Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Oswald’s Attempt to Contact Attorney John J. Abt

Oswald’s Attempt to Contact Attorney John J. Abt Upon his arrest after the assassination, Oswald attempted to contact New York attorney John J. Abt to request representation. Abt was not in New York at the time and was never reached. Abt testified that he had at no time had any dealings with Oswald and had never heard of Lee Harvey Oswald prior to the assassination.[C6-415]

Socialist Labor Party Contact

Socialist Labor Party Contact In November 1962 Oswald wrote to the Socialist Labor Party in New York requesting literature. Horace Twiford, a Texas national committeeman at large, was informed by New York headquarters in July 1963 and mailed literature to Oswald’s old Dallas post office box on September 11, 1963.[C6-422] En route to Mexico City in September 1963, Oswald attempted to reach Twiford at his Houston home, briefly speaking with Twiford’s wife and identifying himself as a Fair Play for Cuba Committee member, but Twiford was out of town.[C6-423] National secretary-treasurer Arnold Peterson reported no record of Oswald in national headquarters files, since routine literature requests are destroyed.[C6-424] The Socialist Party–Social Democratic Federation likewise reported no records or correspondence relating to Oswald.[C6-425]

Fair Play for Cuba Committee Activities in New Orleans

Fair Play for Cuba Committee Activities in New Orleans From late April to late September 1963, while in New Orleans, Oswald engaged in activity on behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC), a New York-based organization critical of U.S. policy toward Castro’s Cuba.[C6-426] In May 1963 he applied for and was granted membership,[C6-427] and wrote to national headquarters proposing to rent a small office at his own expense to form a New Orleans chapter and requesting a charter.[C6-428] With his membership card he received a copy of the FPCC chapter constitution and bylaws and a May 29 letter advising that Louisiana seemed restricted for Fair Play activities, that the organization was not adverse to a very small chapter but would expect at least twice the members needed for a legal executive board, and recommending that chapters operate semi-privately from a home with a P.O. Box rather than risk identification by the “lunatic fringe” in their community.[C6-429]