MEMO: 1. PURSUANT TO ARRB "REQUEST NO. CIA-16", THE OFFICE OF
Originator: CIA
To: MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
Document date: 1997-12-22 00:00:00
Document type: PAPER - TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

# DOCID-32404480

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JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM

IDENTIFICATION FORM

AGENCY INFORMATION

AGENCY : CIA

RECORD NUMBER

104-10331-10351

RECORD SERIES

: JFK

AGENCY FILE NUMBER

PROJFILES-CORRESPONDENCE

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

AGENCY ORIGINATOR : CIA

FROM

TO

TITLE

: MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

MEMO: 1. PURSUANT TO ARRB "REQUEST NO. CIA-16", THE

OFFICE OF

12/22/1997

DATE :

PAGES

SUBJECTS : RESPONSES

QUESTIONS

JFK ASSASSINATION

DOCUMENT TYPE : PAPER

CLASSIFICATION : UNCLASSIFIED

RESTRICTIONS :

1B

CURRENT STATUS : RELEASED IN PART PUBLIC - RELEASED WITH DELETIONS

DATE OF LAST REVIEW

:. 04/22/03

COMMENTS

JFK-M-16 : F13 : 2000.02.14.12:43:27:043054

Released under the John F. Kennedy

Assassination Hecords Collection act ol

1992 144 USC 2107 Notel. Case#:Nw

65990 Date: 11-01-2021

[R] - ITEM

IS RESTRICTED

104-10331-10351

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22 December 1997

MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

1. Pursuant to ARRB "Request No. CIA-16, the Office of

Personnel Security conducted research for and existing pre-

assassination files on Lee Harvey Oswald. The following

responses are provided to those questions which pertain to

the Office of Personnel Security (OPS).

These responses are

the best reasonable answers based on available information:

Please note OPS was known as the Office of Security prior to

1 October 1994.

Question 1: Please identify, as specifically as

possible, each file held by CIA on Oswald at the time

of the assassination of President Kennedy.

Response: At the time of the assassination, the Office

of Security (OS) held two files which contained information

on Lee Harvey Oswald. One file entitled "Defectors File"

(#0341008), contained a reference to Lee Harvey Oswald, and

the second file was Office of Security subject file on Lee

Harvey Oswald (#0351164).

This information was reflected in

the automated security database known as the Management Data

Program/Personnel Security (MDP/PS). These files were

originally miscellaneous files which were converted to the

above numbers circa 1964. A hand search was also conducted

of microfiche records which were superseded by the automated

system.

This hand search produced the same results as the

automated search of MDP/PS.

2.

Within the ARRB request is specific mention of an

HTLINGUAL file. MDP/PS reflects OS maintained four official

files under this project--#0077826 (an administrative file),

#0090079, #0093466 (a general file), and #0119144. All of

the HTLINGUAL files were destroyed on 8 April 1994 along

with numerous soft files.

Since this material has been

destroyed, OPS cannot definitively state whether these files

contained any information on Lee Harvey Oswald. The search

of Oswald's name did not produce an index reference to any

of these files. Attached is all of the available

information regarding the destruction of the HTLINGUAL ..

files. This information was retrieved from the Information

Management Branch/Records Control Section and from a review

of general office administrative files.

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Question 2: For other than the 201-289248 file on

Oswald, please explain when each Oswald file was opened, the

purpose for the opening of the file, and the documents that

were in the

file at the time of the

assassination.

Response: As noted above, all HTLINGUAL files have been

destroyed.

Since OS files are usually set up in

chronological sequence, a search of files with numbers in

close proximity to those recorded for HTLINGUAL was

undertaken.

This search revealed the approximate opening

dates for the four official HTLINGUAL files as:

#0077826

#0090079

#0093466

#0119144

Opened approximately July 1952

Opened approximately February 1953

Opened approximately July 1953.

Opened approximately May 1955

3. HTLINGUAL, was a Directorate of Operations project

involving the opening incoming and outgoing mail destined to

and from the Soviet Union, China, Pakistan, and South

America. In the Office of Security this project was known

as SRPOINTER with subprojects identified as WESTPOINTER,

INDIAN, BANJO, and SETTER:

The Office of Security actually

conducted the opening and monitoring of mail with the

acquired information being referred to the Directorate of

Operations.

4. The Defectors File (#0341008) was established circa

1950 for the purpose of recording information on US citizens

defecting to other countries and information regarding

foreign nationals considering defection to the United States.

This file contained information was from press clippings,

Directorate of Operations reporting, the Federal Bureau of

Investigation, the Department of State, and the various armed

services.

The pre-assassination documents located in this

file relative to Lee Harvey Oswald are:

a. Washington Star press clipping of 26 November 1959

entitled "U.S. Defector to Reds Turned to Marx at

15"

b. Department of State memorandum dated 25 October

1960 with attached list of American "defectors"

from May 1959 to October 1960

c. Memorandum for Chief/Security Research Staff dated

31 October 1960 from M. D. Stevens, subject:

American Defectors

2

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d. Memörandum for Deputy Director of Security dated

1 November 1960 from M. D. Stevens, subject:

American Defectors

e.

Handwritten chart of defectors dated 26 August

1961

f.. Defector outline prepared in October 1961 listing

known defectors. to the USSR, Red China, Cuba, and

United Arab Republic.

5.

The index reference to the Defectors File

identifies a list dated 13 September 1966 which was known as

the Defector Machine Listing.

This listing was a computer

printout of defectors and provided limited biographic data

on each name. This listing was maintained separately from

the actual Defectors File; notations within the Defectors

File show the Defector Machine Listing as permanently

charged to the Security Analysis Group of the Office of

Security. Efforts to locate this listing or determine its

disposition have been unsuccessful.

6. Information regarding the purpose of the Defectors

File was gleaned from a quick review of selected holdings.

An employee of this Office was, recalls the Defector Machine

Listing as being approximately one and one-half inches thick

and in two parts. One part consisted of an alphabetical

index of defector names with assigned numbers. The second

part listed the assigned numbers in numerical order and

contained the limited biographic data on each name.

7.

The subject file pertaining to Lee Harvey Oswald

(#0351164) was established circa 1960. It appears this file

was created as a separate repository for the numerous press

clippings and reports received from other government

agencies on

the defection of Lee Harvey Oswald to the USSR

and his activities following his return to the United

States.

The first volume of this file appears to have been

preserved as the pre-assassination file, and the documents

contained in this file are as follows:

a. Department of State telegram #1304 from Moscow

dated 31 October 1959

b. The Washington Post press clipping dated

1 November 1959 entitled "Ex-Marine Asks Soviet

Citizenship"

3

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c. Department of State Dispatch #234 from Moscow

dated 2 November

1959

d. Department of State telegram #1448 from Tokyo

dated 9 November

1959

e. •Department of State telegram #1358 from Moscow

dated 9 November 1959

I. The Washington Post press clipping dated 16

November 1959 entitled "Rebuffed"

Evening Star press clipping dated 26 November

1959 entitled "U.S. Defector to Reds Turned to

Marx at 15"

h. Report Summary prepared by Soviet Russia Division

forwarded to Office of Security in March 1960

i .

Department of State Instruction A-273 dated

13 April 1961

j. Department of State Dispatch from Moscow dated

May 1961 with enclosure of Oswald letter

k. Federal Bureau of Investigation report dated

3 July 1961 from Dallas, Texas

1. Note to CI/SI dated 28 September 1961

m. Form 745 "Indices Search Request"

dated

12 October 1961

n. Department of State Dispatch #317 from Moscow

0. Form G-135a Immigration and Naturalization

Service name check form to Central Intelligence

Agency dated 5 December 1961

p.

Navy Department message to Moscow dated

3 March 1962

q. Department of the Navy memorandum to the Federal

Bureau of Investigation dated 26 April 1962 with

enclosure

I.

The Washington Post press clipping dated

9 June 1962 entitled "Third American in 2 Months

4

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Leaves Soviet 'Home'"

S .

Federal Bureau of Investigation transmittal

of report from Dallas, Texas, dated 30 August

1962.

8. In addition to those documents listed above, the

following documents were located in a subsequent volume of

the Oswald file and also appear to predate the assassination

of President Kennedy.

t. Undated summary of file information on

Lee

Harvey Oswald

u. Incoming cable #83858 from Mexico City dated

20 July 1963 (no mention of Oswald)

v. Incoming cable #01325 from Mexico City dated. =

17 August 1963 (no mention of Oswald)

w.

Incoming cable #36017 from Mexico City dated

9 October 1963

x. Outgoing cable #74830 to Mexico City dated

10 October 1963

y. Incoming cable #47041 from Mexico City dated

24 October 1963 (no mention of Oswald) .

Question 4: To the extent that Counterintelligence

and the Office of Security maintained pre-assassination

files on Oswald, please explain

why those offices

maintained files on Oswald prior to the assassination.

In answering this question, please make appropriate

references to the Clandestine Services Handbook (CSHB)

and to any other materials (including organizational

charts) that would help explain the jurisdictional and

organization reasons for which CI and OS would have

maintained such files.

Response: It is believed that OS holdings on Lee

Harvey Oswald began in 1959 with his travel to Russia during

which he renounced his US citizenship.

Oswald was in

contact with the American Embassy in Moscow, and the

Department of State prepared reports on these contacts.

Most likely because of counterintelligence concerns, the

Central Intelligence Agency was included in the distribution

of these reports. In the beginning this material was

probably retained in the Defectors File. As the number of

5

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documents increased, a separate file was created to be the

repository of information on the alleged American defector.

There is a notation in the Defectors File that a separate

file exists on Oswald.

Both the Defectors File (#0341008) and the file of

Lee Harvey Oswald (#0351164) were handled by Marguerite D.

Stevens of the OS/Security Research Staff during the pre-

assassination time frame.. Of the documents listed above, a

majority of them contain a notation of the initials of

Marguerite D. Stevens, leading one to believe she was the

officer responsible for the collection, analysis, and filing

of this information.

10. The Security Research Staff (SRS) was the

component responsible for collecting, developing, and

evaluating information of a counterintelligence nature to

detect and/or prevent penetration of the Agency's

developice nature, to

organization, employees, and activities by foreign or

domestic organizations or individuals. SRS conducted

research in connection with employee loyalty cases and

maintained records identifying personalities, environments,

and personal traits of individuals who had been of

counterintelligence interest over the years. SRS maintained

liaison

with various government agencies in connection with

counterintelligence activities and coordinated the

counterintelligence effort throughout OS. Using

organizational charts of this time period, SRS reported

directly to the office of the Director of Security.

11. A representataive of

the Office of Personnel

Security. /Management Staff was queried regarding the mission

and functions of SRS during the pre-assassination time

period. He made inquiries relating to the above request.

and the OPS/Information Management Officer retrieved retired

policy records for review. The information on the mission

and function of SRS was retrieved from the archived Office

of Security administrative and historical files as well as a

review of the security file

on Marguerite D. Stevens.

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