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

Balancing Public Information Access and Fair Trial Rights

The Commission notes that state and local governments, the legal bar, and the general public all share responsibility for pushing to establish ethical conduct standards for the news media, to strike an appropriate balance between the public’s right to be informed and an individual’s right to a fair, impartial trial.

第六章

This chapter presents the Warren Commission’s findings on whether Lee Harvey Oswald had accomplices in the planning or execution of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. It responds to widespread post-assassination conspiracy rumors, notes the significant investigative challenges stemming from Oswald’s death and limitations on accessing foreign evidence, and outlines the chapter’s coverage of conspiracy investigation, assassination circumstances, motorcade route selection, Oswald’s presence in the Texas School Book Depository, his transport of the rifle into the building, and the question of accomplices at the assassination scene. CHAPTER VI examines the possibility of accomplices in the assassination of President Kennedy. The Commission analyzes fingerprints on sixth-floor cartons, the presence of Depository employees and outside witnesses near the sixth floor, the testimony of Arnold Rowland and Roger Craig regarding a possible second person at the window, the Commission’s investigation of all building employees, Oswald’s escape route, and his background including his 1959–1962 residence in the Soviet Union. Finding no credible evidence of accomplices either at the scene or in Oswald’s flight, the Commission concludes that Oswald acted alone and turns to a detailed examination of his life for traces of conspiracy. Chapter VI examines whether the Soviet Union had any involvement in President Kennedy’s assassination, beginning with Secretary of State Dean Rusk’s testimony that he saw no evidence of Soviet desire to harm Kennedy, and proceeding through the Commission’s detailed investigation of Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities in the Soviet Union from 1959 to 1962, including his entry, defection, residence in Minsk, and return to the United States. Chapter VI examines Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities during his residence in the Soviet Union from October 1959 through mid-1962. The chapter covers his citizenship renunciation attempts at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, speculation about Soviet coaching of his behavior, the timeline of his residency approval, assessments by the CIA and State Department on the reasonableness of that timeline, his life in Minsk, verification of his presence there, his income and benefits, analysis of whether those benefits suggest undercover activity, and his employment and job performance at the Minsk Radio Factory. Chapter VI examines Oswald’s activities and circumstances during his time in the Soviet Union and his eventual departure. The chapter addresses his hunting club membership, his marriage to Marina Prusakova, his request to return to the United States, and the process by which the Oswalds obtained Soviet exit permission. Throughout, the Commission assesses whether these circumstances suggest covert Soviet direction or special treatment, concluding that the available evidence does not support such inferences. Chapter VI examines the Soviet Union’s treatment of Marina Oswald’s emigration, the Commission’s conclusion regarding the Oswalds’ departure from the USSR, and the Oswalds’ associations within the Dallas-Fort Worth community upon their return to the United States, including their relationships with the local Russian-speaking community, the De Mohrenschildts, and the Paine family.