made by the House Assassination Subcommittee. While it is not a new story, the actual CIA transcript of Mrs. Luce's conversation with Mr. Colby could be considered newsworthy and could be presented in a manner detrimental to CIA. Attachment: a/s {- - cc: Asst. for Public Affairs w/att Mr. H. Hetu Distribution: | Original - Addressee w/att. | i - puel w/att. | ~ ASst. for PA/Mr. Hetu w/att. u - ER w/att. / -T - IG Subject (Task Force tt. ; - IG Chrono w/o att. ) wa | J.L.Leader Chrono w/o att. OIG/J.L.Leader:aal]
14-00000 — @ Dascinaun One day in the latter part of October, Clare Luce re- | ceived a call from Sen. Richard Schweiker, R.-Pa., | chairman of the subcommittee investigating the War- ; en Commission Report. He wanted her to persuade | same Cubans she had known — Cubans who had known Lee Harvey Oswald — to testify before his committee. } ‘irs. Luce’s efforts to locate the Cubans led to a some- } what bloodcurdling warning. But let her tell the story ‘ irom the beginning. ‘| “The year is 1961, a year of great American: trauma,”’ she began ‘her narration to recent dinner ! ests In her aqua-colored Watergate apartment. “I! had a friend named Billi Pawley who was brought up in Cuba and who was Truman’s ambassador to Peru and Brazil. 1 got ta know Bill ve where he had built up a voluntary outiit called The Flying Tigers. Bill was alsa called in by the CIA to re- cruit Cubans fer the Bay of Pigs operation. Afterwards he was a very unhapoy man. - os st ‘Ona day he called me up and said, ‘How would you like to get in on the Cuban Flying Tiger operation?’ He had in mind a flest of moterboats subsidized by Ameri- well in India and China of Pigs operation — all these young kids who had been Stranded after the Hay of Pigs. . . “I said, ‘Fine.” So I helped to finance a motorboat. ‘The three Iads who manned mine came up to see me several times. They would leave the coast of Florida and land in Cuba and come out with information. The information they came out with was remarkably accu- rate—- that the Russians were building missile sites in ! Cuba. I was told that the information was eventually ! fed to Sen. Ken Keating and was passed on to the! White House. You remember what an impression it made and how accurate it was. “THEN CAME THE MISSILE showdown. Soon after the showdown I got a telephoze call from Allen Dulles | saying the Neutrality Act had been invoked and all, Americans must cease and desist in any further efforts | iowards the liberation of Cuba. OF course, we desist-: To years later she and her husband Harry (Henry) luce were Sitting In their New York apartment listen- : ing to the televised reports of President Kennedy’s } asszssination when around midnight she received a } | | cans and manned by Cubans who had been in the Bay P i | f | TINTS te Meme ta SAO EER TNA HN AD LT Pr Oneal EA eGR “ETM ate - than 25, a young student lawyer. He said, ‘He and the other two members of his crew had moved _remempber, and that Oswald was their hired gun. Os-.! . wald, he said, had tried to report the Communist plans } . PATO OR rm a) ’ Pasasaab , ‘t) is Beity Beale - phone call from New Orleans. “It was the captain of |- my motorboat,” said Clare, “A young man not more! “Mrs. Luce;I want to tell you about Oswald.” “He said that immediately after the 1961 missile showdown, FBI men had come to Miami and told the Cubans to break up all resistance prouos and disperse. to New Orleans where they started another “Free Cuba” group. They had been there a year and a half “The Cubans all thought he’was a kcok. Oswald bragged about having been in Russia and Said he was an ex-Marine. He said he could shoot anybody and he would be happy to shoot Castro. He had no money, he was living with his wife in New Orleans and it loaked like he was presenting himself as a hired gun. They didn’t like the cut of his jib so they turned him off. But they followed him and found he was in a Fair Play for Cuba Communist cell to whose members he was giv- _ When who made contact with them but Oswald! 7 ‘ing the same line. | “And IT remember this from the telephone conversa- ; tion — Oswald was telling the cell that he could shoot | anyone, including the secretary of the Navy. The Free | Cubans continued to tail him and found that suddenly | he had money, and he started going to Mexico City. He | made several trips. They continued their penetration | of the Cuban Communist cell. He said they made tape | recordings of some of Oswald’s meetings and they had . taken photographs of him distributing handbills for the Fair Play unit. The next thing they knew President Kennedy was shot. . - “THE YOUNG CUBAN WHO called me,” continued } former Ambassador Luce, “said that there was a! Cuban Communist assassination team working some-! where — in Dallas, New.Orleans or wherever — I don't | to the FBI some time before the assassination. But be- ; cause he was out for the dough they didn’t believe him. ; -% - - _ * gpniinued: OA A Daa EI SE SS OREM Oa is AAS Est St Ceo SMA AA a RE ORR ESET No
“Sewer? we a . . . I suppose that the FBI must hear from a thousand - oh ‘erackpots’ a week. , el . In any event, on the telephone my young friend told me that they had these tape recordings of Oswald and photogranks and what should they do? I said, ‘Go to 8S o 1 said I put the whole thing out of my rind. Comes the Warren Commission and says Oswald alone . was responsible and I forgot the whole matter. - ‘ “Thea, in 1967, a fellow named Jim Garrison, dis- trict attorney in New Orleans, hit the headlines charg- ing that the assassination was a conspiracy. At that moment 1 was reminded of the information I had re- ceived and I began to wonder whether or not the Warren Commission had got all the facts. I couldn't remember the names of the Cubans but 1 finally locat- ed one crewman who was living in Miami again and I asked him What happened after he went to the FBI. “He said, ‘We turned over copies of everything. We | were then told.to keep our traps shut and that we would be deported if we said anything publicly.’ He said one of the crew was deported to Guatemala, and one was murdered — stabbed in front of a store. . jing been - the FBI and tell them everything you know.’ That hav- ‘**THETR INFORMATION, HE SAID, never appear- . ed in the Warren Commission report. He said, ‘fam married now, I jive in Miami and I don’t want to get involved in itever again’ - . - os - When Sen. Schweiker made his request of Clare | ‘Luce less than three weeks ago, she telephoned anoth- ex Cuban friend to see if he could Jocate and persuade the young man to testify behind closed doors. Replied the oldec Cuban, if the testimony was behind 13 closed doors it would still become public. . ° -* “Americans think they are playing games,” he told her. ‘They don’t know they are involved in a life or Geath business. No, I won't tell you where he can be found. The people working for a free Cuba would lose their lives. A lot of them have already. They are not interested in making political headlines for politicians. You think the Bay of Pigs, the nuclear missiles, the assassination of the president was the end of the story? I tell you it is just the beginning. What you Americans _don’t understand is, there are trained Coramunist ter- _ xorists, assassination, kidnapping, bombing and sabo- ~tage teams all over the country and the world.” - PIT RENN OG AID _ing story to her guests, @ 00 nti-Comit - Jeader was exploded into bits in hiscarin Miami. | - o i my Ps perenne poses career anemia, ttt AO NAS YA ‘ . . — Wide Werld Psotos . 77°. Clare Boathe Luce _. MA year of great American trauma.” sat - ae ’ * pen GOO RAD Mears et ONEETED EN SCETND eTPee OPER SAECO A iy EPO SUOTSN ES + a ‘ The very day after that conversation, observed) Clare gravely, bombs went off at the State Depart-. . ment here, ai the U.S.-U.N. mission and four banks in: New York and at three places in Chicago. And close to} the same hour she was recounting the whole fascinat+ Cuban, anti-Communist:
14-00000 {| | UNL ASSIFIED Ld se ONLY [| | UANPIUCNTIAL fof deuci i JTING AND RECORD Sh. LI | SUBJECT: (Optional) g FROM: EXTENSION NO. Inspector General 6565 a 2 £ 24 Hgs. R-12521™ 6 January 1977 TO: (Officer designation, room number, and building) DATE OFFICER'S COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom INITIALS to whom. Draw oa line across column after each comment.) FORWARDED 70 “oO RECEIVED 1. 6 OLC ATTN: Lyle Miller SUBJECT: Attached Transcripts The OLC and the IG concur that the attached transcripts should be provided to the FBI. A blind memo is also attached. It is requested that the 0/S pass the package to the FBI. yr ae S =, 3. ~~ oS ~ ws an) 4. =O, i d \ Director of Security . Se . ; John H. Waller a ; ; je , ten td : i cana iene eT —_ | ra £ ff: “eg 7 = a - — . | é — Wea i N . “hy ; 4 a ae Fork 610 UES] SECRET [(] CONFIDENTIAL [[] INTERNAL =) UNCLASSIFIED
14-00000 6 January 1977 MEMORANDUM SUBJECT: Transcripts of October 1975 Telephone Conversations Between Director Colby, Mrs. Clare Boothe Luce and Mr. Justin McCarthy 1}. Attached herewith are transcripts of two telephone conversations between Director William Colby and Mrs. Clare Boothe Luce, and one between Director William Colby and Mr. Justin McCarthy. The conversations took place in October 1975 and discuss Mrs. Luce's concern that certain infor- mation, from a former boat captain, a Cuban refugee, regarding the Presi- dent Kennedy assassination, reached the proper authorities. While the information in these transcripts have been provided to investigating authorities, they may be of some assistance to the House Select Committee on Assassinations as it investigates various allegations. 2. The transcripts were received by the “Agency Inspector General’ on 22 December 1976. The transcript of the 25 October 1975 conversation was typed by Ms. Barbara Pindar on the same day. The other two transcripts were typed by Ms. Pindar on 21 December 1976 from her stenographic records while clearing out the remainder of Director Colby's files. Ms. Pindar was Mr. Colby's secretary during his Directorship. 3. A version of the telephone conversation transcript was published in the Washington Star on 16 November 1975 (attached). A staff member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, on 10 December 1975, inquired as to what the Agency thought of the story. The Agency oral response was that it had nothing to add to the newspaper story and that since this query involved U.S. resident Cuban refugees, the FBI would be the proper agency to contact.
14-00000 4. The attached transcripts indicate that the matter was brought to the attention of Senator Schweiker and The Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Telephone conversation between Director Colby and Mrs. Clare Boothe Luce on 25 October 1975, pages 2 and 3). Attachments: a/s
14-00000 Review Staff: 75/3637 Date 10 December F975 TO : CIA Task Force FROM : The Review Staff, Walter Elder SUBJECT ae SSC/HSC Request RECEIVED: Date _ ‘Time ae “ a lad Ob fg Paul Wallach, SSC staff, asks what we think of the actached. “ He is not writing a formal request and will ' be satisfied with | an oral reply. Comments:
MEMORANDUM FOR: ge va Mes Mes CBO gay USE PREVIOUS - errs - a5 EDITIONS
14-00000 - a, ‘ - Telephone Conversation Bu: ween Mr. Colby and Mrs. Cla Boothe Luce at 12:40 on Saturday, 25 October'1975 (from steno notes of Barbara Pindar transcribed the same day) la Mrs. Luce: I have a big problem, a case in conscience. I got rather deeply involved during and after the Bay of Pigs, and up to the time of the missile crisis, with a group called the (Directorate Revolutionario Estudiante; Note: the spelling of that is just a guess), the DRE. Whether you know this or not, it was me who fed the missile stuff to Keating. I knew a number of these leaders well; they were going in and out of Cuba, and I paid for one of the motor boats. Bill Pawley did too. We thought we were doing another Flying Tiger. The missile crisis came, and I gota telephone call from Allen telling me that the Secrets Act had gone into effect and that henceforth there would be no voluntary American efforts, . That ended that, and I don't know what I was doing ~- maybe I went back to Arizona, or whatever. Then came the assassination. The night of the assassination, right after Oswald was caught, one of my boys telephoned me from New Orleans. Didn't I ever tell you this? - : - Mr. Colby: No. . > Mrs. Luce: It was the captain of my boat. It seems that after the missile crisis -- a period of about a year had gone by -~ he said that all the young Cubans involved profoundly in all of this had been told to scatter and scram, that he and two of my other lads -- Mr. Colby: When, after the crisis? Mrs. Luce: (Yes.) (were told) to leave Miami. “< Mr. Colby: In. 1962? Mrs. Luce: Yes. They were to stop their efforts to free Cuba; and if they did not, they would be deported. It has a very interesting end involving you. In any event, this one had been told to leave Miami after the missile crisis was over, and he had opened a cell in New Orleans. He telephoned me to tell me that Oswald was -- Iam telling you what his view was -- was a hired gun; Oswald had tried to penetrate their little cell; that they turned around and did a counterpenetration job on Oswald; all of this was done several months before the assassination. He said,-telling me on the phone, he was terribly excited -- he said you see he had no money, all of a sudden he began to get money, so we checked him and he had a little "Communists be Free" or Be Fair to Cuba" group going in New Orleans." He said 'We _
14-00000 ‘ had tape recordings of what he was telling his group." It was a o unter- penetration they went on. He said, 'We have photographs of Oswald, passing out handbills on the street, 'Be Fair to Cuba.'" He said, "We are absolutely certain that Oswald was simply one of three as sassination teams, that they were working out of Mexico City (or funded in Mexico City) by Castro." He said there were three assassination teams. Then he said, 'We have these recordings, these tapes, and we have these photos, what should we do?" These fellows always trusted me. I said, "The first thing you do, the minute you hang up this phone, you telephone to the FBI, give them everything you have got.'"' Working in New York with these.Cubans is an extraordinary fellow, one of the most puzzling’ characters I have every met; he is a devout Catholic -- Justin McCarthy. Justin is the American patron -- although he has no money, never had money -- of all these free Cubans in America. He never worked at CIA, although CIA tried to pick his brains. He tried to help the FBI. I knew Justin McCarthy, and he used to send me bulletins; he said he had been sending them to me for the past six months, and I had never received one of them. Out comes the Warren Report. I have many other things to do, and lass y lads had reported what they knew, and maybe it had been discounted, but I had taken the Warren Report at face value without poring over it -- and I forgot the whole darn thing. Then, this must be nine years ago, up turns a guy named Lloyd Garrison*-- what was he, a sheriff or something? (* SA YtGNns Tin Gervisn) Mr. Colby: District Attorney. - Mrs. Luce: And he hit the headlines that the assassination had been a con- spiracy. Then it all flooded back into my mind that I had never been quite satisfied with what the Warren Report had brought out. Basically, I was troubled by the whole thing, so I said I thought I would call Garrison. .~ In order to call him, I had to have the names of the Cubans, which had gone out of my bean. SoI called Justin McCarthy. He said one of them was now, my lad, was in Miami. I got him onthe phone, my fellow, and I said, "You remember your midnight call to me about the assassination . of the President, I want to know what happened after that.'' He said, "We went at once to the FBI, they took all the tapes and photos and all our information and told us to keep our motths shut, and shortly after that they informed us that if any of us talked to the press or anyone, dire things would happen.'' He said one of the fellows on the boat was depgrted to Guatemala or Chile, and one of them was murdered. He said, "Iama lawyer, have two children, I am making my way in Miami, and I never want to hear a damn word about the assassination of Kennedy because you Americans really do not want to know the truth."' He said, ‘We waited, expecting the Warren Committee would want to have us, and wenever heard a word." He said, 'I want no part of it.'' Then the Garrison thing died
14-00000 . down, and Iam a busy woman, and I forgot about it. Three days ago, a reporter was in here -- a gal”-- asking about my life style and said, in passing, ''What do you think of the investigation of the assassination of the President?'' I am afraid I hit the roofs. I said, "I think everyone must be absolutely off their rockers. ‘What possible motive would the CIA have for murdering their own President?" I said, "Even to assume such a thing is beyond belief because where there is a murder or assassination, there is a motive, and there could be no motive.'' I said, "Who had the motive was Castro; but perhaps not even Castro, possibly just a bunch of Communist Cubans or plain Communists." I said, "They always had a motive for that sort of thing. '' Schweitker called me up yesterday -- when the reporter said tome, ''What is the name of the young Cuban?", I said, ‘Well, let's call him Julio Fernandez.'' The Senator said to me ''that is a fascinating , story." &® TD misseh AM Coed eho Abe giek Egon Was wilh wight WtrawsQagers Mr. Colby: . You told the story to Schweiker? Mrs. Luce: He read it in the Knight paper. Mr. Colby: | You told the story to the Knight ‘people? Mrs, Luce: Not in the detail 1 told you. Schweiker asked if I could locate ._ any of these men involved for him, and I said I would try. That was yesterday. I used that opportunity to say, "I do not know what you are doing on the Hill." I said, ''You are in the (process?) for headlines and destroying this country's security.'' He said, "If you have this informa- tion and you can get your hands on it, it would be a good thing to lay this story to rest.'' He said, "If you can find me these people, I assure you they will be listened to in closed session.'' Now comes the big. thing. Justin McCarthy runs an animal farm in Nyack: telephone number is 914; 647-8596. I have known him to be a man of complete integrity. He is a devout Catholic. He may or may not be a fanatic. What makes one think he is is what he tells you is just so terribly alarming; as he was the one, along with Bill Pawley, who involved me with these Cubans, I tracked him down and had a two-hour conversation on the phone with him this morning that was really staggering. When I said to him, 'Would you tell these things in the closed session in the Senate?"', he said, "I would find it more expedient and to shorten the process to hire loud speakers and put them on top of the Empire State Building."" He said, 'You don't know, Clare, the Cubans have not lost their desire to free their country, and there are plenty of them working
14-00000 ay SN Ft ow NI ty Non fe i oe on a oad {(--ein 5 “AA Nk. atit, and they trust me, and I trust them, and they all trust me,'' He said, "All these fellows on the Hill give a damn about is a big headline and political attention, and if this should involve nly testi- fying and some ‘of my fellows got bumped off, or their apparat shut down, I could not live with myself, no I will not testify.'' I said, "You know, Justin, if they send for you, you might have to.'' He said, “They are not likely to send for me unless you tell them." He said, "They do not know who to ask for anyway." (It doesn't appear in my notes, but my memory is that he added that the reason the Hill doesn't get to the truth is that they never know who tb ask for.) He told me a story about working once with CIA. He said, ''We did this ~- DRE did one operation with CIA, as a result of which all the Cubans involved were caught and killed, and I do not want any part with the CIA." He said, "It too can be a sieve."' I said, ‘You have me really over a barrel." I said, "Justin, I have to tell someone, is there anyone you trust?" He said, ''There is only one man in this whole country whose word at this point I would take. '' I said, ''Who is that?" and he said, "Bill Colby." He said, "He is a daily communicant"' ~~ Mr. Colby: ‘No, no, Mrs. Luce: I did not disillusion him. In any event, if only to put my own mind at rest since -- he always says, which is fascinating if true, that my lads in New Orleans, yes, they did turn over the tapes to the FBI but they Kept copies. Mr. Colby: Really? Mrs. Luce: Sohe says. If so, you are possibly, if ~~ I think you should get hold of Justin and give him a couple of hours because he has plenty — to say. If what he says is true -- he also told me, which I had forgotten -- that during the time of the missile crisis, and 1 was the one he came to, oo nd naturally the one I went to was Harry (note: this is first mention of od t "Harry"! maybe I misunderstood; could she have said _'Allen': Ry because I could trust him. Ina way, Justin McCarthy supplied a lot of background Wie matezial on the Cubans to (note: could not hear what she said). He said ZA, pe 4 a few days ago -- Time is planning to do a (take-out) issue on the assassination of Kennedy. He said that, going back through their files, ' they came across my name as an informant, and he said "they tracked me down too.'' He said, then he told me -~ I mentioned in passing that there ° “> Rec we. Bn Q\Gen mA nee \we as oy We WAY BNE Se. Ga In
14-00000 ~5- e was a wonderful girl on Time that knows more about the Cubans almost than anyone in CIA, Priscilla Badger. He said the Time people are now trying to get information. He said, "I will talk to no one because there are lives at stake"! -- except you. Fo# my own sake, if you have a go at him, I would be very happy to know how Serious it is, Mr. Colby: I will report back to you by all means. Let me doa little home- work on just where this (looks), You do not remember the name of the Cubans in Miami? Mrs. Luce: There are so many names; he talked to me so fast. He kept saying "Chilo." I asked who "Chilo" is, and he said that was his code name. : Jose Antonio La Nuza (Note: That last name may be all one word; - 7 she said it means "the nut. '') Luis Fernandez Rocha . ~ One of those fellows was the Director of the DRE. Then he also reminded me of a guy who used to come to see me -~- Cardona. (He had been told by the American Government to get out of Miami) and he died, having - become the President of a university in Puerto Rico. These fellows were scattered all over the place... As I mentioned thatto Justin, he said, "I know where they allare.' The thing that alarmed me is that --~ he does not talk in an excited voice, but the statements are ~~ he said "People think of the Bay of Pigs and the nuclear showdown and the assassination of Kennedy as the end of the story, it is only the beginning. "' He said, "If you knew what is being laid on for the U. S.,‘' and he talks like that. IT asked him, 'What do you think happened?" He said, "Oswald went to the FBI." He said, "I know that, he was selling them information, and they did not believe him."' I said, 'That is incredible." He said, "J do not know how much you know about the FBI, but no day goes by without desks being loaded with letters saying something will be blown up." (Note: I missed a little bit here due to something else happening in the office.) I said, ''What happened? '"' and he said, 'The FBI got the word from on top 'Destroy the letters, '"' a Mr. Golby: From on top? Mrs. Luce: From the President, who was Johnson. I contended that if at that point the FBI had proven that Castro. had in mind assassinating the President, we would have been in war with Cuba. It might have been
14-00000 os . a a9 , . 6 o~ on an act of State to shut up about it. If I had been the Presidént, I would have had (Note: missed more due to outside interference), What is hideous about this is that the CIA is being accused or Kennedy is being accused -- anyone except the people who probably were involved. If putting it at rest in a secret session will work, if such evidence does exist, you are the man to present ite Mr. Colby: Schwaker does not know about McCarthy? Mrs. Luce: He only knows this -- I said there is one man I know who might be able to tell you where the se Cubans are, and that is a fellow . named Justin McCarthy. He said, ''Where is he?", and I said, "I do not know, I have lost track of him.'"' He said, "If you find him, let me know." After talking with Justin McCarthy, I do not want him to talk to Schweiker. I do not know what to say if he calls again.~ Knowing the Senator, I may never hear from him. I leave it with you. a TIES KOE ARE OP MDa XIX BEXDES OEM IXOEK BEX Mike? PONAHOS GUE K BEGOS MAT KKK AX XGONROE MI MIX EDEY KAS AY DOMME SHvEPSAN AKER BOE AH ATKOEK NOTE: Mrs. Luce closed the conversation by referring to a CIA paper entitled "Restless Youth" and asked if it had been declassified. Mr. Colby. said he would check on it, and Mrs. Luce said she would like to have a copy if it has been declassified.
14-00000 Telephone Conversation Between Mr, Colby and Justin McCarthy at 3:45 on Tuesday, 28 October 1975 (this transcript was typed on 2] December 1976. from steno notes of Barbara Pindar) a. Mr. McCarthy: Iam glad to know you, even if it is over the phone. Mr. Colby: Mrs. Luce talked to me yesterday (sic). She gave me a capsule version of some of her chat with you. It puts me ina bit of a jam, obviously, because there are some things that really hold some potential for being very important in these days (of) post-mortems of everything. I wondered if maybe we should chat about it some- time, or, quite frankly, one of the main things I would suggest is that you might want to go to this Senate Committee looking into this, Mr. McCarthy: No. There are several, reasons why t not. Lam sure we do not need to discuss them, but there are many reasons. Over the period of time there have been so many things. We were theonly ones who had the information about the missiles in Cuba for many months, and we beat our brains out trying. to get someone to do something (or believe?) and regrettably (in) Washington there are too many political (opportunists?), but there are too many lives at — stake, We risked our neck for all these years, We are interested in doing the right thing. _ Mr. Colby: I wondered if you could (slice?) off that New Orleans thing (and not go any further than that?) Mr. McCarthy: As I said to her ~~ (can't read the next few words). For me to be seen in Washington, it is (can't read the next few words). We ' do not trust anyone. We did so many operations for so long, and we were entirely successful and never lost a man, and then one day we did an operation for the Government and lost 22 men. Lives depend on it. Someone sent a Top Secret memo, and the one he | sent it to left it on his desk and someone came in and read (it) and the men were arrested. She asked, "Would you talkto Bill?" J said I would. We think it would be a good idea --— for me to go down -- Ido not want to blow my cover, but I would like very much to chat with you and tell you. Mr. Colby: My problem is then I get information, and then what are my obligations. Mr. McCarthy: From the point of view of (seeing?) how to do it through persons other than me -~ to get the end result.
14-00000 2 Mr. Colby: It might be that one of your fellows aware of some of the things (would not mind telling Schweiker?) under some protection and assurances of anonymity. That would be enough of a (can't read the next word) to get started. te Mr. McCarthy: There is plenty to get started on. Mr. Colby: Then (he?) could cut your people aut as a source, Mr. McCarthy: She said it vo uld be aclosed-door hearing. I said there (would?) still be someone come out of the meeting and (can't read next word) their names in the press. You see Jack Anderson's column on Monday. It is vitally important, and it is true evidence. It is not conjecture, Iam concerned about what it ties into -- it is all the same ball of wax, We sat on the information about the missiles. This has been going on for a good twenty years, and we have accumulated an awful lot of information, We are more concerned today than when we had the missile information. It is appalling, and it is frightening, and people do not want to believe it. Last night I enlightened people About some of the things that are going to happen, We feel the time has come that some of this should come to light. It is necessary and essential to go back and bring out some of these things that need to be brought out, but not at the expense of (next word missing). We have done this on our © own and at our own expense. One of the reasons my people trust me is --~ Iam thinking of a book -- we did not want to do a book before, The ' American public wants to know. It is all part of what went on then. I think it should be clarified and straightened out what went on then, But Iam soterribly wary. I went to everyone, including the President, about the missiles. We had evidence -- what ships they were on, _ where they (docked?), anda few days later they came back and said there is no credibility of what you say. Mr. Colby: The only thing that bothers me is the story about the existence of some records (you?) still hold. The important part of that is that ' indicates some (part?) of a failure, or possibly even worse -~ that is the kind of thing that does need investigation or (correction?) -- protecting your people that are in on it. The other possibility would be to ask Schwéker or one of his men to go and talk to you or one of your people who would have factual knowledge of it. Mr. McCarthy: When (Dorothy) told me about you over a period of time -- (Dorothy) said we have been through this so many times -- I took this to editors of Life. That was the time when the guy sent the Note: Iam not positive about the "Dorothy" ab i I ove, but don't know wh could be. I had written in long-hand, “Doroth. " My only guess at this pots: - Dorothy Farmer, Mrs. Luce's secretary. a ;
14-00000 Top Secret memo and it got left on a desk in Miami and we losta lot of people on that. Inadvertently so many things happen. We work so carefully. We have information now that no one else has because it has come to the point where so many of the people I work with find they cannot trust people because of the opportunists. I have never met such overbearing and obnoxious (can't read next word). We sat on this year in and year out -- we never know when we might get calls. I was up all night long the night before last, Time is doing a big cover story on the thing -- the next issue -- the Today Show is bugging me. Washington is a funny place, If£I -- by and large, when your life is on the line -- one of (our?) guys hung himself after one of the escapades we went through. He committed suicide because he felt guilty about it. Up here it is terrifié because Iam ananimal nut. A lot of the guys divulging some of this stuff that they would not normally do. Mr. Colby: Let me talk with Clare again as to how we handle this, The main thing is not so much the overall stuff about Cuba -- the main thing is the story about records, about Oswald. That comes ata time when that is a serious subject of study here by the Congress, If we could in some way shake that information loose without putting the finger on any of your friends, I think we are sort of obliged to do this jo terms of clarifying the record against the (facts?) -- this is a very key aspect of it anda very serious problem that if it was suppressed . at the time. Mr. MeCarthy: That is not all that was suppressed, Mr. Colby: That is the thing. They are looking into it. "Let me talk to Clare again and see if I can figure out some way in which we could talk to you (maybe?) and if you could in the meantime think of a way of (can't read the next word) out or (can't read the next word) out this (feature?) of it so that you give the (final result?) but not the sourcing, and let the investigators (find their own source later on?), we would have done our duty. My problem is that I really cannot sit on it with my obligations. I can be'reasonable about protecting other people, and I have to be, but I also have to have the responsibility for responding to proper investigations of things that really should be looked into, Mr. McCarthy: Let me (can't read next word) this in. Some of our guys (can't read next several words). Mr. Colby: ' That is what she said.
14-00000 Mr. McCarthy: They and Iare scared to death. I was Executive Producer of TV programs for years ~- I cannot make -~ T have earned the respect and confidence of these people é6ver the years. The other night I talked all night long. IfI try to push my guys -- Clare said it needs to be laid to rest, and it does. I would like to-see it get laid to rest, but my people -- Mr. Colby: I canassure you lam as interested (as) you in protecting that part of it if there were some way of having part of the cake and eating part of it, so that you do not lose the one or the other but to work out some vehicle -- a way in getting the substantive information loose but protecting people involved, There may be ways to do that if we put our minds toit. Let me talk to Clare and see what really -~- I will not do anything except with her without your permission, on NOTE: Mr. Colby 1 tried to call Mrs. Luce on 29 October, but could not reach her. He contacted her on 3] October (see separate notes)
14-00000 “+4 Telephone Conversation Between Mr. Colby and Clare Boothe Luce at 4:07 on Friday, 31 October 1975 (this transcript was typed on 22 December 1976 from steno notes of Barbara Pindar) Mr. Colby: I got the Restless Youth for you. And I called Justin McCarthy. We hada long chat. He does not want me to do anything about it, but I said you put me in an awful position. (Note: The ''you'' there refers, I believe, to McCarthy.) I understand what you mean about his strong manner of talking. I think both of us are (hung?) witha rather tantalizing story. oo. Mrs. Luce: If I had not known the guy for 25 years, I would take ‘him much less seriously. Mr. Colby: The only real point is the thing about the tapes and the photos and the allegation about the FBI. Itried to (argue?} him into figuring out some way in getting rid of those but keeping himself out Of the act. Mrs. Luce: He called me back and said he talked with you and that you left him ina box, and I think he feels now that there is some kind of a question of conscience involved. He said, "Iam going to let you and ‘ Bill Colby decide what is best to do." Mr. Colby: I said I would be in touch with you and try to figure out something sensible. Lo Mrs. Luce: Why don't we suggest that he bring you or me -- perhaps he feels safer with me -- the tapes and photos if he has copies of them. ; Mr. Colby: And then you pass them over to Schweiker. Mrs. Luce: And let them decide, and I will maintain his cover -- he keeps saying it is not worth it to him after all these years to blowthat -- the paradox, he tells me he is going to have to write a book (and whether he is indeed going to?) so that he is not altogether a crackpot. On the other hand, what he is doing is sufficiently crackpot. He is taking care of broken-down animals from his entire area. However, -- Mr. Colby: I think that is a good idea. You say that you and I have talked, and we are all ina kind of box at this point, and we really in conscience ; ‘cannot sit on this stuff -- all these charges that there is remaining evidence that (can't read next word) was held backand disappeared
14-00000 ig zZ into the FBI, and maybe the way to do it is for him to provide it to you, and you to Schweiker, and then I would just as soon drop out -- it does not really have much to do with me --~ and in that way you would protect him from Schweiker, and you would say you got it from a friend -- and the source is whatever he and you agree oh, . Mrs. Luce: I will do that. Mr. Colby:. I think that is the best thing to do. If he does not buy that, I do not . know what we do about Schweiker. . Mrs. Luce: (I am going to ignore it if Schweiker comes to me.) NOTE; The conversation continued, but it did not pertain to this subject.
14-00000 SECRET MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Operations SUBJECT : Senate Select-Coimmittee on Intelligence Operati ‘to’ the ven Di¥ector for Attached, in response to the Senate Select Chin erszas request of 27 October 1975, are separate memoranda on the DRE and several Cuban exiles. OS AZ. Vena Richard S. Sant¥son Chief Latin America Division Attachments LE! feos Ly fj a 4 JY L949 "95 SECRET E2 (MPDET \ Cr BY O25731 vee
14-00000 SUBJECT: Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil (DRE, Students' Revolutionary Directorate) The DRE was founded by a group of students at Habana University in 1954 as an instrument of opposition to the regime of President Fulgencio BATISTA. The original members of this group were also members of the Habana University Student Federa- tion (FEU). Several leading members of the DRE were killed by Cuban authorities during and following the attack on the Presidential Palace, Habana, in March 1957. The remaining DRE leaders, as of 1958, were in exile. The DRE worked as a secret underground organization in Cuba, generally in Habana, laying plans and making preparations. The theory of the DRE was that success of the revolution depended on quick and efficient elimination of BATISTA which Fidel CASTRO's forces at that time could not achieve alone. The DRE finally turned against CASTRO on the issue of communism. As of March 1962 the DRE was receiving $9,000 a month from the Agency for salaries of 55 assets in Miami, Florida, and $2,000 a month for overhead costs. The DRE's overseas program | (AMBARB's) at that time received $12,400 a month from the Agency. Agency support to the DRE was terminated by mid-1967.
74-0000 passa Jetatiatnene ARIA ON AS orm at en ee Ae a en etre mire noe Mn ee AN oe wth nee ee eee enemy oe est ote aie ane oe Julio FERNANDEZ Molino (No crypt) DPOB: 23 March 1934, Havana 201-752511 Subject was of interest to AMWORLD program as a radio operator in 1964. A PRQ Part I was submitted to Headquarters ‘by JMWAVE, but there was no follow-up, and Subject was not hired. He had previously been associated clandestinely with RESCATE (anti-CASTRO) group in Cuba. He came to U.S. as exile in May 1964. In 1966, he lived at 430 SW llth Ave., Miami. Julio FERNANDEZ Bencomo . (No crypt) . -— DPOB: 10 April 1917, Havana 201-742497 Received POA 14 January 1964, which cancelled 24 February 1964, because he was not interested in employment with CIA Since salary was insufficient. He signed secrecy agreement and was terminated without prejudice. He took SGSWIRL 10 January 1964. No derog, but he had told his wife and one Carlos MARQUEZ that he would be working for CIA. He was originally recruited for AMWORLD by one Pedro BLANCO, and was to be used as PM asset on a CIA vessel. Julio FERNANDEZ Gonzalez (AMOT-99) DPOB: 10 May 1935, Havana Z01-299222 He was employed by the Intelligence and Security Commission of the Frente Revolucionario Democratico (AMIRON/AMBRUSH) for about two months in 1961. He was brought into it by Julio PASCUAL Abril. He stated in a letter to Hernan HENRIQUEZ Lorca, anti-CASTRO Cuban in Madrid who informed the FBI (who told us in memo dated 2 November 1961) that he "was about to take a trip to Cuba to take material to anti-CASTRO elements, trip being financed by CIA." He received POA 10 May 196] for use as member of AMOT Admin Staff. File does not say who dropped from it, but when last contacted was working for Dixie Lily Products Company (a wholesale grocery outfit) as an accountant at $50 weekly in December 1961. POA cancelled 24 July 1962.
°F PERE SOR + oh ATER Is 6 5 Luis FERNANDEZ-ROCHA Rodriguez (Formerly AMTOPIC-2, AMHINT-53) DPOB: 3 May 1939, Havana 201-316766 POA granted 18 April 1962. According to file, he quit his job as Secretary General of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantel (DRE) in July 1964 to pursue his medical studies. He was paid his final salary payment of $425 on 1 September 1964 under the DRE project. He was to do some unwitting work for JMHOPE, Swan Island propaganda broadcasting, and WIBALDA. There is no further indication in file that he was terminated, no quit claim, no OA or POA cancellation. However, there is no information on his use since 1964. Per document dated” 7 June 1965, he was studying at University of Miami and working as switchboard operator for Cuban Catholic Children's program in Miami. According to Cuban Families Yearbook of 1974, Dr. Luis FERNANDEZ Rocha living at 6021 W. 14th Lane, Hialeah, Florida, 33012 with wife and four children. He became naturalized U.S. citizen on 15 September 1967. Julio FERNANDEZ Travejo (No crypt) DPOB: 10 August 1934, Havana 201-297828 POA requested for use as PM trainee 21 March 1961. POA cancelled 4 April 1962. FBI memo dated 14 December 1961 notes that he told FBI of CIA financial support to Frente Revolucionario Democratico (FRD) and to Antonio VARONA, one of its leaders, to the tune of "Six million dollars." Subject told FBI he himself belonged to group led by Rolando MASFERRER which NOT getting CIA support. Subject visited FBI 21 November 1960 after incident in which some paramilitary trainees of MASFERRER's group on No Name Key in Florida had come to FBI's attention. That group was called "Ejercito Nacional Cubano." 3 -y
14-00000 Jose Antonio LANUZA One Jose LANUSA was a leader of the DRE, residing in * Miami, Florida, in November 1963. At that time, he was providing information (does not say to whom) on the “Commandos L,'' an anti-CASTRO organization. Not clear whether he is identified with the following LANUZA. Jose Antonio LANUZA (on microfiche) 201-339258 Only information in file is that Subject is a Cuban citizen who in 1962 was living at 1705 SW 3rd Ave., Miami. He is the Subject of Inter-Source Registry No. 9518. _ According to a document dated 1 November 1968, "SD 16658 is terminated without prejudice by the Department of the Army, and any additional information should be referred to the Army Source Registry.'"' A note in the file also said that there was no present contact with Subject, dated 29 October 1962. No traces Justin MacCarthy
14-00000 ee : 30 November 1976 MEMORANDUM SUBJECT: Comments on Ronald KESSLER's Article: "CIA Withheld Details of OSWALD Call," which Appeared in the Washington Post of 26 November 1976 The following comments are keyed to the attached Washington Post article, i.e., the paragraph numbers below correspond to the paragraphs as numbered in the margin of the xerox of the article: 1.. COMMENT: While CIA knew that a man identifying him- self as Lee OSWALD had been in touch with the Soviet Embassy by telephone on 1 October 1963, this information had no unusual Significance until 22 November 1963 when President Kennedy's assassination occurred. At that time an intensive review was made by the Mexico City Station of conversation transcripts pre- pared on the basis of the 1 October telephone intercept. These transcripts had been reported to Headquarters and disseminated to the interested members of the intelligence community (as a former Marine, OSWALD was a Navy and FBI case, and potentially of inter- est to the Department of State). This review turned up "matches", j.e., Similar materials intercepted on 27 and 28 September 1963. These were reported by cable to Headquarters on 23 November 1963. There is no indication in the transcripts that Lee Harvey OSWALD tried to make any “deal" with the Soviet Embassy as claimed in- —° the Washington Post article. Analysis based upon actual voice comparison could not be made because the tapes, in accordance with the normal practice, had been erased for re-use. The monitor was able to recall some- thing of the voice characteristics from memory, however. He could recall the very poor Russian spoken by OSWALD, for example. 2. COMMENT: This statement is not substantiated by our files. 3. COMMENT: The information regarding the 1 October 1963 contact with the Soviet Embassy -- received in Headquarters on 9 October -- was disseminated on 10 October 1963 to the Department
14-00000 of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of the Navy, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.s A copy of the 10: October 1963 dissemination was made available to the Warren Commission on 24 March 1964. (See Memorandum for J. Lee RANKIN, dated 24 March 1964, from Richard HELMS, Deputy Director for Plans; Subject: CIA Dissemination of In- formation on Lee Harvey OSWALD, dated 10 October 1963.) On 16 October 1963, our Chief of Station sent a memorandum to the American ambassador on the subject of Lee OSWALD's contact with the Soviet Embassy. The original of this memorandum was routed to the ambassador, the minister, the counselor for political affairs, the regional security officer. A copy was sent to the legal attache, naval attache, and the I&NsS. In April 1964, Messrs. COLEMAN, SLAWSON and WILLENS, staff representatives of the Warren Commission, visited the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. Our Station then indicated that the three men already knew "all about" the telephone conversations OSWALD had. According to the Memorandum for the Record of 11 April 1964, the three men reviewed the product from the tele- phone tap operation for the days 27, 28 September and 1 October 1963 when Lee OSWALD contacted and visited the Cuban and Soviet Embassies. They made a “schedule” of OSWALD's activities as far as possible for these days from this source. Note: They were shown English translations of the product, or "take", as it was called. (HMMA 23249, 14 April 1964. This document, in a sani- tized and declassified version was made available to the public under provisions of the FOIA in March 1964 as Document Number 274 and in September 1976 as Document Number 658) See follow- ing: a. Memorandum for J. Lee RANKIN, dated 3] January 1964, from Richard HELMS, Deputy Director for Plans; Subject: Information Developed by CIA on the Activity of Lee Harvey OSWALD in Mexico City, 28 September - 3 October 1963. b. Letter to Richard HELMS, Deputy Director for Plans, dated 10 February 1964, from J. Lee RANKIN, General Counsel. ‘ c. Memorandum for J. Lee RANKIN, dated 19 February 1964, from Richard HELMS, Deputy Director for Plans; Subject: Information Developed by CIA on the Activity of Lee Harvey OSWALD in Mexico City, September 28 to October 3, 1963. ™
14-00000 4, COMMENT: See comments in Paragraph 3, above. 4 5. COMMENT: The Agency disseminated the information concerning OSWALD's contact with the Soviet Embassy on 1 Octo- ber to the Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investi- gation, the Department of the Navy, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service on 10 October 1963. On 23 November 1963 the Agency disseminated to the FBI the transcripts of the tele- phone calls made on 27, 28 September, 1 October, and 3 October 1963. (The latter call, it was determined, did not pertain to OSWALD.) (See CSCI-3/778,829, dated 26 November 1963.) On 23 November 1963, the Agency disseminated ta the FBI information relating to OSWALD's contacts with the Cuban and Soviet Embas-~ sies in Mexico City. 6. COMMENT: OSWALD's alleged offer of information and suggestion that the Russians pay his way to the Soviet Unian does not appear in Agency transcripts of OSWALD's telephone . conversations with the Cuban and Soviet Embassies. . 7. COMMENT: OSWALD was in no sense “under investiga- tion" (before 22 November 1963). None of the facts of his trip to and stay in the USSR and return to the United States, 1959- 1962, were known to the Mexico Station before 10 October 1963, when the bare bones of his biography were forwarded by Headquar- ters to it in response to a Station cabled report of 8 October 1963 which forwarded, on a routine basis, what appeared to be a contact by an American for a visa to Cuba in transit to the USSR. It should be pointed out that the voice intercept cover- age was not processed in "real time". The means of acquisi- tion and the volume of the information precluded anything but | the spot reporting of items judged by the monitor to be of more. than ordinary interest. Full texts of selected items required a full transcription and full translation. One of the "trig- gers” that normally operated to focus and accelerate more speedy review and reporting of this kind of raw intelligence was the mention of a name. This was what occurred in the second of two conversations on 7] October.with the Soviet Embassy, during which the speaker said he was "Lee OSWALD". This was the first time that the name OSWALD appeared in the intercepts and was report- ed by the Station to Headquarters (8 October 1963). Had, at any time, a person telephoned the Soviet Embassy, identified himself, and offered information in ex- change for a trip to the Soviet Union, it would have triggered
14-00000 cI an immediate reaction by the monitor and the Station -- first, to identify the speaker; second, to report the infor- mation to Headquarters; and third, to step up technical and photographic surveillance. 8. COMMENT: No comment. 9. COMMENT: Tapes were not "routinely destroyed". Tapes were erased after transcription had been made and re- used, Full transcripts of calls made on 28 September 1963 and 1 October 1963 were forwarded to Headquarters on 23 Novem- ber. The person who processed the transcripts was identified in the cable. There is no indication in the transcripts that OSWALD offered information or that any omissions were made which might have contained that information. - 10. COMMENT: No comment. 11. COMMENT: Files do not support this statement. 12. COMMENT: Files do not support this statement. 13. COMMENT: The information "given by DURAN" is sup- ported by her interrogations. 14. COMMENT: "OSWALD later referred in a letter to ‘meetings’ he had in the Soviet Embassy." Although KESSLER chooses not to give details, this statement is in reference to a letter OSWALD wrote on 9 November 1963 to the Consular Division of the Soviet Embassy in Washington. (Commission Exhibit No. 15, Vol. XVI of the Hearings before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. ) 15. COMMENT: No additional comment. 16. COMMENT: With regard to the press statement that "CIA claimed it did not know of most of OSWALD's activities in Mexico City until after the assassination": this is true, CIA did not know of his activities, other than those revealed in the intercepts. It should be noted that after the dissemination on 10 October 1963 of the 1 October 1963 contact, no requests were received from the dissemination customers for further in- formation or follow-up. Without some customer interest being expressed, particularly from the Navy, the FBI or the Department
14-00000 of State, who had the greatest interest in OSWALD at the timé, there would have been little motivation for the Station to in- dependently pursue such a tenuous CE lead. 17. COMMENT: The discussion in this paragraph of the article rests on assumptions and allegations developed earlier in the article, followed by comments by Messrs. BELIN and SCHWEIKER, apparently based in turn on information provided them by reporters. No further comment seems relevant, beyond those comments made earlier. 18. COMMENT: Is BELIN here referring to Gilberto ALVARADO Urgate? If so, information regarding OSWALD provided by ALVARADO was passed to the Warren Commission as attachments to a memorandum for J. Lee RANKIN, dated 1 June 1964, from Richard HELMS, Deputy Director for Plans. (See also Memorandum for J. Lee RANKIN, dated 4 June 1964, from Richard HELMS; Subject: Information Developed on the Activity of Lee Harvey OSWALD in Mexico City. This memorandum became Commission Exhibit No. 3152 contained in Vol. XXVI of Warren Commission report.) 19. COMMENT: We do not know what BELIN actually said to the reporters, when, or in response to what. We believe, how- ever, this may be referring to BELIN's letter of 15 April 1975 to E. Henry KNOCHE of CIA. BELIN at that time was Executive Director of the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (Rockefeller Commission). In his letter, BELIN refers to the photograph of an American male and the question whether or not this male was Lee Harvey OSWALD. He continues: "The CIA and the Warren Commission both determined that the picture was not of Lee _Harvey OSWALD and that the picture was taken after OSWALD left Mexico City. - “Although portions of this record have been released to the public, other portions have remained classified because of concerns by the CIA at the time that a release of the full picture might disclose sources and methods which the CIA felt were not in the national interest to disclose at that time. In light of the false allegations about the assassination of President Kennedy and the Ly
14-00000 false allegations of CIA involvement, I s feel that it would be appropriate to re- consider whether or not the entire matter can be fully disclosed at this time." An interim reply was forwarded on 23 April 1975 by E. Henry KNOCHE, Assistant te the Director, CIA. On 2 May 1975 a review was completed of Agency holdings regarding the photograph of the unidentified individual in Mexico City pub- lished by the Warren Commission. This review also included knowledge of OSWALD's contacts with the Cuban and Soviet Embas- sies obtained from telephone tap information and interrogations of Silvia DURAN, a Mexican employee of the Cuban Embassy. On 13 May 1975 two summaries of the above review, one classified and one unclassified, were forwarded to BELIN by the Agency. Attachment: Article
14-00000 ‘ io a rn co . . . . + s ary Py Sd LL Hb Ot: LOH OF iy CARLY WY . 4 Ranalé Kessler | tnnsernt to either tae FRI or the |- "So, ‘with ‘the full cooperation of the’ ston Post Stall Writer - | Warren Commission, — Mexi¢an government, CIA ‘virctaps Sente meer, a 8—clent =| Instead, the CUA gave the: FBI ‘tn were installed en teloph: one lines go ination ‘of » October, 1963, only, ‘a brie report say- , AN into both embassies. . arvey Os Pins Oswo Td’ had! made con staat with : ; The CIA was especin lly interested : am Dassy! Ta] Russians.) It gave the Warren - -dn U.S. ¢ltizens. who made vontact wmoke a. “inigion: ranseript of the taped | With the embassies.-. woo, “eonversation’ but for unexplained reas. | . Thus, W nen Oswald showed up in . SOnS failed to include in the transcript ry? AON 400. Cliy in lale September and “6 Oswald's offer of information and Kis . telephoned {he Russian embassy, his ified ‘infer. trip 8. ed uy sugzestion that the Russians would | conversation was picked up from t re ; oo ant: do pay his. way. to’ , the Soviet) wiretap, A transcript; was made and-. as iatordented Union, PAY HS AY: "| ciksulated in-the CIA offlees in the - The Post has’ also aelerinined taat Ame ean embassy i 1 Mexle 0, oe on My 1 ” ibility for investie | ‘the Warren Commission that th sonally” reviewed all trangeripts ema s not 4 Warned of most of Oswald's activitics | nung from wiretaps on Sevict bloc cron Com: sineten the toh ds: hee fee ae nat | estallations. . ton, £0 12 10% r orem < ’ ¢ fee CTA mont itaved ned tape. vor a . Tig Oswald t transcript, according to . hls conversation with both the Rus- Cant 75 why sian and Cuba n embassies In Mexico City in the fall of 1993, before Nen- ne CIA tel ephene hee EEY'S death, : conversation in contents of he’ 7 have been veri: 8 sa ston Post. The wnat the CIA ‘hen, cyer the compl “| Be transiatoy who worked with Seotl, aroused a lot of interest “Tney usualy picked up the trans. fripls the next day,” he said, «This sy 1 thet out Tv was the CIA's belief that the two ay ae the ‘uanseties. co ntained is mn F np ” re he il ny 1 i e ela oboe ° & 7 ig re Pousiness were that at ove &matler of some dispute, and the cis cally they were oporati ‘onal be ses for, SY it routinely destroyed the tap & rs a ' +. cally, ened activities directed at. the bef ore the assassination. But some d States. . See OSWALD, AT, Cel. 1 "C/61 ZEqueaon oF ToNCLONTHSEM FHI. “en SCe
14-00000 1 4 . a et evernks fae mele who saw the transeript or ne int ° Non in | of Os , te { Sonrd the ta: nefere the essissine oL intorn RiON, nh exe ase 42 T9 are ky . ne “ape Besere ene ‘ Sane {rip to Russia or of his attempts to 9 aqucht to conseal. The CIA bra x | wen reeall that Oswatd was trying to travel to Cuba and Russia, “On Oc Le a es \ ms . ' tober 1, 1963,” the teletype message Ce ST watt Se ee 2 e ‘ igs aUwics Yr" agin nema is David A. Phillips, a said, “a reliable and scnsitive source _vevig n. ESE, WO ves oe i for CIA offices, who now heads in Mexico reported that an Amorican sistant counsel to the Warren h : ete we. wee male, who identified Kimself as Lee mission and in 19 “A of Retired Intelligence swald, contacted the Sovict Embassy of the Reekefei o: is & leading defender in Mexico City inquiring whether of the CIA, sz : 1 of ities, Phililps was sta ° the embassy had received any nows | Commission he ol Ort __! tis nico City at the time, concerning a telegram whieh nad been vers : ‘sent to Washington.” . ma i vipt revealed, Phillips re, , : sie 3 ean Oswald told the Soviet ‘ That was strictly a routine handling 14 onebes havet information you of the matter, and similar, to the * would be interested in, and I know standard reports made to the FBI ot ' oe y way”? to Tussia. that time on other contacts wilh (he § ance, - . 5 —— ‘. ini apinss: felgame ¢ mai ; oarepher who typed up the commu uists by American citizens in mits tra d the translator who pre- MCKIC0. ntesene osie } a2 tmilar veeoleetions, ‘ Even after Kennedy's assassination, 9 +25¢ ° tans ‘ en? he CIA failed to turn over to the = Tete hed some information arene ‘ . writs | bn the tviist said in as Warren Commission the full transe o ™=+* . wo wie TYDISt Said in an § en de tant RAMA tt wh fe MI eons 29 loda : Pawian Uber me cYipt of the telephone intercept it had. * LZ 2ner \ BEXI2O. F418 MA con fm Aa +4. +5 rt + : corn was aatting te one of the two made in. Mexico Cliv, Oswald's effor z erviows + ; courteies Tussin or Cuba] and be of information to the Russians in ex. © who vianted thera to pay for it, Ho sai Change tor passage was erased “rom | ! tee “ad to reot them.” ee at, | ee iransorin’, and the CIA claimed ‘ AG AAG t moor: them. : . : sp . 1. ° - 8 je are CINTA DURAN . it did not know of most of Osweaid’s , The Werren Commission iater-con- S¥u ar : tivities 4 Moxie hey urahld age 2 i qe ting tre eet i vocals talk with Cswald activities In Mexico City unfll after cluded the Russians and Cubans wore “|, ‘8%? week Wied NY . the astassinetion. .~ not much impressed by Oswaid. This - . ss, RE PT RRRIEN - foo. ada de ecipeneted Ber Seles *s : . The significanee of the CIA actions . viow is supported by Sylvie Duran, | would take three to four months'to | s. deem “lt ¢ ves ° Th war ap" want he worked in the a . ig difficult to assess. The FBI in the t tho time of ‘Og. | Brocess. Informed ofthis, Duran said, | fail of 1963 was already showing in- She telieoe t  Oewald an | OsWald “got really angry and red. | tormittent interest in Oswaid and 13 S63, and recelie the mee | He, 728 Sesticulating.” Duran said she | might or might not have intensified - wen ee MECH | had to call for help from the Cuban | that intorest if it had been told of consul who got into a showing matelt Oswald's conversations, . yn Oswald and tcld Rim to get out ‘Whether the new information would + AR SESG SAE DENSs saw Aun foalne A nave affected the Warren Commis. i However, Duran’s story covered only] 7 sion’s deliberations is an open the first dny of Oswald's fiveday”" quostion, The commission invest - : stay in Mexiee City. Oswald lator gated the possibility ef aferoign com 0 ae: ferred in a letter to “mectings” ne |. spiracy and concluded hore wes no Osx : : AAG ALAS SOVLCE TN COSSY - {| evidence to show Oswald acted on . uit 5 i Tiow interested the OCIA was in | behalf of a forelzn power. the o Oswald's dealings svitn the two cnt Novertheless, there is yet no ox. secret C . 4 bassies is uncertain’ | ‘ oo planation for the CIA’s handling of miguas. 3 che tyes 3 wos 3 25 The transtator and tyelst ayho han- +; Cswald's conversations, The CIA ‘os dled the transeript’ of ine intercepted: | day refuses fo comment, saving it conversation rceealled taat the level’ | weuld not ce appropriate in the Nek ef interest wa gn, Sub tho CIA’s | of an impending investigation by S hls Q own actions lead to a different com: [-House Select. Commilice on Assas- ginations. clusion. | 00+ . . ; “4 si The agency waiteds until Oct Ja, | Ven asked 1883, to netify the FEZ of Oswald's | tho agency's a shan es - iv AO a! a 2, oO a + ma ort ee o>
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES January. 1977 oo . * ~ a a Pied . and to the Warren Commission, which con='" gate and the Chairman ot the King subcom cluded that Oswald Was the assassin and mittee Said that no decision had been mid nad acted alone. ° Septet. on accepting Ray's offer... vee TS "Sprague told a Press conference that it - However, Sprague indicated that it prot .¥as impossible without more information ably would be accepted. ee 0 know why the CLA had tensoreditsown’ = “Any and all people Who have relever Pesage, “pe + Aformation will ba interrogated » Sprazu: - Buthe said the incident raised lwointer- ‘said laterncny sting. questions: what might the other. -In a personal statement ISSvEd In cos, iencies have done differently if they had junction with the report, Rep, Henry) aren more fully informed and why did the Gonzalez ( D-Tex.), who is to become Cor. wIA decide to remove-“infarmation ‘that * mittea chairman jn the new yeep, Said 2 Oh eye 9 tt a ele +, District of Columbia's constessiona) dee . ie a ae co v4 “ere, Ge ° ‘ 3 ea a Ory * : i Assassinations Panels” ieilssues Report to House re tr or tee tens Ee Was Considered pertinent enough to be put. thorough investigation Was heeded ig ae si BY NORMAN REMPSTER -*: ‘ian initial draft of the message2” yor pt Swer hundreds af pressing questions: #0" eer DARTS Times san ase a roars There were ‘no firm conclitsions in the * Gonzalez said that the committed Jion4 2 {WASHINGTON—The CTA, Teport, which -the i2-member committee -to discover Whether former FBI Dir ector J. .With- cheld: from: the ‘FBI for almost two - jmonths'in 1983 information that Lea ‘Harvey Oswald -had talked with Cu--: ‘pared after the first three months of its Edgar Hoover's now Well-known animasi- :Investiogie into the murders of Kennedy “ty toward King had affected the FBI's #4. rand civil rights. leader Dr.-Martin Luther’ “vestigation of the assaSsinations 2, il “King. 97 Se. Ghai Sisson cbs 4k However, Gonzalez Said, the comrniltes’s .ban’and Soviet: officials about his de. NS Ps: SEL aes ; :Sire to visit those Countries,'a House |] .~ Technically, thé: corittilttesvasg Out of..Wark could go well heyond. the Killings ef . e . ew de, - ; Committee reported F riday. 22 723: ‘wid. business Tuesda with the end of the ses... “Kennedy and King, .,..5 MPs ced +7 te Select Co ittee on Assassin sion of Congress in which it was.formed. . = “the committee fan shed light on tr: Sations‘indicated in report to the full: -The Pypose of the year-end report was to larger jssue of Political murder and yj: “Hobse that its -investigation of the. urge the.new Congress to reestablish the : olence; ‘Gonzalez said. “We Should yt saurder of President John F. Kennedy. "Committee and to give it.$6.5 million to pay forget that President, Ford had his own .. Would focus early in 1977 on a tip .| -for the first year of what could be a tio. i narrow escape; HO Inember of the Heuss » Oswald had made-to-Mexico City in- year investigation. - wer Ta Byer pet eho should hess ae vay EEE Fore 5 Octobar; 1933. Werchter is fe "$s Erakhe et, aura < Pty UF Gb PD WE rye: ‘ that the Capitol Building “Wes ; *<."En the three mon . iG, Ghict Counsel Richard A. ths since its'establishs%ibombed., anittes's Uline id’ tha . ment, the committee has initiated prelirg.'*** He. said the co itee's ultimate task : : Saae: “Was. to’find out not just what heppenze Sprague’ ee Sere tions,” the report said, i. “4 fae WE 28, The committee said its staff investizators : ‘had recently -Mestioned a. former CIA:. “agent. who had .“personal knowledge”. of.) , Oswald's visits:to- the Soviet and Cuban’} embagsies in Mexico As a rasutt of that in. ~terview, ‘the. recort> said, staff Members’ : Were sent to Mexico’ whare they found and Questioned additional witnessas.-:. PSE ate | “y "'These witnesses had never been sought 4 / out before hy: any investion iva body, Hote) withstanding the fact that they had impor. tant information concerniny statements by , been rewritten to eliminate anymen- ; athe-Nov. 22, 1963, assassination. sty The CLA discovered Oswald's. pre-.. PSéRCelatethe -embassies-through-its *roltine Surveillance.of those facilities, 2 Beds? Oswald had once defected to 3th Soviet Union, the CLA and FBI crec_been interested in his activities. ¢éven-befora the Kennedy -assassina~ 5 pio TeerCp as decision to twithhold in’ ,,fommation Was Teversed shortly after . FReanedy.wag kiled..The agency:re-, PPorted Oswald's efforts to.visit Cuba jand the Soviet Union: both to the FBT. ; nedy,” the report said - ~ wn PES Se "The report said'also that the comuiltee Slaff had interviewed & person who assert | ‘ed that he had discusseq the King murder i With James Earl Ray, who pleaded Suillty ; . to the crime. The unidentlied Witness said "that Ray had told hima about contacting an ‘° - @ssociate in Eurone to receive. further in. »Structions. The Story, which was told tore- “Porters by a committee member’ several ‘Weeks azo, has not been verified, Shiga a Ina letter to New York Times coluranist Anthony Lewis, Ray Offered this wack to testify under oath at a conunittee hearing, 1 _ : But Sprasue and Walter ¥ Fauntroy, thes! -
14-00000 \ ( PETITES ane ‘ } ne 8 “ cm! 3 i Gini i Lyd brake pos SEN ve Se a ~ _ / rere [ Dle- 23.2, © wo MEMORANDUM FOR:: Deputy Director of Central Intelligence FROM : John H. Waller Inspector General SUBJECT : Washington Post Story of 13 November 1976 "Oswald Reportedly Told Cubafis of Plan to Kill JFK" l. The Post story on Saturday states thata J. Edgar Hoover _snemorandum reported that Lee Harvey Oswald told Cubans in “advance of his plan to kill President Kennedy. The attached package was prepared by Russ Holmes of CI Staff, Itis for- warded for your information. 2. A copy of the Washington Post story has been added to the package. John HW. Wailer Attachments: a/s SDBreckinridge:js (16 Nov '76) Distribution: Original - Addressee w/atts 1 - IG Chrono 1 - IG Subject (Task Force File) kK w/f/attsin above file -~ SDB Chrono i - Seymour Bolten w/atts ~ John Waller w/atts Andrew Fase wists -, = f co oes . rog fo BaD ~ [Dave Gr irinwig) wat one bof: So. ve Mts tes 17 oF. Phy | lt : \> C5 1 1 1
14-00000 13 November 1976 MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, CI Staff FROM : Russell B. Holmes SUBJECT ‘°: “Oswald Reportedly Told Cubans of Plan -to Kill JFK" by John M. Goshko, Washington - Post, 13 November 1976. 1. The memorandum"...by the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover saying that Lee Harvey Oswald reportedly told Cuban officials in advance of President Kennedy's assassination that he intended to kill the President" is cited in Commission Exhibit No. 3152, Volume XXVI, of the Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy pp. 154-157 (See Tab A). CE No. 3152 is cited in support of statements made by the Warren Commission in it's Report on pages 307-308 (see Tab B). This memorandum is based upon information which the Agency had passed to FBI Headquarters and it's repre- sentative in Mexico City. — 2. On 26 November 1963, the Mexico City Station reported to Headquarters that a Nicaraguan named Gilberto > ALVARADO Ugarte (referred to as "D" in the Warren Report) came to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. He claimed he had been in the Cuban Consulate in Mexico City on 18 ; September 1963 when a man he later recognized to be Lee Harvey Oswald received $6,500 in cash to kill an important person in the United States. (See Tab A for complete memorandum. ) . 3. The information obtained from ALVARADO was passed in Mexico City to the Legal Attache, Mr. Clark D. Anderson, by our Chief of Station on 29 November 1963 (See Tab C). Atm CE
14-00000 A short dissemination (DIR 85744) alerting customs agencies to ALVARADO's allegation, was made on 29 November 15963 to the White House, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of State (see Tab D). A second dis- semination (DIR 87667) was made on 7 December 1963 (see Tab E). (NB: In the latter dissemination, mention was made that a representative of the FBI participated in the interrogation of ALVARADO.) 4. On 13 December 1963, the Agency forwarded under CSCI 3/779, 136 a translation of the Mexican police interrogation report on Gilbarto ALVARADO Ugarte (see Tab F). oo , 5. In summary, the Agency and the FBI knew of _ ALVARADO's allegations concerning Oswald, which were sub- sequently retracted by ALVARADO himself as being false. In addition, the FBI was able to prove that Oswald was Still in New Orleans at the time ALVARADO claimed he saw Oswald in the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City. The information was forwarded to the Warren Commission by the Agency and the FBI as evidenced by its inclusion in the Warren Commission Report and accompanying exhibits. Russell B. Holmes [OT of, “ty YN Tp C. aoe a es iV.
14-00000 ‘3. To our knowledge the allegati have no basis in fact nor did we have Jack Ruby, Clay Shaw or Lee Harvey Oswa 2 Attachments, a/s cc: DDCI CONCUR: Qakrnn To Ob taste mere we be bee res Chief, Counterintelligence Staff theodors G, Shachley for Deputy Director for Operations s ns in Subject article ny relationship with ld. Raymond A. Warren “MAUS ad S4575 Date ca 2 Date
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