104-10418-10172) Seated Oe UicLASSIFLED Oma con ENTIAL ©.) SECRET | ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET | ‘SUBJECT: (Opiionaly Dir/FBI Response Re Nosenko interrogatories "SLC 79/0205/1 oo 1385 | : Dare . 1046 ‘Y January 1979 : DATE OFFICER'S COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from wham INITIALS to whom. Draw a line across column ofter each commant.)} ; RECEIVED FORWARDED EXTENSION FROM: R.S. Gabrielson. 605317 : | TO: (Officer designation, roam number, and building) OLC/HSCA I Ray. Reardon O/securit 4E13 NOTE: 4" The attached received from FBI. attention for any thoughts # Russ Holmes 2011 ASS CLC poser ‘ qaiehine Ne you might have on its sep — oo Please call me with 1046 (R) 1385 (R) Att. rem 610 “Sotet’> (] SECRET © [[]_ CONFIDENTIAL INTERNAL =)» UNCLASSIFIED
13-00000 * oRFicy ‘on Tite: DIRECTOR . snilay , av can %, SCR, hon a CIA. \Efice of. Legislative Counsel - FYI UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION | ero 12.057 ax | WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535 ° fot January oe HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ASSASSINATIONS U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (HSCA) This responds in full toa December 13, 1978, letter to the Attorney General signed by G. Robert “Blakey, Chief Counsel .and Director, HSCA, which asked that the FBI declassify, in toto, a Secret, September 14, -1978,-response:-made to 16 interrogatories pertaining te “Yuri Ivanovich Nosenko which were propounded by the Committee in its letter of September 5, 1978. Declassification. of the September 14, 1978, response required coordination with the Office of Legis- lative Counsel, CIA, which interposed no objection to declassifying certain portions of that response. The Committee's attention is invited to the fact that CIA did. suggest, with regard to the response to interrogatory number "8", that the FBI "... may wish to: correct the dates. on which the FBI did not have direct access to Mr. Nosenko, to read 3 April 1964 until 8 December i968." For the convenience of the Committee, the following declassified, verbatim reiteration of the September 14, 1978, response is. provided. FOUL
13-00000 Eouse Select Committee on Assassinations. U..S.. House of Representatives (HS‘ CA) . _° This responds in full to the following enumerated interrogatories submitted for. consideration in a Letter, dated: ‘September 5, 1978, to the Attorney General and signed by. G. Robert Blakey, Chief Counsel and Director, HSCA. "I, On what dates and for hos ¥ long was Nosenko questioned by the FBI about.Lee Harvey Oswald— from 1984 to pi resent?" The files of the EBI indicate that Yuri Ivanovi ch Nosenko was interviewed regarding Oswald and/ov the assassi- “> Mation. of President John F..Kennedy on February 26 and 27, oh 964,, vand on Match 3,:4 and.6,.1964. The FBI files do. not - record: ‘the specific duration in whole or in part as to “uy topical -discussi -OMS 5. of: those five interviews; however, summary, communications.’ ‘indicate. the February, 27, 1964 inter- oview was. conducted: on the afternoon of that date ‘and the . March 4,.1964 discussion of. Oswald occurred at the outset ' OF an- afternoon’ ‘inte rview on‘ that date. ~ #2, When Nosento was. questione d by the FBI about Lee Harvey Oswald, who did the. questioning?" , The: FBI interviews of Nosenko, dur ing which he was: questioned about Oswald and/or the assassination of | President | Kennedy, were conducted-by. Special Agents (SAsj Alek “Poptanich, Maurice A. Taylor: and Donald EB. Walter on February 26 and 27, 1964; by SAs Poptanich and W. Marvin Gheesling on March 3 and 4, 1964; and by SAS. Poptanich, Taylor ‘and Walter on March 6,. 1964.
13-00000 |. House: ‘Select Committee on Assassin UE Be House of Representati ves . . "3, What background, if any, did the interr _ gator have in interrogations ns? What. knowledge . | did the inter rogator have with respect to. Oss wald's . 2 bael <ground?”" There are no retrievable: FBI statistics upon which to- pase: a. quantification. of the interrogatory experiences of _ the SA personnel .who interviewed Nosenko on the five. pertinent -. occasions.. Suffice it. to say, the techniques of cooperative ..and hostile interrogations are integral aspects of the training -and-almost- daily duties. of. SA personnel. In that regard, it is-noted that during the February and March, 1964 interviews | SA Poptanich had almost. 13 years of SA experience; SA Taylor had over 31 years of SA experience; SA Walter had completed almost 17 years of SA experience; and SA Gheesling had over -13. years of SA experience. Further, their respective personnel files. disclose the following: . SA Poptanich was then fluent in the Russian language _ (Nosenko's native tongue). The Annual Report of Performance . Rating, dated March 31, 1962, noted that SA Poptanich, during ‘the previous twelve months , had participated in the interro- gation of a Soviet defector and his knowledge cf the Russian language. and mores of the Russian people proved most helpful relative thereto. SA Taylor, on. Septenber L1, 1962 , received an incen- tive award in recognition of the superior fashion his .responsi- bilities were discharged over an extended period of time. The Special Agent. in Charge (SAC) of the Washington Field Office, in submitting a recommendation for the incentive award, commented that SA Taylor had demonstrated exceptional ability in the interrogation and debriefing of three Soviet defectors, all of whom were intelligence officers. SA Taylor's Perfor- mance Rating for the period April 1, 1963--March S1, 1064 noted he was recognized as the finest interrogator on the’ Soviet espionage squad in the Washington Field Office > which accounted for his assignments to interview Soviet defectors.
13-00000 House Select Committee on Assassinations U.S. House of :Representatives. (HSCA): - SA Walter was the recipient. of a personal - letter o£ ‘commendation, dated October 3, 1963, from the Director, FBI, for his superior work in the handling of a very sensitive complicated, fast moving, and highly “publicized espionag cS “case . Previously (on November 7, 1954), he had received @ itorius Salary increase for his outstanding work on another espionage case, successful interrogation being the key aspect of that investigation. ‘SA Gheesling,. at: the time of the pertinent Nosenko interviews, served as a Supervisor at FBI Headquarters and had considerable experience in espionage, intelligence and counterintelligence investigations. SA Gheesling supervised the field investigation of Oswald (from the latter's return to the United States on June 13, 1962 until September, 1962, and ‘from November 22, 1963 through mid-1954). He was assigned exclusively to supervisory responsibili ties relative to the. assassination. of. President Xennedy~ 2 “While the. specific. knowledge of Osw vald's background, “posse sea: ‘by. these. SAS” atithe time. of ‘the. Nosenke interviews, a n bev“answered only: ‘by! the SAs themselves, 5A Gheesling's prior’ ‘assignment to Supervision. of the Oswald investigation . Would tend to indicate that he, at least, was quite knowledge- . able. of" data. contained in. FBI. files concerning Oswald. "4, ‘On the dates that Nosenko was questioned about Osvald, does there now exist or did there ever exist: a. a tape of the questions asked and Noseri ‘o's -ANSWePS; - b. 8 transcript of the questions asked and Nosenko's answers; -  @..a summary of the questions. asked asi . - Nosenko's answers?" As. notad in FBI- memorandum dated June 19, 1978, captioned as above, and which was prepared in response to HSCA letter, dated June 15, 1978, to the Attorney General, FBI records searches have not. located any extant tape recordings
13-00000 aes House. Select Committee on Assassinations “Us 8. House of. Representatives | (HSCA) - or. verbatin: transcripts of FBI. interviews. With Nosenko that “concerned Oswald and/or the assassination of President. Kennedy. A document has. been located. which indicates that FBI personnel did record the Februar ty 26) and 27, (1964, interviews of Nosenko, _ among“others. Since no: recordings or transcripts have been “Yocated, it can be assumed that the recor dings were used by the interviewing SAs. to check, the accuracy of thelr notes _ prior to dictating the results of the interviews. It is '£urther assumed that, upon verifying the accuracy of summary reportings ‘o£ the interviews, the recordings were disposed of Since they had served the. purpose for which they. were made, although no ‘record of such disposition can be found. Ssunmary reportings of ‘the five pertinent interviews are extant, and - were _ delivered to the HSCA on March 21, 1978. "5, What criteria, if any, was used to determine: a. what sudjects to question Nosenko about; be how much time to devote to each subject?" Co, FBI files. do not contain @ specific enumeration of criteria used to determine the par ticular subjects Nosenko was to be questioned about nor the amount of time to be devoted to each subject in the questioning. "6, What significance — with respect to possible foreign involvement in the assassination as well as to the issue of Nosenko's bonafides (sic}—did the FBI attach during the years 1964-1563 to Nosenko's Statements about Oswald?" oO The PBI, during the years 1964-1968, cons idered Nosenko's statements about Oswald te be very significant elements of his initial reportings, the veracity of which had to be assessed in relation to the totality of information furnished by him. The FBI perceived Nosenko's statements about Oswald, depending upon a subsequent, definitive resolution of Nosenko's bona fides, to be the most authoritative information availabie indicative cf a lack of Soviet governmental involvement in the assasSination of President Kennedy.
13-00000 -. Yiouse Select Comnittes on Assassinations with U. S. House of Representativ ves (CHSCA) "?, What significance — with respect to possible foreign involvement in the sssassination as Well as | te the issue of Nosenko's bonafides (sic}—does the FBI attach today to Nesenko's statements about Oswald?" The FBI does not perceive any significant evidence of foreign. involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy, nor does the FBI perceive. any credible evidence that Nosenko's defection was a Soviet ploy to mask Soviet governmental involvement in the assassination. Therefore, the FBI is Satisfied that Nosen! ko. reported the facts about Oswald as he knew then. ng, If the answer to question 6 is different from ‘the response to question 7, when did the change oceur and why?” The FBI had no diz ect access to Nosenko from “April 3, 1964-until April. 3, 1969, and therefore was not in a position to make an objective assessment of hi's bona fides nor of. the veracity of - information furnished by him. Thus, information ‘provided by -him, in early 1904, was accé epted at _ face valve and qualified -in.terms of the source and the conditions under which it was reccived. On October 1, 1968, . the FBI: advised the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that, ‘based, upon. a review of material. provided by CIA, the FBI found: no™ ‘substantial | basis. to. conclude that Nosenko. was not . @..bona- fide defector}, however, the FBI did not reach any \voverall,. definitive conclusions: regarding his bona fides “because of a. lack of -dccess to Nosenko and all collateral ‘information pertinent to such an assessment. Effective bone Bt 1977, the CIA-and FBI concurred that Nosenko was a4 '- bona fide. defector, based upon an assessment of the — totality of. information: Furni Shed by him. "9, What was the FBI's position from 1964 te 1988 on the question of : whether Nosenko is bonafide (sie}?” .
13-00000 to, ques tion li. "House. Select ‘Com mittee on Assassinations } . U. S. House of Re spresentatives we iSCA ‘The: FBI, ‘€rom.1964 to 1968, characterized Nosenko : as, a. | Soviet: defector whose bona fides had not been established. dD, , “m0. What i is t! he FBI's position today on the a - question. of. whether Noseno is bonafide (sie)? ane ‘The. F3I currently characteri zes Nosenko as a former Soviet: Committee for State Security (KGB) officer who has - furnished reliable information in the. past, and considers _Nosenko to. be ‘2. ‘bona. fide Soviet defector. ‘, If the answer to question 9 is different from the response to question 10,. when: did the change occur and » hye" ‘The answer to ‘question 8 is cons sider ed responsive me. ‘What was the PBI's posit tion from 1964 to 1988 on whether Nosenko ivas telling the truth in |. the statements he. made. to the FBI about Oswald?" The FBI didn not. take .a position, from 1964 to 1968, on whether Nosenko was telling the truth in the statements he iade to the FBI about Oswald. he statements were accepted at face value and qualified in terms of the source and the conditions under which they were received. "13. What is the FBI's position today as to whether Nosenko was telling the truth in the statements he made to the FBI about Oswald?” The FBI is satisfied that Nosenko truthfully reported the facts’ about. Oswald as he knew them. "14, If the answer to question 12 is different from the response to question 13, when cid the change occur and why?"
13-00000 . House Se ' U. 5. tou lect Co mittee on Ascassinati S £ Reve esentatives (HSCA) ~ As indicated in the responses to questions 7 and 8, the FBI,-as of October 1, 1968, found no substantial’ basis to conclude Nosenko was not a bona fide defector; as of May ll, 1977, accepted a CIA assessment that Nosenko was a bona fide defector; and has not perceived any significant evidence, from 1964 to date, that Nosenko reported other than the facts about Oswald as he knew them. "15. Did either the FBI or the CIA have primary responsibility for investigating Nosenko's state~ ments about Oswald? If neither had primary responsibility, was there any division of responsibility?" The FBI. had primary ‘responsibility for investigating “Nosenko! s statements about Oswald that pertained to his {Oswald's) activities in. the United States, including the assassination of President Kennedy. The CIA had primary ter _ “responsibility. for. investigating Nosenko' s ‘statements about | Oswald's activities abroad. . . 16. W hat communication, it any, existed bets ween . . “the FBI and CIA with. respect to evaluating. and/or: investigating N osenko's sta tements about Oswald?" The’ “EBI forwarded a letter ; dated March. 5, 1964, . a: “£rom: ‘the Director,: FBI, to the Director, CIA, enclosing .. Memoranda -dated February. 28, .1964,-and March 4, 1964, cap-- “tioned: "Lee ‘Harvey Oswald," which summarized: the: results of —cFBI interviews of. Nosenko regarding Oswald on February 26 oo. and® 275.1964, and -March -3:-and.4,.1964.. The:results: ofa CIA. interview: of Nosenko on January. 23, 1964, regarding Oswald “cwere*furnished: to-the FBI.in. a letter fromthe CIA. dated April-28, 1964. These. particular pieces of: correspondence, _ while: not. ‘setting forth any specific requests or investiga- oe tive. “leads, were. furnished for purposes of evaluation. Where information is not provided, it is either nee retrievable from FBI. Headquarters files or is not being Furnished , ‘pursuant to. the Memorandum of . Unders itanding..