(Od-104t4-10236 me, SECRET 2 May 1975: SUBJECT : The Photo of an Unidentified Individual in the Warren | , _. Commission Report: A Factual Chronological Survey ” REFERENCE: Memorandum by David W. Belin to Mr. E.. Harry Knoche, 15 April 1975 (Attachment A) 1. Reference memorandum suggests it would be appropriate to 7 “reconsider full disclosure at this time of the circumstances and factual ‘data relative to the Subject. The purpose of this survey is to permit a realistic evaluation of the suggestion. Background 2. This examination and summary of the record concerns a cropped photograph considered by the President's Commission on the Assassination ‘of President Kennedy (hereinafter cited as the Warren Commission) and ; ] introduced into evidence as Odum Exhibit No. 1. The photograph (together with others of the same individual) originated from a highly 1 See Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination ' of President Kennedy (hereinafter cited as Hearings), Vol. XX, p. 697. SECRET
13-00000 Embassies in Mexico City. SECRET sensitive intel Tigence operation being conducted in “October 1963 by t the CIA and Mext can-security ty authorities, against the . Soviet ‘and Cuban —— ar Under the extraordinary press of ef for to. develop information ‘on the assassin and the assassination, copies of ‘the photograph were made avai lable by cIA' Ss Mexico Station Chief. on: the afternoon, of 22 November to the local FBI representative, and later that ay, assertedly on the decision of the Ambassador , copies: were conveyed by an FBI representative by a special flight carried out by the U.S. ‘Naval ‘Attache to the Dallas office of the FBI for possible. use in the ongoing investigation. One photograph , cropped by the FBI, was shown to Mrs . Marguerite OSWALD (Lee Harvey OSWALD's. mother) in Dallas on the — evening of 23 November 1963 by FBI Agent Bardwell D. ODUM. . | 4, The Warren Commission’ S report describes the sequence of events © at pp. 364-365 and 667 “(Attachment B) which ultimately resulted in Mrs. Marguerite OSWALD" s allegation that she had been shown a cropped photo of Jack RUBY the day before he murdered her son. (A further comp lication compounding this erroneous conc Tysi on was the fact that when She had been shown a copy of the same photograph in her appearance © before the Commission, it had been cropped by the FBI in Washington in a slightly different manner. ) 5. No detail in the Warren Commission report illustrates more - vividly than this one the difficulties that beset simple truth in the SECRET
13-00000 cea STS SECRET politicized, rigidly deterministic interpretive climate that has been nurtured by the media over the past decade about the Kennedy Assassina- _ tion. The photograph, acknowledged now not to be RUBY, has continued to preoccupy | specialists" and has  becone the centerpiece of another hypothesis that holds OSWALD to have been "framed" by the use of a ‘double. in his activity in Mexico City.2 | Lee Harvey. OSWALD = esorting on Mexico City Stay 6. ATthough in no way ‘related to Lee Harvey OSHALD or his stay 1 in Mexico Ci ty from the morning of 27 September. 1963 to the morning of 2 October 1963, at least one set of photographs of the unidentified man originated during OSWALD's “stay there. It is important, therefore, to an understanding of the acquisition and handling of the photographs by the Mexico Station to review what the Station ascertained and did with the information it developed about OSWALD in Mexico City, together with Headquarters action on that information. 7. From all credible evidence known to this time (none, incidentally, a added since the exhaustively unique work of the Warren Commission), Lee Harvey OSWALD spent four (4) full days and two (2) partial days-- about 116 hours in all--in Mexico City from about 10:00 a.m. 27 September 2 This is the thrust of the article "The CIA and the Man Who Was Not Oswald" by Bernard Fensterwald and George O'Toole in the New York Review of Books, a copy of which is attached to reference (Attachment A). 3 SECRET
13-00000 " 6 SECRET ae 1963 to about 8:30 a.m. 2 October 1963. His place of residence was a small commercial traveler hotel, not frequented by “gringos"--the Hotel Conflerci o--where he was registered under alias. Exhaustive and detailed interviews and interrogation by the Me: dean authorities and the FBI, after the assassination, established that in the recollection of all hotel personne! he left early and returned Tate each day oF his stay. 8. Assuming , and allowing for the fact, of late arrival and early . departure; that. he slept one-third of the time of his: stay (38 or 39 hours), there. remain ‘some 78 hours: of activity to be accounted for. Overall, CIA's information can account solely for very brief periods during 27, 28 September and 7] October. All coverage by CIA during the - entire period was technical. The Station had no live source (living agent) coverage(either onitateraT or From Mexia Tiaison} - 9. It should be rioted that OSWALD was in no sense “under investi- gation." None of the facts of his defection and ‘stay in the USSR and return to the U.S., 1959 - 1962, were known to Mexico Station files” before 10 October 1963, when the bare bones of his biography were forwarded by Headquarters in response to a Station cabled report of 8 October which had forwarded, on a routine basis, what appeared to be a contact by an American for a visa to Cuba in transit to the USSR. This was indicated and deduced from technical ly acquired information -on 1 October, which was the first and only occasion in which OSWALD identified himself (partially) by true name. SECRET
13-00000 7 tien, going ‘back to materials From August 1963. 10. At no time during his stay in Mexico city 4 did the CIA acquire a photo of OSWALD. A careful review of all coverage, ‘voice intercept, as well as photographic. of both the Soviet and Cuban’ Embassies was . “conducted by ‘the. Station on 22 and 23 November 1963 after the assassina-_ “te. 4s, therefore , Firm that. there was no CIA photo coverage of OSWALD. ‘at any time during his Mexico trip or stay in Mexico city. Moreover although it had made a cabled request ‘on 15 October, the Nexi co Station had no phot. ‘of OSWALD in its records, nor did it receive one from Headquarters--which did not: have one. -either--before 22 November 1963. _ V1. tanita To's intensive review of voice intercept transcripts by the monitor and other personne] on the basis of the 1 October inter- cept--which had been reported to Headquarters and disseminated to the - interested members of the intelligence community (as an ex-Marine OSWALD was a Navy and. FBI case under the Delimitations Agreement, and potentially of interest to the Department of State)--turned up matches based on content with materials intercepted on 27 and 28 September 1963. These matches were reported to Headquarters on 23 November 1963. Analysis based on voice comparison (except for what could be recalled by the monitor--and this was not an insignificant element because of the memorably poor Russian spoke by OSWALD) could not be made because the tapes, in accordance with the normal practice, had been erased and re-used. SECRET.
13-00000 any ‘ . J - a SECRET 12 It must be stressed that the voice intercept. and ‘photographic coverage was not (and. normally is not) processed in. "peal time. " The / means of acquisition and the volume of. the information precludes. anything but the spot reporting ‘of items judged by the moni tor to ba of more ‘than: ordinary interest and, therefore, noted in sum ry Jogs Full texts of - selected items require consultation of the. tape. and either a full tran~_ scription or ful trans lation or. both. Photo coverage tends. to become available in quantity Tots which requires scanning and | selection on. a rapid and accelerated basis in four or five day “peaks. ” One. of the "triggers" that normal ly operates to ‘focus and accelerate more speedy _ review and reporting of this kind of raw intelligence is the mention of a name. This was precisely what occurred in the second of two conversa~ tions | on | October with the Soviet Embassy , during which the speaker said he was “Lee OSWALD. " It was this information reported by the Station to Headquarters in its first indication on OSWALD on 8 October 1963. 13. The Mexico Station did one more thing in its 8 October report on Lee OSWALD based on its 1 October voice intercepts: it coupled the. data with descriptive information jt had acquired from a sensitive | ‘collateral sour ce--a photograph of a male individual, apparently an American, who was observed entering the Soviet Embassy on 1 October. The Station reported this detail on the 8th as a matter of coincident - fact. The Station did not assert or suggest that the data deduced from the photo was in fact OSWALD, or indeed, was in any way related to OSWALD. SECRET
13-00000 StEULK EL Lee Harvey OSWALD - CIA Coverage of His Mexico City Stay 14, One additional element of background must be stipulated now ase the final precondition to understanding the relevance (or irrelevance) of the photo of the unknown individual placed in the chain of evidence | on 23 November (in Dallas by FBI Agent Bardwell ODUM : ‘what was the ‘totality. ‘of CIA Mexico’ s coverage of OSWALD's activity as of the af ter- noon of the 23rd when all available coverage had been checked? 15. -The totality of Mexico Station coverage on, or reasonably inferable to. be OSWALD, ‘consisted of five (5) voice intercepts as follows: : _ Septenber 1963 (Friday), 1605 hours Mexico City time. Silvia DURAN, a Mexican national, a local employee of the Cuban ‘Embassy, Consular section, a receptionist, speaks with an unknown male at the Soviet Embassy. Silvia DURAN tells the man that the | American citizen was there, the one who wants a visa for Cuba on his w way to the Soviet Union, and he wants to know with whom he was talking there because she (Silvia DURAN) had sent him to the Soviet Embassy saying that if they accepted him and gave him a visa, then the Cubans (Embassy) would also give him a visa without further paper work, only advising Immigration in Cuba. The American, she says, wants to know with whom he had talked there because he says he was told there would be no problem. The man in the Soviet Embassy says to wait a moment. A different Soviet speaks, and SECRET
13-00000 + atte, SECRET Silvia DURAN explains the same thing to him. This | man “says to _ leave a name and telephone number and says he will call back. “Silvia DURAN gives the telephone 11-28-47 (Cuban Consutate). She also ‘takes advantage of the conversation, and states she has moved and wants to advise the Soviet. Enbassy of her change of address sO that she can receive the Soviet: Embassy’ $ bulletin. The man ‘says to call KOU KHARENKO to give her new address , then he asks the name of ‘the Consul or Cultural Attache. Silvia DURAN says the name is Teresa PROENZA and the telephone ‘number is 4-13- 26. The man says thanks. b. 27 September 1963 (Friday), 1626 hours Mexico City time.:- An unidentified male, a Soviet, calls the Cuban Consulate, asks Silvia DURAN if the American had been there.- Silvia DURAN says he is there now. The Soviet says the American showed papers from the . Consulate in Washington, that he wants to-go to the Soviet Union and be there for-a Tong time with his wife, who is Russian, but the answer has not come from Washington in respect to this problem, and according to this procedure it takes four or five months, but without having permission from the Soviet Union they should ask, or better said, they cannot issue a visa there without asking Washing~- ton. However, according to this man, he showed a letter indicating he was a member of an organization. in favor of Cuba and that the Cubans said that they cannot issue a visa without his -having a visa SECRET
13-00000 a) “1 | f. i i i . that the problem with him (the fnerican) 1s SECRET for the Soviet Union, and now he (the Soviet) does not know what to do with him (the American), because they have to wait for an answer from Washington. Silvia DURAN agrees the same problen exists with the Cubans, “that he does not know anyone in Cuba and therefore if that is true it will be difficult for him ‘to get a visa for Cuba, because. he: was thinking: of proces - sing his visa (For the Soviet Union), because he knew it would require waiting a long ‘time for his. visa to the Soviet Union white. = in Cuba, and from there go to the Soviet Union. The Soviet ‘Said . the thing is that if his wife right now were in ‘Washington she” | would receive her visa right now, or permission, from the Soviet Union, to return to her country, she is going to receive her visa in Washington but having this visa, she could communicate to any place this permission, for example here or any place she could receive it ~.. (visa or pennission), but right now they do not have them. “Silvia DURAN says certainly and they cannot give a letter either because they do not know if the visa will be approved. The Soviet says he cannot give a letter or recommendation either because he does not know him (the American) and asks to be excused for bothering her. Silvia DURAN says that is all right and many thanks. c. 28 September 1963 (Saturday), 1151 hours Mexico City time. Silvia DURAN calls the USSR Embassy and talks to an unidentified SECRET
13-00000 SECRET o ‘Soviet. . "She. Says that in the Cuban Embassy there is a North | American who | was at the Soviet Embassy. The Soviet says wait a minute. Silvia DURAN speaks. English with someone--and ‘coments ins ‘Spanish that they gave APARICIO telephone 14-12-99 and to take the. number, down--Sitvia DURAN then says” the American citizen is. going to talk with you, i.e., the Soviet. The American first “speaks oO Russian and the Soviet speaks English. They conti nue in English. The American talks broken Russian and says I was in your Embassy and spoke to your Consul. Just a minute. A Soviet takes the phone and. asks the American in English what does he want? The American says please speak Russian. The Soviet says what else do you want? The American says I was just. now at your Embassy and they took my address. The Soviet Says I] know that. The American, in hardly - recognizable Russian, says I did not know it then. I went to the Cuban Embas sy to ask them for my address, because they have it. -The Soviet says why don't you come again and leave your address. with us, it is not far from the Cuban Embassy. The American says T']] be there right away. e d. J] October 1963 (Tuesday), 1031 hours Mexico City time. An unknown male (American) calls the Soviet Embassy, the Military Attache's number, 15-69-87, and says to an unidentified Soviet respondent: I was at your place last Saturday and talked to your Consul.. They said that they would send a telegram to Washington, 10 SECRET
13-00000 | “This. is Lee 0s +. spoke to a onsul, . what. SECRET ‘ oS it ia 15- 60-55; and, ask k for a ‘consul. “Thank you. » 1045 hours Mexico City time. The : ‘samé person. viho phoned a day or so ago and spoke i in broken Russian ‘spe ks to OB YEDKOV (a Soviet Embassy guard). He says: ALD ‘speaking. I was at your place last Saturday and. > and ‘they said that they would send a telegram to oo © Washington, 56 T wanted + to find out if you have anything new? But. - ! “Fenember. ‘the name : of that consul. OBYEDKOV says: “KOSTIKOV. [ ye i is. dark (hair « or. ‘skin’ - ?).. OSWALD says yes. My name is OSWALD. —OBYEDKOY says; dust a minute, — 11. find out. They say that they . “have, not received. anything yet. OSWALD says: Have they done “anything? “OBYEDKOY says: . ‘Yes, they say that a request has been - sent 0 ‘out, but nothing has. been received as yet. OSWALD ‘says, and oa 2 OBYEDKOV. hhangs up. 16 Each. of these ‘ites, including the texts of the raw intercepts, were read by, discussed with, and examined by ‘Warren Commission staffers ‘in 1 Headquarters and at the Mexico Station during a stay from 8 - 13 April 1964. 3 All were made available promptly to the FBI. 3 The Warren Commission group that visited the Mexico Station consisted of Mr. Coleman, Mr. Slawson, and Mr. Willens. They examined not only the i” SECRET
13-00000 / : = SECRET infer from the intercept evidence, that OSWALD made or could have made ‘the following contacts with the Cuban and Soviet. official establishments. in Mexico City. | - oo oe oo mo ey ab | + ee a. 27 September 1963 (Friday). After arrival and check-in ‘to Uap . his hotel, OSWALD went first. to the Cuban Enbassy where. he ‘talked | with hrs. Silvia DURAN. The time of his first Cuban Enbaésy visit, is unknown. | The ‘time of his ‘Second Cuban Embassy visit was about . — 1600 hours (.e., just. before closing). Sometime between ‘the. two - Cuban Embassy visits, at Mrs. DURAN's indication, he must have.’ tor ; visited the Soviet Embassy. We have no indication, who"he talked |. wir at the Soviet Embassy. intercepts a - e above, but others for the 27th and one for 3 October that seemed to have relevance. These have not been included in this summary because they appear, on review, to be excludable from the OSWALD matter on logical or substantive grounds, or both, bearing in mind that - the Soviet Embassy received many calls pertaining to visa matters. On the 27th at 1037 hours the Soviet Embassy received a call from an unknown individual speaking Spanish who said he wanted visas to go to Odessa. He was told the Consul was not in and to call back at 1130. OSWALD is: known to have arrived at the Flecha Roja bus terminal on bus Ch #516 at circa 1000 hours on the 27th. It was, therefore, possible for oe him to have made this call. But granting this, it is unreasonable to aa believe the calls were OSWALD's for the following reasons: a. The caller wanted visas, and specifically for Odessa. OSWALD was seeking a visa and never in any context did he specify the Black Sea port of Odessa as a destination. 12 SECRET 17. Summing up, we can state, or by free interpretation reasonably.
13-00000 based ¢ on the recollection of ‘officers: still. SECRET © Um _ There was no photographic coverage of oswaLo® s entries - _ into either the cuban or Soviet Embass ies on. the arth. The Tack of | coverage on the Cuban instal lation is explainable: the camera, in ‘Service in Head~ quarters; was S down on the. 27th because of mechanical malfunction, which was in, course of. correction. “Why: OSWALD was missed in his probable entry | to the Soviet instalation n the 27th is” “fot yet explained, but no ‘technical operation of that. ind is infallible. b. 28 Septenber 1963 | (Saturday). ‘[Note: “Both the cuban and | Soviet Embassies were closed to the public on Saturdays. Photo- graphic” coverage ¥ was normally suspended Saturdays and Sundays .] - b. ‘The call. was. directed to the correct. Soviet. consular ‘number: 15-60-55... On 1 October, OSWALD first called. the wrong number, 15-69-87 (the MA's number), and had to redirect his call to the correct number, 15-60-55. It seems unlikely he would have made what would have been his initial call, on Friday the 27th, to the correct number, ¢ and called the incorrect number on 1 October. c. There is “every reason to believe from the context of the intercepts, para 15, a-e above, that OSWALD's first destination after arrival and check-in to his hotel, was a visit to the Cuban Embassy. d. The use of the Spanish language would exclude OSWALD unjess he made use of an intermediary, which seems unlikely from what is known of his modus operandi. On 3 October at 1539 hours an individual speaking broken Spanish, then English, called: the Soviet Embassy and asked for a visa. The Soviet. respondent says: Call on the other phone. The requestor says: I'm 13 SECRET
13-00000 SECRET & ; OSWALD, notwithstanding the holiday schedule, went on Saturday . morning to the Soviet Embassy (his second visit) where he spoke to 7 - a Consul. He apparent ly could not recall his new Texas address. At circa 51 hours he went to the Cuban Bnbassy--his third entry-- where he had registered it in his visa application the day - previously. “He secured the address from Mrs - DURAN and ‘she called the Soviet. Consulate presumably. to permit. him to give then’ ‘the: address over the phone. ‘Instead, the Soviet with whom’ OSWALD spoke. “over Mrs. DURAN S telephone invited OSWALD to come back in person, | ~ back to the Soviet installation (his third entry). looking for a visa to go to Russia. The Soviet says: Please call on the telephone of the Consul, 15-60-55. The requestor says: One moment please, I'll have to get a pencil to write the number down. They issue a7 the visa there? The Soviet: That depends on your conversation. I don't ee know about this business. The requestor asks for the number again. The ets Soviet gives him the number and tells him to ask for the Consul of the “ Soviet Embassy in Mexico. ‘The relevance of this ‘intercept to OSWALD is excludable on three grounds: a. The use of broken Spanish. OSWALD throughout used broken Russian or English. He had no competance in Spanish to. handle a conversation of this kind. b. The substance of the request indicates a visa request in the first stages of initiation. OSWALD had developed his matter - with the Cubans and the Soviets the previous Saturday to a point. well beyond the stage indicated by the substance of this call. 14 SECRET and he said he wou Td Immediately. Presumab ly, thereupon OSWALD went 7
13-00000 vo SECRET Plat, c. 29 September 1963 (Sunday). No activity registered. d. 30 September 1963 (Monday). “No activity registered. Po - (it. is ‘known that OSWALD reserved space. this, date on. a Mexico City- | Loredo bus departing 2 October 1963 at 0830 hours. ) oe 4 October 1963 (Tuesday). OSWALD. sade at least. two calls, at 1031 and. 1045. hours, to the Soviet Embassy. He identified himself twice during ‘the second call when ‘he talked with OBYEDKOV--a guard-- “and referred to his talk on saturday, probably with KOSTIKOV.. “There: was no photographic coverage of OSWALD on 7 October if the follow- ing reasoning is correct, that was as it should be. “From the ‘context | fo | of the two calls, there would have been no reason for him to go to 7 the Embassy. His case had clear ly been placed at the sufferance of the USSR ‘Embassy in Washington. His two calls on 1 October were concerned with whether any reply had been received from Washington. ‘Under those circumstances, it is unreasonable to believe OSWALD would have gone to the Soviet Embassy on that date. - 18. The camera at about mid-day registered the entry into the Ou Soviet Embassy of a white-shirted individual who, in the opinion of the c. OSWALD had left Mexico City, based on all the credible evidence, the early morning of the previous day, 2 October, and -could not have made this local call. 15 SECRET
13-00000 as separate facts” in its cable to Headquarters. ‘on. 8 October. SECRET “Station, among all the persons photographed that days appeared to be the “only person--a non- Latin, and possibly an Amer ican--who ‘entered the Soviet | installation. On the chance there could be an association between the a “ident ification data derived from the voice intercept and the descriptive . ~ dath derived from the photograph , the Station reported the two elements 19. ~The Station's action was not unusual’ and really amounted to an analytic quantum Teap,” justified by the primitive and initiatory status - of the OSHALD ‘identification. Many examp les of a similar kind: of ‘thing can be found in “the day-to-day record of Station- -Headquarters correspon- a dence and reporting. Developments from 8 October - 22 November 1963 - 20. Mexico Station reported to Headquarters on 8 October (received in . Headquarters 9 October) the following initial information on OSWALD. 4 (1) On 1 October. 1963, an American male who spoke broken Russian and said his name Lee. OSWALD (phonetic), stated he was at SovEmb on 28 September when he spoke 4 Cablese has been rendered here, and throughout, into readable English, without substantive changes or omissions. Cryptonyms and pseudonyms have been omitted or put into clear text. 16 SECRET
13-00000 21. we Mexico Station said it had shi of a male —  ° SECRET with a consul whom he be lieved to be Valeriy: | Viadimirovich KOSTIKOV. Subject ‘asked the: Soviet: guard [Ivan] OBYEDKOV , who answered, if there was anything new regarding a telegram to Washington. . OBYEDKOY upon checking said nothing had been received yet, but ‘the request had bee ‘sent. swho appeared to be an American entering the Soviet ‘Embassy at 1216 hours , leaving 1222 on 1 October. "Apparent age 35; athletic build, circa 6 feet, receding hairline, balding top. “Wore khakis and sport shirt. (3) No local dissemination was being made by the station. On 10 October 1963, at 20127 time the WH Division responsible for action disseminated this report to the Departnent of State, _ the FBI, and the Navy Department by routine electrical transmission, adding some collateral details drawn from a preliminary File review: (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 7 SECRET
13-00000 (2) ‘It is - believed that OSWALD may ‘be identical yo SECRET - ‘whether the Embassy had received any news con 7 cerning, a telegram which had been sent to. "Washington. "The Aner can was described as approximately 35 “years old, with an athietic build, about 6 feet tall, with a "vecedng’ hairline. - “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 tsicl 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. 22. . Although the reaction of the Headquarters desk was "by the book" and in good time, there were a number of errors in this advisory to the departments which, on the record, were concerned with the OSWALD 18 SECRET.
13-00000 SECRET . . i J 7 a. OSWALD 's middle name was misgiven: "Henry" for Harvey. The reason for this mistake is simplicity itself. - The sheet opening : oO the file on ‘OSWALD on 9 December | 1960 had been erroneous ly inscribed” "CSMALD , ‘Lee enry." That sheet--unchanged except for. ‘the notation of | a ; the ¢ error-~is still the first sheet. ‘in the OSWALD file. oo be “in wife's maiden name was misspel led: »PUSAKOVA" for PRUSAKOVA. ' Neither of these errors are significant (though they persist in the. .. Headquar ters camun ications throughout the month). More Important west “Paragraph (2) of the Mexico Station's veport, which dealt with» va concurrent, but separate, phenomenon, the description of an ‘individual observed going into and out of the Soviet Embassy, had been Tocked. on to m, Lee OSWALD as an alleged descriptive fact. The Station's ‘qualification, 4 . "appeared to be an Aner ican," was transformed in the flat designation of. the unidentified individual as "The American. " -There can be no question that this misreading of the Mexico Station report was an analyst’ s error which escaped detection in the coordination before | : release: the descriptive details attributed to OSWALD were so far off the * mark as to be immediately recognizable as such by the recipients in Head- quarters, among whom both the Navy and FBI had photos of OSWALD. - (In partial explanation, if not exculpation, be it recalled that as of that moment CIA. had no photograph of OSWALD in Headquarters or in Mexico City to refer to.) 23. Confirmation of this judgment is provided by the contents of 7 ; the cable composed by the same analyst and sent as of 2209Z time (two hours later) to Mexico Station, referencing its 8 October cable: 19 SECRET
13-00000 SECRET i (1) Lee OSWALD who called SovEmb 1 October probably identical Lee Henry [sic] OSWALD born 18 October 1939, New Orleans, Louisiana, former radar operator in United States Marines who | "defected to USSR in October 1959. OSWALD is _ | Five feet ten inches, one hundred sixty five “pounds, light brown wavy hair, blue eyes. (2) -0n 31 October 1959. he attempted to renounce “his United States citizenship to the United States - | “Embassy in Moscow, indicating he had applied for Soviet citizenship. On 13 February the US Embassy | Moscow received an undated letter from OSWALD postmarked Minsk on 5 February 1961 in which sub- ject indicated he desired return of his US passport as he wished to return to USA.if "we could come to some agreement concerning the dropping of any legal proceedings against me." On 8 July on his own initiative he appeared at the Embassy with his wife to see about his return to States. Subject stated that he actually had never applied for Soviet citizenship and that his application at that time had been to remain in USSR and for a temporary extension of his tourist visa pending outcome of his request. This application, according to OSWALD , contained no reference to Soviet 20 SECRET
13-00000 SECRET j ? citizenship. OSWALD stated that he ‘had been emp Toyed since 13 January 1960 in Belorussian radio and tv factory in Minsk where he. Worked. | as a metal worker in research shop. _OStiALD was married on 30 ‘April 1961 to Marina Nikolaevna PUSAKOVA [sicl, a dental technician born VW July ay 1941, USSR. No Headquarters traces. = He attempted to arrange for his wife to join him in: Moscow SO She. could appear at Enbassy for visa interview. His American passport was returned to him. US Embassy Moscow stated twenty months of realities of life in Soviet Union had clearly ~ had a maturing effect on OSWALD. (3) ‘Latest Headquarters information was an FBI report dated May 1962 saying the FBI had deter- mined OSWALD: is still a US ‘citizen and both he _and his Soviet wife have exit permits and | Department of State had given approval for their travel with their infant child to USA. (4) The Station should pass the information of reference [its 8 October cable] and paragraph (1) above to the Embassy, the FBI, the Navy, and I&NS locally. The information given above as 21 SECRET
13-00000 24. Navy». and TENS. - Please keep Headquarters. ‘identification of OSWALD. SECRET paragraphs (2) and (3) originated with the FBI. (5) Reference and possible ‘identification. "being disseminated to Headquarters of Bl, ‘State, advised on any further contacts or posi itive ‘Headquarters feedback to Mexico city of OSMALD's corréct description should have been sufficient, in view of the incongruities with the details deduced from the photo of the unidentified male ,. ‘to keep these two matters > apart as investigative facts. -But ‘things did not work out that way. 25. Mexico Station on 15 October 1963 asked Headquarters to "please pouch a photo of OSWALD." Headquarters electrically delivered ‘to the Department of the Navy the following message on 24 October 1963. "Lee Henry [sic] OSWALD. . . "It is requested that you forward to this office as soon as possible two copies of the most recent photograph you have of subject. We will forward them to our representative in Mexico, who will attempt to determine if the Lee OSWALD in Mexico City and subject are the same individual." 22: SECRET
13-00000 i ‘ t | i : on 2 October. i od ; ~ No photo had been received by CIA by 22 November 1903. | 26. Within its limitations and capabilities, Mexico Station had “done alt it. ‘could to ‘comp ly with Headquarters instructions : a. | Headquarters had been alerted, and “in tur chose agencies _ - with an investigative or policy interest in OSWALD as an American in the: United States had been alerted, both in Washington and in the. field. b. “Mexico Station had no further contacts by OSWALD to 0 report 7 becausé—as it was S ultimately ascertained-—he had left Mexico city . aan on OSWALD | was not an. Agency investigative responsibility, in” any case. Even with. a photograph , it would have taken very Special efforts, triggered ‘by the other interested U.S. agencies, to have “made a positive identification in view of. OSWALD" s hotel. registra- tion under alias. There the matter rested until mid-day 22 November 1963. ‘The Insertion of the Photo of the Unidentified Individual into the Chain of Evidence Co - 27. On 22 November 1963 the Mexico Station cabled Headquarters at_ 22292 time after learning of the arrest of Lee H. OSWALD, age 24, 23 SECRET
13-00000 | | | SECRET AN possibly in connec tion with the assassination, and referencéd its . earlier messages of 8- 9 and. 15 October and Headquarters’ reply of 10 October. The Station requested by: “petty puch a photo. of OSWALD so that Station ‘can ‘check aul recent coverage for OSWALD. Forward- 7 ing ‘soonest copies of only visitor to soviet Embassy _ ‘on: 1 October who could be identical with OSWALD. no 28. ‘te is ‘clear that Nexico Station had forgotten that according _to its: own communication the unidentified male in the photo was of : “apparent age 35" and that the accurate description of OSWALD forwarded a fo. by Headquarters on 10 ‘October precluded ‘the identity with OSWALD (of the “person whon they regarded as the “only visitor to the Soviet Embassy on | | October who. could be identical, o aan 29, The Station neamiTe had begun an exhaustive and accelerated | ot | 4 ‘review of all its technical and photographic intelligence. A dispatch was prepared in accordance with the indication given in the cable of 22 November, cited in paragraph. 25 above. The dispatch noted that " photo coverage of the unidentified individual had turned up on 4 and 15 October at the Soviet and Cuban Embassies, respectively. The text | of the 22 November 1963 pouched dispatch read: "1. Attached are copies of the only photographs obtained . . . on 1 October 1963 which appeared 24 SECRET
13-00000 SECRET to be an American. This same man visited the Soviet _Enbassy on: 4 October 1963. 12. Captes of ‘these photographs were shown-to the | U.S. Ambassador on 22 November 1963 and a copy of | - “each of the two photographs was given to Chief FBI, oe Mexico, on that date we wp, S., Photographs dated 15 October 1963 were “inserted after typing of. dispatch. These were ‘taken as (the] person entered the. Cuban Enbassy. " Attached were » eight photographs four (of which two were marked 4 October on ) reverse) showing the individual in a white shirt, and four (unmarked on reverse) showing the individual in a black shirt. “it would seem to be logical that the word "sets" y was probab ly omitted from - Paragraph t two of ‘the ‘dispatch between the words “byo" and ' ‘photographs. ‘ 30. That the Station was working under forced draft is clearly apparent from the text of the dispatch, which tacked on a material fact as a postscript. That fact was ‘reported: simultaneously by cable to ~ Headquarters at 00532 time, 23 November: "1. Mexico Station has photos same unidentified | American type who is possibly OSWALD entering Cuban Embassy on 15 October. Searching for 25 SECRET
13-00000 “i ! “] oe i | i i. i ! SECRET _ possi bi tity photo- -documented entry | Cuban Embassy other days. | | Also attempting | establish OSWALD entry and e departure Mexico. ' —3t. “Weadquarters, @ at 01362 time, 23 Novenber 1963, asked Mexico. Station to send a staff member with all 1 photographs to Headquarters on... the next avai Table Fright. 32. ‘Concurrently with or before ‘the foregoing. cables. to Headquarters, the Chief of Station, Mexico City, had spoken directly by double-talk 7 _ telephone with the Western Hemi sphere Chief of Division, Mr. J. c. KING, and secured permission to give copies of the photographs of the uni den- tified individual to the Legal Attache and to make them known to the Ambassador. 33. ‘What happened next is . best reflected in. a personal note by the : Chief of Station to the WH Division Chief, mai led to the latter from. Dallas, together with copies of the photographs, by the Legal Attaches - . representative who delivered them to the FBI in that city. "99 November 1963 "Dear J.C. [KING]: "Reference is made to our conversation of 22 November 26 SECRET
13-00000 ae SECRET in hich. 1 requested permission to give the Legal : "Attache copies oF photographs of a certain person who is known to ‘you. Attached are , copies of each of the photographs we. have with the dates ‘of the visits stamped on the back. MAE 6 Le m. Mexico time on 22 November, The Ambas- - ‘sador decided that this was: important enough to have a member of the Legal Attache! s office take .¢ copies of ‘these pictures to Dallas, Texas. The ‘Naval Attache is making a special flight from Mexico City for this purpose. The Legal. Attache’ s aoe 7 . officer who: is going to Dallas has promised to mail this material to you for me. _"Copies of these photographs. are also being sent : - — 7 by pouch which will leave Mexico City on the night of 22 November 1963. "Best wishes. “Win [SCOTT]" According to a sidelined comment on this letter, the Legal Attache's officer was Eldon RUDD. SECRET.
13-00000 _ SECRET ¢°. - 34. The deci sion to remit the photographs to the FBI in 1 Dallas had been made by the Ambassador, according to the Chief of Station, ‘who simultaneous ly with the FBI agent’ s departure ‘reported to- Headquarters 7 by cable (o2sez time, 23 November): . "FBI agent left here 2000 local time with two copies - each of six - photos ‘of a person suspected to be oo a oe “OSWALD, on a special flight for ‘Dallas: He is © “carrying envelope with one copy each photo for . . airmail special from Dallas to J. C. KING at home. as per telephone conversation with SCOTT. One copy of ‘each of these photos. plus a copy. of | vi. . each of the photos showing the same person exiting the Cuban Embassy forwarded. by memorandum leaving oo Ce by regular pouch tonight. In view of above does 7 Has still want a staffer with additional photo(s)?" — 35. Headquarters responded two hours later, 04222 time, 23 November 1963, cancelling its request: "l, No need send staffer with photos. We have asked Navy for photos again, but Mexico can see QSWALD‘'s picture soonest on the press wire. "2, Have just ré-emphasized to FBI Headquarters. the sensitivity of photos you are sending and also 28 SECRET
13-00000 : a SEUK EI relaying names of . travelers with similar names . Note radio says OSWALD Vived under alias of. 0. He LEE. a on the = tnd ek EH tm, Morte whe Mexico City: os “The FBI says that ‘the photos. of the ‘man, entering the Soviet. Embassy which Mexico | ‘Station sent to Dallas were not of Lée OSWALD. “Presume Mexico Station has double- checked dates of these photos and is also checking all _-- pertinent photos for possible shots of OSWALD." 37. 38. And at this point, 20482 time, 23 November, Mexico Station | finally agreed: | | "Saw photos of Lee OSWALD on television. night of 22 November and it obvious photos sent to Dallas 7 were not identical with Lee OSWALD held in Dallas. Dates are as given on photos. texto station is reviewing all 1 available photos of persons entering Soviet and Cuban Embassies." Two hours later (22542 time, 23 November 1963) the Station had ‘ reported the results of its effort to review all available coverage: 29 SECRET
13-00000 SECRET "Complete recheck of * photos of al] visitors, to. Cuban Embassy from August through first half of ~ November against good press photos shows no evidence o of OSWALD visit. Similar blank against alt Soviet Embassy photos fron J September. - Note, only visit we know: he made to Cuban Embassy 28 September, ‘Saturday, on. which Enbassy closed and we’ “had not had coverage .... 39, With this conmuni cation the. matter of the "unidentified individual" reaches the end of Phase I, the key ‘element of whi ch” as the: conviction, at First latent, then expressed, that the photographed - oo individual might be identical with OSWALD. This applies especially t to. the Station, though at a certain point | even Headquarters moved no ‘rebuttal despite the hard fact that the description of OSWALD and the - unidentified individual were. quite disparate. 40. This review has s attenpted to deal even-handedly with all items in the case record that have a bearing on what happened. The cperational zeal, innovativeness , and the high committment of all ‘involved, especially in Mexico City, speaks for itself. Equally apparent-- because of the 20/20 advantage of hindsight--is the evidence of non-performance. It was a critical failure, for examples that no photo of OSWALD was made avai lable--though it was expressly requested both at Headquarters and by the field--or that it was not more aggressively 30 SECRET
13-00000 “4 October 1963 into a cause celebre today. the background by straight cuts. ~ OSECRETO. OG. ‘sought by CIA, before 22 Novenber . | A photograph of OSwALD would have - obv iated--in a. way the mere possession of a. correct physical description - - evidently could ‘not--the whole successive deter igration of. what began in’ “Mexico City as an. impressionistic selection of the photograph on 40. It. shou i be clear from this factual’ “survey that t never had “there been a cause ‘celebre with less intrinsic merit. It is equa lly - clear fron the ‘facts thenselves that. there was nothing contrived or: conspired in what happened, unless we > have now ‘descended to that. point in human values achieved urider STALIN in the USSR and under HITLER in. “Germany, ‘where just a plain mistake is per se evidence of conspiracy, ‘The Genesis and Development of Odum Exhibit No. 1 and | Commission Exhibit 23 , 41. ‘Special Agent of ‘the FBI, Bardwel] D. ovum, on 23 November 1963 showed one of the six < photos flown up fron Mexico City the previous | day to OSWALD! s mother, Marguerite OSWALD. ODUM himself had trimmed off . OSWALD had no recognition of the ‘image in the photograph. ODUM S own detailed account may be found in Hearings, op cit, Vol. XX, p. 268. 42. The photograph shows the unidentified individual in a black shirt. It was one of the five photos taken of him in front of the Soviet 31 SECRET
re | SECRET “Embassy in Mexico City on 4 October 1963, two days after OSMALD had | “left the city. as At this point, for the record, the total avai lable photo mo : covgrage of. the unidentified individual numbers twelve: (12), photographs: ee a i a Five (5) ¢ taken on 1 October 1963, entering and exiting the 4 | soviet Enbassy. _He is garbed in a white. shirt and Vight- -colored | an (Khaki- 2) trousers. b. Five 6) taken on 4 October 1963 in front of the Soviet : Embassy. He ‘is garbed ina dark, open, button-down shirt with ao high- -neck Tine undershirt showing ‘and dark trousers. ron ‘Two (2) taken on 15 October 1963 in front of the Cuban | __ Eabasay. ta ts wearing a dark, collarless T-shirt or Nght sweater. _ The negatives ‘of all of these, are extent and are now held in Headquarters | .. as Integral parts of the OSWALD and related file holdings. 44. The result of ‘ODUM's display of the photograph--to repeat, a , ‘cropped version of one of those noted under paragraph 43b, above--was = Mrs. Marguerite: OSWALD': s allegation that she had been shown a picture ‘of her son's killer, Jack RUBY, a day before he perpetuated the deed! Again the Warren Commission: Report (pp. 364-365, 367) exhaustively disposes ° of this erroneous charge and requires no repetition here. A comp li ca- ting fact developed along the way was Mrs. OSWALD's (correct) observation, 32 SECRET
13-00000 ‘Vol. ‘XVI, Pp. 638). SECRET _ When she Finally admitted before the Connission that. the out HM photograph “was not “RUBY, Was that. the photo had been cropped differently from the oe one she had been ‘shown in Dallas. ‘Inspector MALLEY! 'S cropped version, ‘of the ODUM photograph t became Conmi ssion Exhibit 231 (see Hearings. | 45. The net ef fect of. the developments’ in e e hearings of the _ Commission was to require the. admission of the ‘cropped photograph into evidence tna ‘chain of depositions beginning with ‘ODUM, Ancluding: ‘the: FBI Inspector , Janes Re MALLEY (who had trimmed the ‘photograph used by ‘the ‘Commission in Washington), and Richard. HELMS, ‘who deposed for. ‘the | originator. These documents “speak for themselves and will be found in: the Hearings , , Vol. ‘XI, ‘PP. 468- 470. - 46.. Mexico Station and other senior Agency officers strongly. advised against the publication ‘of the. photograph in any form on: the grounds that the Soviets would be immediately alerted to the existence of a useful and continuing U. S. intelligence operation, and the opera. tion wou Id go down the drain. There were repeated cables exchanged on this point between Headquarters and Mexico Station during the summer of 1964, in particular fron 23 September to 15 October 1964 when the Station had plans underway to abandon the operation. 47. In acceding to the Commission's request. for a + deposition, Mr. HELMS, then the Deputy Director for Plans, replied affirmatively to. 33 SECRET