104-10004-10199 CPF CO. cof ‘DENTIAL [1 secret ETON (Officer ‘d . | and’ , ae oe building) meer oes te . DATE OFFICER'S COMMENTS (Number each comment. ‘to. show from whom . ee a oe - ‘ INITIALS to whom. Drow a line across column after each _coniment.} : Sr rr ee te _- | RECEIVED | FORWARDED : rom 610 “ie ] SECRET [[] CONFIDENTIAL INTERNAL =] UNCLASSIFIED USE ONLY
y af a ccenET Ve Diseover Lee GOS4ALD in Moxteo City CIA ata produce cue very afignificant piece of information on Les OSWALD before be shot President Kennedy. On 1 October 1963, car Hexico dhty Seatien setervepted @ telephone eal) lee ONALY male fron someylaoe in Mexieo City te the Soviet Eubasey there, using his own name. Speaking broken Rugeian and using bis true name, OSWALD was talking te the Embassy 207, who often anewers the phone. OGWALD eafd he bad visited the Exbsasy the previous Satuntay (28 Septenber 1963) and spaken to a consul wheee name he hed forgotten, and whe had prowiged te eend a tele- —. «ram for him te Washington. He wanted to know if there were “anything new." The guar€ said if the consul was dark it was (Valeriy Viedsirevich) KOSTIEGY. The guatd checked with someone clee end sald that the message hed gone out lat no anewor hed been received. He then hung up. Tais plece of information was proéuced from a telephone tap center which we operate jointly it
“Our joint center produces creat mases of telephone intercepts which are trenseribed aud reviewed by cur emall, staff in Mexico City. By 9 Octeber, the OSWALD telephone conversa tion ef 1 October had been transcribed and a summary of it cabled to Washington. The name Ler OSYALD meant nothing special to cur Mexico City Station, but in their report they di@ judge him to be an American male. Tee cabled report was received in Weshington on 9 October and checked the Seviet Exbasay in Nexice City was probably the Lee CSWALD who hed defected to the Soviet Union in 1959 end returned to the USA in 1962. On 10 Octeber 1963, the day after the report from Mexico City, CIA Headquarters sent out a cabled report about Lee OSMALD's phone call to the Soviet Babassy; the report went to the PRI, the Department of State (because OSWALD waa a US citizen), and to the Navy Departwent (because he was a former Marine.) The cabled report to these agencies highlighted the cn ghay Paid
13-00000 oe liklikesd that the Lee OSNALD mentioned was probably the fermer defector. & eopy of this same cable was Gelivered by hand to the Tumizration and Heturaligation Service, with which ve have no cable Link. ‘he seme day a leng cable went out to Mexico City informing our Station of the back- ground of defector Lee OSWALD and asking for more infermation. Our Station was instructed to pass its information on the phome call te the Mexico City effioes of the FAI, the Eubassy, the Naval Attache, and the Imulgra- tien ané Neturalization Service. This was done. In ite original report of 9 Octeher, Mexico City had said it had ae 1 October 1953, the day OSWALD phone there. A very sensitive operation — in Menfcs City provides us with secretly takes photographs of many but not all, visiters to the Soviet Bahassy there, taken vith telephoto lenses. Accordingly, ve cabled the Navy Department on 24 October 1963 asking for @ photograph of Lee OSWALD from his Marine Corps daya so ve could compare photes. We hed not received this photograph by 22 Hovesber 1963, but in any event, it tuned out that the man photographed outside the Soviet
Embessy was not OfWALD anyway. Ae chance would heve it, none of our several photo ebsemtion points in Mexico City had ever teken an identi - Our Hexico City Station very often produces information like this on US edtisens contacting Soviet blee ewbaseies in Mexico City. Frequently the information we get is extresely incriminating, and on ene or two eeeasions we have even been able to apprehend end return te the USA American military personnel whe are attempting to defect. In all such ry Ratomention es 08 wees is not treated routinely; in each case the DBP or bia Assistant personally sesutinige the information, make mure it fe credible, and decide whether and te whom it will te paseed. Only in absolute emergencies is the Kexico City Station authorized to pasa auch information directly to the FBI office in the U.S. Bubesay. At this writing (13 December 1963) ve do not knew vat ection the FBI
13-00000 and other egencies may have taken based on our report. We surmise thet the FBI way have mage local checks through Mexican eutherities to see if Lee OSWALD was actually in Mexico City on 1 Octeber. Indeed, Later in- vestigation has confirmed gli the details of bis trip, where he stayed, undertook ne local investigation ef its em. As we now knew, OSWALD left Hexiem on 5 Octeber and was no lenger there wien cur report wae put out. Since thie telephone tap operation is a joint one ber 1963, transistor radios were turned on everywhere to follow the ® A phone message from the FBI came at ebout the sume time, naming OSWALD PTR A Be ee,
13-00000 em at once by the Catef CI, Mr. Angleton, te Mr. Birch O'Neal of his Special Investigations Unit. Mrs. Betty Egoter of this Uiit immediately time, Hea. Bustos of the Mexice Desk, whe hed written aur fivet Seport oa OSWALD on 10 Ootobor recognized the nene fron reais reports end vent leave, heard the mews ami phoned in a reuinder that we bad something on GGHALS. While we were proupering a cable te Mexico City eeking thes for Votce of America bros#enst and cabled to use reninder of the information Fer the next week, @ dozen people in the Agency were continusualy engaged in handling incoming weseages on the case, writing reperts to be cabled out, tracing the aamee mentioned, and regearvhing files. Within a 8 week, 27 cabled reports bad gone aut to the White House, the State Depart- ment, end the FRI. Many cablea ef guidance and inguiry hed been sent to
13-00000 ad ‘sad MARA rei ' wife bad bem received beck. ‘he Mexles City Station researched its connected him also to the Cuban Consulate in Mexico City. Several Mexicans were arrested and questioned about his activities, giving a gecd pleture of what he was really up to. Many veaferennes wore bold vith the FM most of which we investigated. ALL of these are soon discredited, bat they are still coming ine During this phase ef eur work, wo served primarily in suppart ef the Fl, which wee entrusted by the President with the major responsibility for the investigation. The FAI was too busy to supply ue with auch of its ® oun information, but anmvers were given te specific questions we posed to ascist our investization. ment of State did photecraph ita entire
es SORE $11e on OSWALD and paso then to us, end the FSI gave us a copy of the Seviet Consular file on OGHALD which bad been publicly given by the Soviet duhaseader to the Secretary of State. On Friday 6 Decesber 1963, Beputy Attorney General Ratsevbech invited ws te review the FBI's comprehensive repart on the case to make sure our sources vere not jeopardized end that interesting ané no threat to our security, as long as it wae read only by ¢he Coro i inveetiantive bedies. After the Tirat few days, the CIA investigation of the case was and enalyeis ef the most important security cases, and by a few officers &e goon a8 our Mexico City Station realized that Lee OSWALD was the prize sugpect, it begam re-eervening a1] the written telephone transcripts .« in its files covering the Soviet Eubassy for the pertinent period. The i jNiks b, =
13-00000 ae) Py ey Pri onal Hey, notmmal two weeks wait. Several calle believed to involve OOWALD ware diseovered and their contents cabled to Washingten, where they were @iaseminated te the White Howse, the State Departuent, the Feéaral Faoveem of Investication. a OSWALD's weme was net ectuelly mentioned im these edditionel calls, | but similarity of speech and various plain points of content Link then | * | They cover the period from 27 September 1963 te 3 October 1963, the uhole a span ef OSWALD's visit to Maxice City as later learned fran travel records. bor..« A mee: ghee the: Soviet Mistery Attacks ame i. cowie co: = : eays he neads e visa te co te Odesea. Man enowering says be should call _Siven to hia. (Tere ig no special reason fer Linking this call te OSMALD.) : Cengulete. Silvia Duren, Mexican uational clerk of the Cuban Consulate talked te a Geviet official, sayin: that a sale American citizen was at the Cuben Consulate asking for a transit vies te pase through Cuba on bis way
to the Seviet Union. she wente to know to whem he talked in the Soriat Congulate and whe told hin he would have no protien about If a Soviet vies. is assured, the Cuban Consulate can grunt him a transit vies end sinphy notify Catan dmatgretion authorities. The Seviet first aske ber te wait, aod then she has to explain the vhole thing ever again to another back. Silvie DURAN concludes this call by telling the Soviet she herself bas moved and gives her new ad@ress for the Soviet Eutussy bulletin. Hs Cultural. Attache is. Silvia DURAN gives the Attache's newe ag Terese back amd telle her that the “American” had been to see the Soviet's and shown them a letter from the Soviet Consulate in Wachincton indicating that he had been waitine for vises for himself and wis wife to go te the Seviet Union for a long time, but that no answer had come frase Washington, efding
13-00000 | that the wait was sometimes four or five months. tne “haorieen" bod | cham the Coviets a letter shaving he wes e meuber of an organisation in faver of Cabs, and bed claimed thet the Cubans coulé not cive hin a vise withent a Russian visa. Siivia MURAH rejoins that they have the same | probleng the “American” fc still at the Consulate; thay cannct give him a transit visa unless he is assured ef a Soviet visa, even though he just wants to go te Cuba to Whit there for his Soviet visa te be granted. He éoes net know anyone in Cuba. Thay end the conversation an thie note. Silvia DURAN says thet eke will note this ca kis “card,” and the Soviet Foe oe Neen By eiyiegs Resbiee: be fe net meme is geewias: binsel? for thes: | inconvenience he has caused end Gilvia DURAN says it 1s all richt. | Cuban Consulate. She anys that ehe has the American with ber again. ‘the Seviet anevering esks her to walt. When another Seviet tekes up the phone, | Silvia, pute the American on. The American tries to talk Russian to the Seviet whe enswers in English. The American ajc: him to epeak Russian, ‘The Amertean says that be hed been in the Geviet Exbascy and spoten with the Getlitn , 2a | EeP dy ScGRET
13-00000 lay hende on it when he was in the Soviet Consulate that day. Ferkaps he hed earlier civen the address to Silvie DURAN and wanted te leok it wp on her card. A particularly sintoter aspect of OGUALD's dealings with the Soviets in Hextce City arises from the Miklikood that he met vith Soviet Consul Yelerty Vissinisevich KOseImDy. In his 1 Octeber phone call to the talked te was KOSTIKOV if he was dark. OSWALD seems te agree with this, but the identification fe very casual. In his 9 Neveaher letter te the with as "KOSTIN,” but there fa ne parson of that exact name in the Soviet Euhesey in Mexieo City. KOSTINOV is accredited as a Consuler Attache end does actually do © let of consular vork, but he is believed te be a Soviet KGB officer, and it is believed that he works fer Department 13 of the KOB, the Departwent charged vith sabotage and asesesinations. The suspicion that KOSTIKOY is a KOB officer arose from his work habits, and hie association with other KGB officers. It was haréeneé when it was