. Interview with Boris Dimitry Tarasoff and Ann Tarasoff at Ranch Contento, Guadalajara, Mexico on Tuesday, November 30, 1976, 1:15 (local time). Mr. Brooten: “Mr. and Mrs. Tarasoff, do you understand that my name is Kenneth Brooten, I am Counsel for the Select Committee on Assassinations of the United States Congress in the House of Representatives and with me is Jonathan Blackmer’s, also a Counsel to the Committee and that we are recording this interview with you today? Mr. Tarasoff: Yes sir. Mrs. Tarasoff: We've seen your identifications and we feel that you're documents are authentic. Mr. Brooten: And, do we have your consent to tape this interview? “Mrs. Tarasoff: Yes, you do. » Mr. Tarasoff: Yes. Mr. Brooten: Now, I'll start with Mr. Tarasoff first. Mr. Tarasoff, for the record would you please state your full name. Mr. Tarasoff: Boris Dimitry Tarasoff. HW 55923 Docld: 32277225 Page 26
HW 55923 Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Brooten: Thank you sir. And your current address. Tarasoff: Ranch Contento, Guadalajara, Mexico. Brooten: And your date of birth sir. Tarasoff: November 2, 1908. Brooten: And your place of birth. Tarasoff: Yekaterinoslaw, Russia. Brooten: Allright, sir. What is your occupation or profession. now? Mr. Mr. Mr. Tarasoff: I am retired. . Brooten: How long. have you been retired? Tarasoff: Since the end of October, 1970. Brooten: Allright sir. And prior to that time, you do, for whom were you employed? Tarasoff: I was employed by the, Exe) called, Company. Brooten: All right. And the Company is the Central Docld: 32277225 Page ?7
Mr. Brooten: Intelligence Agency. Mr. Tarasoff: Well, let's put it that way. Mr. Brooten: All right. We just want to clarify that for the record. Mr. Tarasoff: All right. Mr. Brooten: And that is of the United States Government. @ Mr. Tarasoff: Oh, definitely. Mr. Brooten: And, at which, how long did you work for the Company? Mr. Tarasoff: About 15 years. Mr. Brooten: All right sir. And in 1963 what was your duty station. Mr. Tarasoff: Well, I came here from Washington, D.C. It must have been the sixth of June, if.I'm not mistaken. @ Mrs. Tarasoff: The fifth of June. HW 55923 Docld: 32277225 Page 23
Mr. Tarasoff: The fifth of June, 1963. Mr. Brooten: All right, sir. And, were you on temporary assignment then.or what? Mr. Tarasoff: No, that was to be my permanent ‘assignment. By permanent, I mean that you put in two years. And if you are not satisfactory, they ship you back. Mr. Brooten: All right. @ Mr. Tarasoff: But I managed to survive for about eight years in the same capacity. Mr. Brooten: All right sir. Who did you.relieve in your job when you came. Mr. Tarasoff: George Miscow was my predecessor. Mr. Brooten: And where did you work specifically when you came from Washington to Mexico City. Mr. Tarasoff: Do you mean:on permanent assignment? @ Mr. Brooten: Yes sir. I mean when you were changed, where did you work, for what department or. HW 55923 DBocld:32277225 Page 29
Mr. Tarasoff: I don't know which department. Mr. Brooten: Was it with, were you a translator sir? Mr. Tarasoff: I was translator and transcriber at the same time. There is a difference, sometimes they use two people for those two jobs. Mr. Brooten: All right. And your duties when you came down in June of 1963 then were as transcriber and translater. @ Mr. Tarasoff: Right. Mr. Brooten: At the station in Mexico City? Mr. Tarasoff: Right. Mr. Brooten: All right sir. Now following, how long did you work inside the station in Mexico Station? Mr. Tarasoff: Oh, that was on TDY in 1960. Mr. Brooten: All right, in 1960 you worked in the station. @ In June of 1963, where did you work? Mr. Tarasoff: Well, in the house that was rented. HW 55923 DBocld: 32277225 Page 30
‘Mr. Brooten: All right sir. And, was that’ in Mexico City? Mr. Tarasoff: That was in Mexico City. Mr. Brooten: All right sir. Do you recall the address of that house. Mr. Tarasoff: That was 312, I think. Wasn't it? San Puerta Avenuevi072: @ Mr. Brooten: All right sir. Did any officials at the American Embassy have that address to know, to contact you? are “ase Mr. Tarasoff: They certainly did have it because they were delivering stuff to me> Mr. Brooten: All right sir. Now, did you work at that address with anyone else in the translation and the transcribing of things that we'll get into and identify a little bit later on. Did anyone else work with you directly. Mr. Tarasoff: Directly, just my wife was helping me out until she was put on official status. Mr. Brooten: Now, what did you receive and from whom HW 55923 Docld: 32277225 Page 31
Mr. Brooten: did you receive it, to transcribe and translate? Mr. Tarasoff: You mean the names? “Mr. Brooten: Yes sir. Well, I want to know what you received first. Mr. Tarasoff: First, I received a mountain of tapes left over from the previous transcriber. @ Mr. Brooten: All right. Mr. Tarasoff: And I think they were delivered by Bob(Zumbanardi spelling?) Mrs. Tarasoff: Yes, he was the first one. Mr. Brooten: All right. Mr. Tarasoff: The first one, but since he had other duties, I suppose they took the Rudy character. Mr. Brooten: All right, and you don't know Rudy's last name? HW 55923 DBocld: 32277225 Page 32
HW 55923 Mr. Tarasoff: No. That's what I say. There is some association in my mind with the name of Bruno. Mr. Brooten: Bruno? Would you describe, as best you can, the physical characteristics of? Mr. Tarasoff: Well, he was rather tall. Mr. Brooten: All right sir. Mr. Tarasoff: Slim and probably stooped a little bit, with sandy hair. Mrs. Tarasoff: receding a little bit. Mr. Tarasoff: No particular distinguishing features. Mr. Brooten: All right. Did he. How old a man was he about at that time. Mr. Tarasoff: . About 45 I'd say. Mr. Brooten: Did he have any children. Mr. Tarasoff: He had two. Two boys. Docld: 32277225 Page 33
Mr. Brooten: And, was, he was married? Mr. Tarasoff: He was married to a French woman who abandoned him or divorced him or just run away from him. Because he wasn't supportable in private life. Mr. Brooten: Now, did you receive tapes from anyone else, other than Mr. Flick or this Rudy or the individual that you named previously that delivered a bunch of them to you. Did you receive tapes from anyone else? © Mr. Tarasoff: Well, not at the same time. But after. Mr. Brooten: All right. Mr. Tarasoff: Oh, what's his name. Mr. Brooten: Mr. Bright. Mr. Tarasoff: Yes, Bill Bright Mr. Brooten: Would you describe Bill Bright to me. Was he a young man or an old man or. @ Mr. Tarasoff: He was a young man with 2 or 3 girls. Very small ones. HW 55923 DBocld: 32277225 Page 34
-10- Mrs. Tarasoff: Well, I think they had two youngsters. The two girls. Mr. Tarasoff: Typical Anglo-Saxon type. Mrs. Tarasoff: Blondish hair, sandy hair. Mr. Tarasoff: I told him. He was driving in a Volkeswagen. We have pictures of him. Mr. Brooten: Now, would you tell me how Mr. Bright @ would deliver the tapes. Do you know where the tapes came from. Mr. Tarasoff: Well, at first, no. I didn't know. Mr. Brooten: Did you ever subsequently learn where the tapes came from? Mr.. Tarasoff: Subsequently, yes. During my last two years or three years. I don't recollect exactly when. Mr. Brooten: All right. But can you now state where those tapes came from? Mr. Tarasoff: Now I can, I have a very good idea where HW 55923 Bocld: 32277225 Page “35
-1l1l- Mr. Tarasoff: they came from. Mr. Brooten: All right sir, where did they come from? - Mr. Tarasoff: It was a house that had several recording machines set up. The address I don't know. Mr. Brooten: All right, but they were tapes of telephone taps were they? Mr. Tarasoff: Yes. Mr. Brooten: All right. And you did the specific ones to and from the Soviet Embassy. Mr. Tarasoff: Right. Mr. Brooten: Now,.would you describe for me the procedure to the best of your recollection, whereby the tapes were - taken from the house where they were initially recorded, and how they got to you? What was the chain of. Mr. Tarasoff: I know one thing that, for instance let's ry say that Bill Bright, he would pick them up. I don't know whether he would pick them up from Charlie. HW 55923 DBocld: 32277225 Page 36
HW 55923 -12- Mr. Brooten: Now Charlie is? Mr. Tarasoff: Charlie Flick Mr. Brooten: And Charles Flick was, what was his job? Mr. Tarasoff: He was actually, supervising the workings of this tape record listen. If anything went wrong, he was the fellow who would fix it. If he couldn't , then he would send them back probably to Washington to be fixed. Gotten new ones... How many times I argued with him, and I said, my gosh, give me a better machine because it's breaking down. He says, well, we don't have any more. But eventually, I would get something decent out of him. Mr. Brooten: Do you know whether or not Mr. Flick monitored both the Cuban and the Soviet wiretaps from this one safe house that you've described? Mr. Tarasoff: Well, I would say that he was monitoring them because his Spanish wasn't too hot. Mr. Brooten: I guess, were the tape recordings made from of the conversations /:; the Cuban Embassy at this same place? Mr. Tarasoff: I imagine so. Docld: 32277225 Page 37
HW 55923 -13- Mr. Brooten: All right sir. Mr. Tarasoff: Because there were quite a number of people working there. Mr. Brooten: All right sir. And, were there people working there all employees, were they Americans or were they Mexican nationals or? Mr. Tarasoff: I think they were mostly Mexican nationals. . Mr. Brooten: All right. But they worked for the CIA in the interception of these communications? Mr. Tarasoff: I imagine so, of course. Mr. Brooten: All right. Did you ever personally go ' to the safe house? Mr. Tarasoff: I did Mr. Brooten: And how often did you go there? Mr. Tarasoff: Not less than once, maybe twice. Mr. Brooten: All right sir Docld: 322377225 Page 36
-14- Mr. Tarasoff: As I recollect, but that was in connection with the defection of (Russian - name on tape but unable to identify) Mr. Brooten: I see. Was that after the. assassination of President Kennedy? -Mr. Tarasoff: Oh yes. Mr. Brooten: Now, with respect to, I call your attention to September of 1963, some thirteen years ago, you were @ going to describe for me or I had asked you then I interrupted myself, the procedure whereby Mr. Bright brought you the tapes from the safe house. Would he call you on the phone? Mr. Tarasoff: Let's put it that way. I am not sure that Bill was there at that time. Mr. Brooten: All right. Mr. Tarasoff: It could have been either Bob, which I doubt, most likely it was Rudy. Mr. Brooten: All right. And Rudy, you don't remember td) his last name but you've described him for me. HW 55923 -BDocld: 32277225 Page 39
HW 55923 -15- Mr. Tarasoff: The only name that I could faintly tie in with him would be Bruno, but I'm not sure it's his name. Mr. Brooten: All right sir, now how would you go about getting, how would be these tapes be brought to you, or would you pick them up? Mr. Tarasoff: No. We would make a certain, how would you say, a chain of posts where we would meet. Mr. Brooten: All right. Mr. Tarasoff: Let's. say, today we would meet at this, .we tried to break it up because if you come to one place everyday at the same time (mumbling) that would bungle your hands, it looks suspicious, doesn't it? Mr. Brooten: All right. Now Mr. Tarasoff, do you, were these tapes brought to you in briefcases or? Mr. Tatasoff: At first they were brought in briefcases. I told them, my gosh, you could be robbed, it happened once someplace I heard about. So I said, let's make it as incon- spicuous as we possibly can. So I started putting them in the brown shopping bag. BDocld: 322777225 Page 40
-16- Mr. Brooten: And you would meet either Rudy or Bill Bright at ... Mr. Tarasoff: At the appointed place of (mumble) Mr. Brooten: At the appointed place, and you. would pick up the tapes. Mr. Tarasoff: Many a time this, I had it out with Bill because I'm. standing waiting, waiting and nobody shows up. Of course I can't wait too long. 15 minutes I said, 15 minutes | @ that's all .you get. So I'll go back to.the house and then in about 5 minutes he barges in and says, where the hell were you, I was looking all over for you. I said, I was standing there waiting for you. So. Mr. Brooten: All right, now sir, do you recall receiving tapes in September of 1963 of any intercepts of telephone communications with the Soviet Embassy? Mr. Tarasoff: Yes, I do. Mr. Brooten: All right, and did you ever receive one in which an individual called the Soviet Embassy, and said he @ wanted. to talk to him and you later had another telephone intercept on the ‘same individual? HW 55923 DBocld:32277225 Page 41
HW 55923 -~17- Mr. Tarasoff: Yes, we had that. Mr. Brooten: All right, now when you received the tapes, would you describe for me to the best of your recollection, how you went about transcribing and translating them, would you listen with ear phones and type, or what? Mr. Tarasoff: Well, we were furnished with earphones because if you turned it up at full blast, the neighbors will wonder what the heck is going on. Mr. Brooten: All right. Mr. Tarasoff: So, we had the earphones, and then what I would do. is first, with the tapes would come the Spanish transcripts. Mr. Brooten: All right, now: would you describe what it looked like, how many copies of it and so on? ‘Mr. Tarasoff: Well, we had the one copy of it, right? Just the yellow sheets, one copy, say for instance, Spanish starts at number 3, that means you would run the tape for three feet and Spanish starts, which didn't interest us because it had already been transcribed. Mr. Brooten: . Okay. Docld: 322777225 Page 42
HW 55923 -18- Mr. Tarasoff: So, but then as you go along, it says there, Russo. One of the Spanish transcribers would put down Russian and I would watch out for the number in front of it. If it says 137 I would let machine run until it hits 137 on the counter. Mrs. Tarasoff: Give or take a few minutes. Mr. Tarasoff: I would start the machine and start listening to the conversation in Russian and then while I'm listening I'm transcribing at the same time. Mr. Brooten: All right, so you were translating and © then transcribing at the same time. Mr. Tarasoff: That's right, at the same time. Mr. Brooten: And how did your wife assist you in this? Mr. Tarasoff: Well, she assisted me mostly whenever the conversation came in English, and sometimes I wouldn't catch the proper inflection or else. Well she knows English better than I do, let's put it that way. ‘Mrs. Tarasoff: Then too, if there was anybody that had ‘a slight southern accent, there'slight difference of speech was pretty hard for him to pick up what they were saying. Docld: 322377225 Page 43
HW 55923 -19- Mr. Brooten: All right. Did you type things in rough and then your wife retyped them on any occasion? Mr. Tarasoff: Oh no, that would be a double job absolutely unnecessary. Mr. Brooten: So you just sat down and listened to the tape and typed it. Mr. Tarasoff: That's right. If it ran away I would stop it: and. typed what I heard and then. start it up again and proceed. -Mr. Brooten: Ail right, like a transcriptionist would listening to a dictaphone tape? Mr. Tarasoff: Yes. Mr. Brooten: All right. Now, do you recall, specifically, having received a tape, getting back to my question that I interrupted myself for, in which a person who you subsequently learned was Lee Harvy Oswald, called the Soviet Embassy. Do you recall transcribing that tape? Mr. Tarasoff: Yes, more or less. Docld: 32277225 Page 44
46 Mrs. Tarasoff: About the recall on the tape. Mr. Tarasoff: No, not the recall, I mean about the whole business. Mrs. Tarasoff: No, In fact I think, well I don't think Herb was there then. Mr. Blackmer: Are you speaking about Herbert Mannell? Mrs. Tarasoff: Yes, I don't think he was there then. © Because shortly after we came... Mr. Tarasoff: He was from the first because I had dealings the minute I came... Mrs. Tarasoff: Yes, but the thing is that shortly after that he was transferred. Mr. Tarasoff: He was actually there for quite a while. Mrs. Tarasoff: All right, well time went by. Well anyway, no we weren't @ Mr. Tarasoff: I was at a meeting at his house shortly after I came, because I said that the load that they put on HW 55923 DBocld: 32277225 Page 71
Mr. Blackmer: Mr. Tarasoff: Mr. Blackmer: found this out? Tarasoff: Mr. Mr. Blackmer: found this out? Mr. Tarasoff: Mr. Blackmer: or after the Oswald Mr. Tarasoff: Mr. Blackmer: Mr. Tarasoff: I doubt it. @ Mr. Blackmer: - -66- You were told that he was KGB. That he was confirmed.KGB. Confirmed KGB. Do you know when you Pardon me? Do you know what period of time you No. You don't know whether it was before phone call? No. | Kostin? Do you recall the name It sounds familiar but again, as I say Did you ever come across the name HW 55923 DBocld: 32277225 Page 91