Pre-Assassination Information on Lee Harvey Oswald
No information concerning Lee Harvey Oswald appeared in PRS files before the President’s trip to Dallas, but Oswald was known to other federal agencies with which the Secret Service maintained intelligence liaison. The FBI had been interested in him, to some degree, since his defection in October 1959. It had interviewed him twice shortly after his return to the United States, again a year later at his request, and was investigating him at the time of the assassination. The Commission took testimony from Bureau agents who interviewed Oswald after his return, the agent assigned to his case at the time of the assassination, the Director of the FBI, and the Assistant to the Director in charge of all investigative activities. The CIA Director and Deputy Director for Plans testified about that Agency’s limited knowledge of Oswald. The Commission reviewed the complete pre-assassination files on Oswald from the Department of State, Office of Naval Intelligence, FBI, and CIA.
FBI Monitoring of Oswald from Defection to Return
The FBI opened a file on Oswald in October 1959 when news reports appeared of his defection to the Soviet Union. The file was opened “for the purpose of correlating information inasmuch as he was considered a possible security risk in the event he returned to this country.” The State Department, CIA, and Office of Naval Intelligence also opened files. Until April 1960, FBI activity consisted of placing information about Oswald’s relations with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and background data on his prior military service into his file. In April 1960, Marguerite Oswald and Robert Oswald were interviewed during a routine FBI investigation of money transfers to Lee Harvey Oswald in Russia. Over the next two years, the FBI continued to accumulate information through periodic reviews of State Department and ONI files, learning that Oswald had attempted to renounce his U.S. citizenship, applied for Soviet citizenship, described himself as a Marxist, offered to give the Soviet Union any useful information he had as a marine radar technician, displayed an arrogant attitude at the U.S. Embassy, and had been discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve as undesirable in August 1960. In June 1962, the Bureau was advised of Oswald’s plan to return and instructed the Dallas office to interview him to determine whether he had been recruited by a Soviet intelligence service.
FBI Post-Return Interviews with Oswald
Oswald was first interviewed by FBI Agents John W. Fain and B. Tom Carter on June 26, 1962, in Fort Worth. Fain reported that Oswald was impatient, arrogant, and unwilling to answer questions about his motive for going to the Soviet Union, though he denied denouncing his U.S. citizenship or applying for Soviet citizenship. Oswald discussed his contacts with Soviet authorities, denied involvement with Soviet intelligence agencies, and promised to advise the FBI if he heard from them. Fain was not satisfied and arranged a second interview on August 16, 1962. While Oswald remained somewhat evasive, he was not antagonistic and seemed to be settling down. He again agreed to notify the FBI of any suspicious approaches. Fain concluded that Oswald was not a security risk or potentially dangerous or violent and recommended the case be placed in closed status—an administrative classification indicating no further work was scheduled but not precluding reopening if warranted.
1963 Reopening of the Oswald FBI Case
From August 1962 until March 1963, the FBI continued to accumulate information about Oswald but conducted no active investigation. Agent Fain retired in October 1962, and the closed Oswald case was not reassigned. However, pursuant to a Bureau practice of interviewing certain immigrants from Iron Curtain countries, Fain’s assignment to interview Marina Oswald was transferred to Agent James P. Hosty, Jr., of the Dallas office. In March 1963, while attempting to locate Marina, Hosty was told by a former landlady, Mrs. M. F. Tobias, that other tenants had complained of Oswald drinking to excess and beating his wife. A file review revealed Oswald had become a subscriber to the Worker, a Communist Party publication. Hosty recommended reopening the case based on the alleged personal difficulties and the Worker contact, and the recommendation was accepted. He decided not to interview Marina at that time but determined the Oswalds were living at 214 Neely Street in Dallas. On April 21, 1963, the New York field office was advised that Oswald was in contact with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and had claimed to have distributed its pamphlets in Dallas. This information did not reach Hosty until June, and he considered it “stale” and did not attempt to verify the statement, having earlier found no evidence of Fair Play for Cuba Committee activity in Dallas.
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