104-10088-10288] “oo ‘ om SECRET 2 Moy 1975 SUBJECT : The Photo of an sensi nd4 in the Warren . Commission Report: Ological, , Survey — REFERENCE: _ Memorandum by Da cS E. ‘Harry Knoche, 15 April 197 1. Reference memorandum suggests it would be appropriate to - reconsider full disclosure at this time of the circunstances and factual . data relative to the Subject. The purpose of this survey | is to. permit a realistic evaluation of the suggest ion. a — 7 t Background 7 Co — _— a . 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 arren Commission) and Wi The photograph ae 1 See Hearings Before the pweid! OS® oe on the Assassination of President Kennedy (hereinafter c ed as Hearings), Vol. XX, p. 697. introduced into evidence as Odum Exhibj (together with others of the same i jnated fron a highly { , fo. Foy ‘ i SECRET oto. PAGE 90 ,, 319 _ COPY, NOY _ commoner |
14-00000 SECRET r 1963 by the sensitive intelligence operation oo Octob' CIA and (Mexican security STERFER BH ne oviet ahd Cuban , Oe ey ir 3. Under the extraordin y pS f effort to develop information on the assassin and the assassination, copies of the photograph were - Embassies in Mexico City.. made available by CIA's Mexico Station Chief on the afternoon of 22 November to the-local FBI representative, and later that day, ‘assertedly on the decision of the Ambassador , copies were: | conveyed by i 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 sin the ongoing investigation. One photograph , cropped by the FBI, was shown to Mrs. Marguerite OSWALD (Lee Harvey OSWALD's mother ) in Da las 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) "wor resulted in. Mrs. Narguerite OSWALD’ S$ allegation RON d been shonin a cropped photo of Jack RUBY: the day before - on. ace further . complication compounding this jus RAN on was the: fact that ; a slightly different manner.) cB 5. No detail in the Warren Commission report iMustrates more’ vividly than this one ‘the difficulties that beset simple truth in 1 the , | Fi } t I: SECRET Oc bo
14-00000 double in his activity in vesiee City.? SECRET an ‘ politicized, rigidly deterministic int S climate that has been nurtured by the media over the seh RAS he. Kennedy Assassina- tion. The photograph, acknow] & e RUBY, has. continued to preoceupy "specialists" a oe \¥ centerpiecé of another hypothesis that holds OSWAL to eo "framed" by the | ‘use of a - | | | Lee Harvey OSWALD - Reporting on Mexico City Sta 6. Although in no way related to Lee Harvey OSWALD or his stay in Mexico City 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 deve loped about OSWALD \ xico City, together with Headquarters action on. that ae 7. From all credible KC added Since the exhaustive We Qi AS Warren Conmission), Lee Harvey OSWALD spent AY s ‘2 two (2) partial days~- about 116 hours in all--in Hexion Tey from about 10:00 a mi 27 September - | 2 This is the thrust of the article "The CIA and the Man unio 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}. GD tin (none, incidentally, : cou28Eo | pace 92 4. QOPY No. e319 a aaa
14-00000 © ' before 10 October 1963, when the “ee a8 SECRET ' ‘ i} 1963 to about 8: 30. a.m. 2 October 1963. small commercial traveler hotel, we Hotel Commercio--where he was Ke detailed interviews and int ace of residence was a y "aringos"=-the Exhaustive and exican authorities and the FBI, after the assassin ho, hed that in the recollection of all hotel personnel he left af apd returned late 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 1 October. AN coverage by CIA during the entire period was technical. The Station had no live source (living I agent ) coverage\ei ther uni TateraT or Fron Wexican Tiaisom) Ss. It should be. noted that OSWALD was in no sense "under investi - gation." None of the facts of his defection and stay in the USSR and 5. 1959 - 1962, were K\ return to the U.S. Mexico Station Files a biography « were forwarded by Headquarters in res) 8 October whi ch had ome a contact by an American Ce was indi cated and deduced from Qe cabled report of _ cally acquired information on ] October, which was the first and only occasion in which OSWALD. | identified himself (partially) by true. name. i SECRET 4 |. “PAGE “COPY NO. is, what appeared to be - 7 rs in transit to the USSR. This 319 a eee eS AERSANESL
14-00000 as. well as. photographic, of both. gh e conducted by the Station on Qs WS -Of interest to the Department of Stat SECRET. 10. At no time during his Stay in M WSS, did the CIA acquire — a photo. of OSWALD. A careful review p oe voice intercept, a n Embassies was 1963 after the as sass ina- tion, going back tovnateriats x ee 963. It is, therefore , Firm | that there was no CIA Photo coverage x 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. Mexico, Station had no photo of OSWALD ol in its records, nor did it receive one from Headquarters--which did not. have one. either--before 22 Novenber 1963. mM. nana Tris. intensive review of voice “intercept transeripts ‘by the monitor and other personnel 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-tarine OSWALD was a 2 Navy and FBI case under the Delimit Agreement , and potentiatTy ed up matches} based on content with materials interceptegd eptember 1963. These QR ‘matches were reported to Headggarters ox@anwvember 1963. Analysis based on voice comparison monitor--and this Was not-a i ns Nene 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
14-00000 om collateral source-~a photogr SECRET 12 It must be stressed that ae and photographic ) in "real time." The WW ormation precludes anything N\ t itor coverage was not (and normally is means of acquisition and the he monitor to be of more than ve selected items require consultation of the tape and either a full tran- but the spot reporting of. oo judd ordinary interest afd, ther sed in summary logs. Full texts of scription or full translation or both. Photo coverage tends to become available in quantity lots which requires scanning and selection on a rapid and accelerated basis in four or five day "peaks." One of the "triggers" that normally operates to focus and accelerate more speedy review and reporting of this kind of raw intelligence is the mention of aname. This was precisely what occurred in the second of two conversa-_ tions on 1 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 etd ohe-more. ws in its 8 October report on Lee OSWALD based on its 1 October ercepts : it coupled the x from a sensitive a mo iduat, apparently an Soviet Embassy on 1 October. e 8th as a matter of coincident data with. descriptive information< American, who was observ The Station reported this detai fact. The Station -did not assert’ or “suggest that the data. deduced fron the photo was in fact OSWALD, or “indeed, was. in any. way. related to OSWALD. SECRET
14-00000 SECRET Lee Harvey OSWALD - CIA Coverage of ve ~ City Stay i 14. @ S < sti on 23 November in Dallas by FBI Age® Bardwell ODUM: what was ‘the totality of CIA Mexico! S coverage of OSWALD!" Ss activity. as of the after- noon of the 23rd when all available coverage had been checked? 7 15. The totality of Mexico Stati on ‘coverage on, or reasonably inferable to be OSWALD , consisted of five (5) voice intercepts as follows: a. 27 September 1963 (Friday), 1605 hours Mexico Cit 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 mae tells the man that the American citizen was there, ‘the one Qo: a visa for Cuba on his way to the Soviet Union, and eo 0 know with whom he was talking there because she ae sent him to the Soviet Embassy saying that if nA WSTEp and gave him a visa, then the Cubans (Embassy) ‘we We al him a visa without further ‘paper work, only advising Qs says, wants to know with whom he had talked there because he says ation in Cuba. The Ameri can, she 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 gugebe.. 3193 PAGE __36 of COPY. 10. ee
14-00000 - and according to this pr SECRET. RN Silvia DURAN explains the same thing . This man says to Teave a name and telephone number KY call back. ~ Silvia DURAN gives the Poo an Consulate). DO OL . She also takes advantag ah and states she has moved and wants to RON b address ‘$0 that she can vecei he Soviet Embassy's Bulletin. assy of her change of The man says to call KOUKHARENKO. 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 14- 13-26. The man says thanks. b. 27 September 1963 Frida » 1626 hours Mexico Cit time. An unidentified male, a Soviet, calls the Cuban Consulate, asks Silvia DURAN if the Aner can 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 the Soviet Union and be there for a Tong time with i is Russian, but aon, to this problem, IO ror five months, but jet Union they should ask, or . the answer has not come from without having permi ron CS | ‘better said , they cannot. Qi there without asking ashi ng-. 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 — ne c Ca wm oa oO 37 ‘PACE ~ | of COPY NO. 313 ail
14-00000 | - that the problem with ° ; anyone in. Cuba and therefore < at is true it will be difficult J | sing his visa (For the Soviet . Union), because he knew it would - SECRET for the Soviet Union, and now he (the does not know what to | 7 _ do with him (the American), mow ave \ wait for an answer : from Washington. - pe : : Sal Le em exists with. the Cubans , j )is that. he does not. know ; - Silvia DURAN agr @- for him to get a visa for Cuba, because he was thinking of proces 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 communi cate to any place this permission, for example here A ace she could receive it (visa or permission), but right do not have them. Silvia DURAN says a @r give a letter either b because they do not kn e approved. The Soviet says he. cannot give a \ee either because he does not know him (the _ and asks to be excused for bothering her. Silvia DURAN says that is al] right and many thanks . c. 28 September 1963 (Saturda ), 1151 hours Mexico City time. Silvia DURAN calls the USSR Embassy and talks to an unidentified SECRET (907886 319 PAGE. 38 8 of COPY. NO. L
14-00000 SECRET and I wanted ‘to.ask you if there ee. new? The Soviet says — : 4 mber? Please write | ank you. a - 5 i Mexico Cit y tins. I would Tike to ask you to cal] Ft down: —15- 60-55, and aes e. 1 october 1963 - The same person who hed da S or so ago and spoke in broken Russian speaks to OBYEDKOV (a Soviet Embassy guard). He says: - This is Lee OSWALD speaking. oy was at your place last Saturday and ; spoke to a consul, and they said that they would send a telegram to . _ Washington, so I wanted to find out if you have anything new? But I don't remember the name of that consul. OBYEDKOV says: KOSTIKOV. He is dark (hair or skin - 2). OSWALD says yes. My name is OSWALD. OBYEDKOV says, just a minute, mm find out. They say that they have not received anything yet. OSWALD says: Have they done _anything? OBYEDKOV says: ‘Yes, they sa that a request has been sent out, but nothing has been rec what. 2. . ? OBYEDKOV hangs uC 16. Each of these items QO i << xts of the raw intercepts, r yet. OSWALD says, and in Headquarters and at the exid) WS, during a stay from 8 - 13 April were read by, discussed we Exh \\ by Warren Commission staffers 1964. 3 All were made available promptly to the FBI. 3 The Warren Conmission group: that visited the Mexico Station « consisted of Mr. Coleman, Mr. Slawson, and Mr. Willens. They examined not only the SECRET couse 1B PACE oof __ COPY NOe
14-00000 _ 17. Summing up, we can state, or Merri reasonably infer from the intercept evidence, tha 2" could have made ff the following contacts with the wore icial establishments 7 in Mexico City. & ‘ ptember 1963 Fra a. 27 Se After arrival and check-in to his hotel, OSWALD went first to the Cuban Embassy where he talked with Mrs. Silvia DURAN. The time of his first Cuban Embassy visit is unknown. The time of his second Cuban Embassy visit was about 1600 -hours (i.e., just before closing). Sometime between the two Cuban Embassy visits, at Mrs. DURAN's indication, he must have | visited the Soviet Embassy. We have no indication who he talked ( with at the Soviet Embassy. . intercepts a-e above, but others for the 2Z@ and one for 3 October. that seemed to have relevance. These have n included in this summary because they appear, on. review, aS cludable from the OSWALD matter on logical or substantive groun oth, bearing in mind that. the Soviet Embassy received many cal] aing . ‘visa matters... _On the 27th at 1037 hours t an unknown individual speaking Odessa. He was told the Con OSWALD is known to have arr the iss #516 at circa 1000 hours on 27 NAY was, therefore, possible for: him to have made this call. But ora g this, it is unreasonable to believe the calls were OSWALD's for the following reasons: - d to call back at 1130. 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. “~~ “ao SECRET 4ORe PAGE COPY” aig he wanted visas to go to” NO. f 31
14-00000 quarters, was down on t then English, called the Soviet Embassy and asked for a visa. respondent says: “SECRET There was no ) photographic A OSWALD's entries into either the Cuban or Soviet Emb he 27th. The lack of coverage on the Cuban installati N cs the camera, , \S service in Head- \y mechanical malfunction, whi ch was . in course of correcting why OSWALD was missed in his probable entry to the Soviet ‘installation on. the 27th is not yet . explained, but no technical operation of that kind is infallible. be 28 Septenber 1963 (Saturday). [Note: Both the Cuban and soviet Embassies were closed to the public on Saturdays. Photo- , graphic coverage | was normal ly suspended Saturdays and Sundays . ] b. The call was directed to the cor, ect Soviet consular number: 15-60-55. On 1 October, OSWA INA number, 15-69-87 (the MA's number), he the correct number, 15-60-55. It what would have been his initial iday the 27th, to the correct number, and called iS ct ron 1 October. ’ ~ S b WY the context of the a> that D's first destination PEO » was a visit to the Cuban . Alike ly he would have made c. There is every re intercepts, para 15, a-e after arrival and che Embassy. | od. The t use of the. Spanis Slanguage would exclude OSWALD unless” 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, The Soviet _ The requestor says: I'm Call on the other phone. 13. SECRET ey & Be Cie co : PACE ‘ o¢ 31S "- COPY NO.
14-00000 SECRET OSWALD , notwithstanding the holiday aw », went on Saturday _ morning to the Soviet Embassy (his Wor where he spoke to a Consul. He apparently could ee Texas address. At circa 1151 hours he went Sc: » S S sy--his third entry-- Q his plication the day ee Mrs. DURAN and she called the Soviet Consulate presumably to permit him to give them the where he had registered J previously. He secured the ad - address over the phone. Instead, the Soviet with whom OSWALD spoke over Mrs. DURAN’ s telephone invited OSWALD to come back in person, _and he said he would immediately. "Presumably, thereupon OSWALD went 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 t umber down. . They issue the visa there? The Soviet: . That depends conversation. ‘I don't know about this business. The Tels Aes NS Or the number again. The - Soviet gives him the number and tells as WW the Consul of the Soviet Embassy in Mexico. a excludable on three - grounds: oo, 7 - al The use of Sok: SWALD throughout used broken - Russian or English. He Wad Se in ‘Spanish to handle ao: conversation of this kind. | The relevance of this inte 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 — wel] peyond the stage indicated by the substance of this call. ia “SECRET. PAGE 103 , of sig | COPY NO.
14-00000 _ SECRET c. 29 September 1963 Sunday). N activity registered. d. 30 Se} tember 1963 ar GSerivity registered. (It is known that OSWALD resery ate ona Mexico Gity- _ Loredo bus 5 departing 2 oe gee hours.) mS - e. 1 October eee a¥Q¥ \\ \ made at least two calls, cat 10317 and. 1045. hours, ¥o EOS jet Embassy . He identified himself . . twice during the second call when he. talked with OBYEDKOV--a guard-- - Z and referred to his talk on Saturday, probably with KOSTIKOV. There | was no photographic coverage of OSWALD on ] October; if, the follow- “ing reasoning is correct, that was as it should be. From the context of the two calls, there wou Id have been no reason for him to go to the Embassy .. His case had clearly 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 unreaseeeble to believe OSWALD \ would have gone to the Soviet < 20" date. 18. The camera at about i “so entry into the | Soviet Embassy of .a white- ot 0, in the opinion of the c. OSWALD had left D> 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 co Pee ef ets 313 . COPY NO.
14-00000 | SECRET Station, among all the persons a ay, appeared to be the ri . only person--a non-Latin, and possibix -who entered the Soviet installation. On the chance ther er Sora between the identification data derived se — and the descriptive data derived from the morose? jon reported the two elements "| as separate facts in its cable to Hea quarters on 8 (October. 19. The Station's action was not unusual and really amounted to an analytic "quantum leap ," justified by the primitive and initiatory status of the OSWALD identification. Many examples of a ‘similar kind of thing can ‘be found in the day- to-day record of Station- “Headquarters correspon- dence and reporting, nevsTomments from 8 October - 22 Hoventer 1963 20. Mexico Stati on reported to oe on 8 October (received in Headquarters 9 October) the + Fol lowing ES formatio on on OSWALD. 4 7 (1) On 7 October 2G broken. Russian aoe i stated he was, 25 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. uorte: FOr ' PAGE 105 of ~ COPY NO. _ 319
14-00000 . SECRET _ with a consul whan he believed to b x... Vladimirovich KOSTIKOV. “Subject soviet guard [Ivan] OBYEDKOV , who 96s was” anything new regarding — ) ae OBYEDKOV upon checki . << ad been . received yet, but ‘the: ne reaues been sent. (2) Mexico Station said it had photos of a male | who appeared to be an Anerican: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 sp ort s hi rt. ve (3) No local dissemination was being made by the ’ Station. 21. On 10 October 1963 at 20122 time the wediiston responsible for action disseminated this report to the nt of State, the FBI, and the Navy Department by. routine as cd on,” adding some - collateral details drawn from a 2 (1) On] October - 19 Se od d sensitive | source in Mexico- reported N an Aner ican male, who identified himself as Lee OSWALD, contacted the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City inquiring SECRET coo2834 ~ guce 106 ¢ at 319 = COPY Now
14-00000 . SECRET a _ whether the Embassy had recei news con- cerning a telegram ‘which Washington. The Ameri@ ~ © as . 7 ! , n athletic ne a receding" | approximately 35 } build, about 6 feet. 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 - ; a a { who defected to ‘the Soviet Union in October 1959 | and later made arrangenents 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 H Mexico City. disseminated to your renresens So | | : Any further information FY thi Qyriect a eo | will be furnished you. S Ss being ce an | . made avai lable to th P naturatizati on | VE re 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 case: 13. SECRET a ae CUUceee , 319 "aos 107 ot ne "COPY NO. a
14-00000 © SE c RE \ a. OSWALD' s middle ne "Henry" for Harvey. . _ The reason for this ra elf. The sheet opening the File on OSWALD < eR TS d been erroneous ly inscribed "OSWALD, Lee Henry." LL changed except For the notation of the error--is still ‘the first YS in the OSWALD file. - oe : | Sy ae Oe . ae b. His wife's maiden name was misspelled: "SAKOVAY or PUSAN Neither of ‘these errors are significant (though they persist in the 7 Headquarters communications throughout the = month). More important was: Cc. Paragraph (2) of ‘the Mexico Station's report, which dealt with | | a concurrent, but separate, phenomenon, the descr iption. of an individual ‘observed going into and out of the Soviet Embassy, had been locked on to Lee OSWALD as an alleged descriptive fact. The Station’ s qualification, “appeared to ‘be an American," was transformed in the flat designation of the unidentified individual. as "The American." There can be no question that this misread: the Mexico Station report was an analyst's error which escaped de in the coordination before release: the descriptive details at mark as to be mediately recog as SS D were so far off the. bby the recipients in Head~ ‘quarters, among whom both t WV “nd d photos of OSWALD. (In partial explanation, if not exculpation, >QeNearred 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 the cable composed by the same analyst and sent as of 2209Z time (two hours later) to Mexico Station, referencing % its 8 October cable: wy. SECRET co >. Po eo €3 oD pace 198. op 319 _ . COPY 6D.
14-00000 his: wife to: see’ about his’ r So ~ SECRET | : (1) Lee OSWALD who called SovEmb al probably identical Lee Henry \ ALD born 18 October 1939, New Orle NY ~~ e ES who - eX OSWALD is five feet,ten inches, one red sixty five radar operator in Uni defected to USSR + pounds, Tight brown wavy hair, blue eyes. (2) On 31 October 1959 he attempted to renounce a 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 a 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 coutd come : | to some agreenent concerning the dropping of any Tegal proceedings against me. we On. Ce his. . . own initiative he appeared at na Ee) Subject stated that he es fe YS applied for. Soviet citizensis - , SX appli cation a a at that time had been ‘to. ron Si USSR and for a. ca _ temporary extension of his tourist visa pending , outcome: of his. request .. - This. -application, according _ to OSWALD , “contained no reference to Soviet 20 SECRET. oy Pad cx | ‘sace tO -. COPY No. 2 3ts
14-00000 — travel with their co SECRET citizenship. OSWALD stated that h been “employed since 13 January 1960 russian radio and tv factory in Mj x ked as a metal worker oe NALD was married on 30 Apr, or PUSAKOVA [sic], a dvnta D 1941, USSR. No Headquarters traces. He. A SSine tician born 17 duly attempted to arrange for his wife to join. him in Moscow so she could appear at Embassy for visa interview. His Anerican Passport was returned | to him. US Embas sy Moscow stated twenty months - of. realities of life in: Soviet Uni on had clearly, had a maturing effect on _ OSWALD. (3) Latest Headquarters » tafomatton'ses an FBI © report dated May 1962 saying the wi . oth he mined OSWALD is still a US “te and his Soviet wife have BA S es Department of State had SN AQ spr ak (4) “The Station shoul eS information of reference Tits 8 October cable] and paragraph (1) above to the Embassy, the FBI, the Navy, and I&NS | locally. The information given above as 2) SECRET C3 Ca tO Co ' PAGE COPY NO. 110, 319 eames
14-00000 aN SECRET. 3 paragraphs (2) and (3) origi WS (5). Reference and & or if _ being eae ae FBI, State, Navy, and IaNS. ie - advised on any fey cont ts or positive. identification of OSWALD. 24. Headquarters feedback. to Mexico city of OSHALD's correct . 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 to this office . 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, so 22 SEC RET a oe SS PAGE
14-00000 | SECRET No photo had been received by CIA by 22 6 o's 26. Within its limitations we RN Qi Station had done all it could to comp ly wit oan structions : a. Headquarters no ES and in turn those agencies with an investigative or policy interest in OSWALD as an American a in the United. States -had-been alerted, both in Washington: and in o the field. b. “Mexico Station. had no further contacts by OSWALD to report 7 _because--as it was utimately ascertained--he had left Mexico City. on 2 October.. 7 a 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 intere U. S. agencies, to have “made a positive identification ne OSWALD' s hotel registra- . tion under alias. : “ SS. ‘There the matter rested ve ee per 1963. <a Individual into the. The Insertion of the Photo SS the Chain of Evidence — 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 pao 11) ; COPY NO... ie
14-00000 possibly in connection with the aos d referenced its review of all its technical and p wy was prepared in accordance ox 8) ndj SECRET i earlier messages of 8-9 and 15 Octobe Ow" s' reply of | 10 October. The Station renestee S "priority pouch a Or \S ‘that Station a | “can. check’ all recent covey for OSWALD. Forward- . ing soonest copies of only visitor to Soviet Embassy on 1 October who could be identical with OSWALD. me an | 28. It is clear that Mexico Station had forgotten that according to its own conmunication the unidentified male in the photo was of . “apparent age 35" and that the accurate description of OSWALD forwarded by Headquarters on 10 October. prec luded the identity with OSWALD of the person whom they regarded as the "only visitor to the Soviet Embassy _ on 1 October who could be identical." 9. < . oe SP auctiv and accelerated. ig ligence. A dispatch ior in the cable of 22 November, cited in ee: Ks dispatch noted that photo coverage of the unidenvifi LS yaaa had turned up on 4 and_ 15 October at the Soviet and a Embassies , respectively. The text 29. The Station meanwhile had b of the 22 November 1963 Pouched dispatch read: "Te “Attached are copies of the only photographs obtained .. » ond October 1963 which appeared: Og. OSECRET 113, 319 “COPY WO. ——— et
14-00000 SECRET to be an American. This same 2 the Soviet Embassy on 4 October 1963. & S "D2, Copies of these pho KS t own to the Seg U.S. Ambassador on 2 ember LES and a copy of. fiven to Chief FBI, , each of. the two phowsgpronecs S nentees on 1 that date a MPLS. Photographs dated 15 October 1963 were a | inserted after typing of dispatch, ‘These were | “taken as [the] person entered the Cuban Embassy. wo Attached were eight, photographs: four (of which two were marked 7 October on “reverse) showing the individual ina white shirt, and four. | (unmarked on reverse) showing the ee cca “Se shirt. It — would seem to be logical that the word Se probably omitted from VS" paragraph - two of the dispatch between and "photographs." 30. That the Stati on was woe® \ draft is clearly apparent from the text of the re a tacked ona material fact SS inuteoneosry by cable to : . as a postscript. That fact was repd 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 are Cs 2 “pace y Ao 31 ~ COPY NO.
14-00000 — one ‘other days. "2. Also cmc departure Mexi Saws . 31. Headquarters, at 0136Z time, 23 November 1963, asked Mexico Station to send a staff member with all photographs to Headquarters ¢ on the next avai lable flight. 32. Concurrently with or before the foregoing cables to Headquarters, the Chief of Station, Mexico City, had spoken directly by double-tatk telephone with the Western Hemi sphere aS Division, Mr. J. CC. KING, ( and secured ipermission to give smi QS photographs of the uni den- tified individual to ‘the Legal no o them known to the | —  & WS Anbassador. - > 33. What. happened ne nfl ina personal note by the Chief of Station to the WH Divis iy ef, mailed to the latter from Dallas, together with copies of the photographs, by the Legal Attachés . representative | who: delivered them to. > the FBI in that city. ap November 1963 0 "Dear J.C. [KING]: "Reference is made ‘to our conversation of 22 November °° SECRET , 319 PAGE. 1180 3 31 < COPY No.
14-00000 i. . SECRET in which J requested ney “4 he Legal Attache copies of photos eS" NS ain ) person who is known to mgs < _ "Attached, are copies 2 h’of the photographs we have with the dates of the visits stamped on the back. "At. 6 p.m. Mexi co time on 22 November , The Anbas- = ‘sador decided that this was important ‘enough to a have’ a ‘member of the Legal Attache! s office take copies of these: pictures to Dallas, Texas. The: 2 Naval Attache is making a special Flight from oon . Mexico City for this purpose. The. Legal Attache’ s officer ho. is going to Dallas ha ised to mail this material to you K "copies of these rec owt sent by pouch which will gore y on the | night of 22 2 Novense 963 e “Win [SCOTT]" "Best wishes. According to a sidelined comment on this letter, the Legal Attache's. officer was Eldon RUDD. 27 SECRET reese PAGE al 116 , COPY NO. -oid SEERA
14-00000 SECRET 34. The decision to remit the p 1S_to the FBI in Dallas had been made by the Ambassador, a 2 Gg hief of Station, who SS . . & eported to Headquarters | simultaneously with the FBI aqeg dep “by cable (0244Z tine, 23 Naxen@ey): "FBI agent left here 2000Mocal time with two copies each of six photos of a person suspected to be OSWALD, on a special flight for Dallas. He is carrying envelope with one copy each photo for airmail special fron Dallas to J. C. KING at home as per telephone conversation with SCOTT. One copy of each of these photos plus a copy of C a each of the photos showing the same person exiting . | the Cuban Embassy forwarded by memorandum leaving by regular pouch tonight. In of above does Has still want a staffer w x= jtional photo(s)?" — 04222 time, a i "1, No need a SS SoG photos -We have a . | 35. Headquarters respondeeke ey, “asked Navy for photos again, but Mexico can see OSWALD 's picture soonest on the press wire.” "2, Have just re-emphasized to FBI Headquarters the sensitivity of photos you are sending and also SECRET T0Ucse ‘PAGE . 117, of 318 COPY NO.
14-00000 | SECRET relaying names of travelers <S names . a Note radio says OSWALD ey | : O. H. LEE." | e's | SSS i 36. On the 23rd at se eke, | aN EOS ters advised Hexico City: "The FBI says that the photos of. the man oO — “entering the Soviet Enbassy which. Mexico. "Station sent to Dallas were not of Lee OSWALD. Presume Mexico Station has doub le-checked | ‘dates of these photos and is also checking all “pertinent photos for Possible shots of OSHA C 37. And -at this point, 20487 time, 23 November, Mexico Station finally agreed: cs a ae Oo Ho , "Saw | photos of Lee OSWALD on sion night of 99 November and it cov ous RS ie Dallas | oo i | were not identical wi ow SPE NN in Dallas. Dates are as Ve a oo. "Mexico Station RS evi SRY ~~ available photos | of persons entering Soviet and Cuban Embassies." _ 38. Two hours later (22542 time, 23 November 1963) the Station had reported the results of its effort to review all available coverage: 29 SECRET
14-00000- especially in Mexico City, speaks fo “SECRET "Complete recheck of photos: of aN CQiers to Cuban Embassy from August tree lf of | November against good a> XY ASS evidence of OSWALD visj#O Shi LOGE \S against | SS «eo all Soviet Embassy FredQNS sptember. QO Note, only visit we know re to Cuban Embassy 28 September, Saturday, on which Embassy closed and we had not had coverage... . | 39. With this communi cation the matter of the “unidentified - individual” reaches the end of Phase I, the key element of which ts the — conviction, at first latent, then expressed, that the photographed _ individual might be identical with OSWALD. This applies especially to. the Station, though at a certain point even Headquarters moved no rebuttal despite the hard fact that the de jon’ of OSWALD and the — unidentified individual were quite 1 oO . oo KS &,, - 40. “This” review has ema QU andedly with all items | in the case record that have cS ng @pNnhw happened . . The operational zeal, innovativeness , and RS a ent of all involved, itself. Equally apparent-- - because of the 20/20 advantage of hindsight--is the evidence of . non- performance. It was a critical failure, for example, 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 “pace COPY io oe) a CO
14-00000 | 1 October 1963 into, a cause The Genesis and Devel opment of Odum anne day to OSWALD's mother, Maraprit the background by straight cuts. GS OSWALD had no recognition of the | “SECRET sought by CIA, before 22 November. A os OSWALD would have RS physical description ation of what began in the photograph on obviated--in a way the mere possessio evidently could not--the whole see d Ot Mexico City as an impressioni 40. “It shoud be clear from this factual survey that never had there been a cause celebre with less ‘intrinsic merit. Tt is equally . clear ‘from the Facts themselves that there was nothing contrived or conspired in what happened, unless we have now descended to that point in human values achieved under STALIN in 1 the USSR ‘and under ‘HITLER in © | Germany, where just a plain mistake is per se evidence of . conspiracy. commission Exhibit 237 41. “Special Agent of «magi On on 23 November 1963 showed one of the six uO image in the photograph. ODUM 's 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 3 SECRET C00z2908 ~ PAGE COPY. NO. Mexico City the previous . * ODUM himself had trimmed off. - (120 319 mmarated
14-00000 . SECRET Embassy in Mexico City on 4 October 1963, eo after OSWALD had left the city... ws YS . | | &: S 43. At this point, fort avai lable photo coverage of the vot dente a. Five (5) taken on] octSber 1963, entering and exiting the | Soviet Embassy.’ He is garbed- in a white shirt and light- colored (khaki-2) trousers. - b. Five (5) taken on 4 October 1963 in front of the Soviet Embassy. He is garbed in a dark, open, button-down shirt with a high- neckline undershirt Showing and dark trousers. c. Two (2) taken on 15 October 1963 in front of the Cuban Embassy. He is wearing a dark, collariless T- shirt or light sweater. The negatives of all of these are ex Os. now held in Headquarters | as integral parts of the RA. AY holdings. | . <) > We 44. |The result of Sp cropped version of one 0S & Mrs. Marguerite OSWALD's ‘allenhgi \\ photograph--to repeat, a nder paragraph 43b, above~-was n 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 lica~ ting fact devel oped along the way was Mrs. - OSWALD’ s (correct) observation, SECRET PAGE | 4 2 Loe COPY.NO. 319 RNS,
14-00000 — om. this point between Headaserys SECRET when she finally admitted before the Commission that the ODUM photograph was not RUBY, was that the photo had a differently from the non NS ALLEY's cr opped version of the ODUM photograph became &. ig (see Hearings. > Vol. XVI, p. 638). ; Ww OS oe 45. The net ottect WN ee WS. in the hearings of the a one She had been shown in Dallas. In Commission. was to require the dm Ssion of the cropped photograph into- , evidence in a chain of depos it ions ‘beginning with ODUM, including the FBI Inspector, ‘James R. MALLEY (who had trimmed the photograph used by the ‘Commission in Washington), and Richard HELMS, who deposed for the _. originator. These ‘documents speak for ‘thenselves and will: be found in | the Hearings, Vol. XI, pp. 468-470, : So - 46. Mexico Station and other senior Agency officers strongly advised against the publication of the raph in any form on the grounds that the Soviets would be } alerted to the existence of 1964, in particular AS ber to 15 October 1964 when the x. 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 af fi rmatively to 33 SECRET mg lee 318 COPY: NO.
( Conmission Exhibit 237, members of, ‘camera sites. "The operation was ON SECRET Mr. RANKIN | by memorandum of 23 June 1964 y ce the following additional observation: Se this photograph n "The Central a Os: ends that SS S @)?n the Commis - -Sion's report rQX TK \Sae amost . _ confidential and mous operation. In addition, it could be embarrassing to the indivi - ‘dual involved who as far as the Agency is aware | had no ‘connection with Lee Harvey OSWALD or the assassination of President KENNEDY." 48, In this instance the needs of the Commission prevai led over the DCI's statutory obligation to protect Sources and. methods . The ‘Unidentified Individual" remains to this. day unidentified and there is no credible evidence up to this time to rebut the assertion made by Mr. HELMS in the concluding sentence of his memorandum to Mr. RANKIN on 23 June 1964, And the operation did, as pr ted, go. down the drain. Within a week of the public sppearance oR um Exhibit No. 1 and ‘ \ ssy began systematic ipasy \ Yensibly for. rental . efforts to survey ‘the surround space, but clearly their. VS ected ‘to spotting possible. it had become almost totally unproductive in coverage on Americans in contact with the Embassy-~a clear. sign, that this category of visitor oo was being warned away by the Soviets thenselves. 34 SECRET i in any case. Within a year rice 123 , 318 “COPY NO.