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

第八章

Chapter VIII examines the intelligence-gathering and threat-assessment practices of the U.S. Secret Service and other federal agencies prior to the assassination of President Kennedy, with particular focus on the Protective Research Section (PRS), the FBI’s monitoring of Lee Harvey Oswald, and the systemic failures that allowed a dangerous individual to remain inadequately scrutinized before the Dallas visit.

Secret Service Intelligence Requests to Federal Agencies

The Secret Service’s requests to other federal agencies for intelligence information were as broad and unspecific as its internal instructions to its own agents and the White House mailroom. The head of PRS testified that the Service asked other agencies to provide “any and all information that they may come in contact with that would indicate danger to the President.” These requests were not made in writing; instead, the Service relied on personal liaison maintained by PRS with the headquarters of federal intelligence agencies—particularly the FBI—and at the working level with personnel of various field offices. The Secret Service also participated in training programs of other law enforcement agencies, with agents from those agencies attending regular Secret Service training schools, where presidential protection was a major topic.

FBI Presidential Threat Reporting Protocol

In the absence of more specific instructions from the Secret Service, other federal agencies interpreted the informal requests as relating principally to overt threats or specific manifestations of hostility toward the President. The FBI Handbook in effect at the time of the assassination, carried by every special agent, specified that investigation of threats against the President, immediate family, President-Elect, and Vice-President fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Secret Service. The Handbook required agents to refer any such information immediately by the most expeditious means of communication to the nearest Secret Service office, to advise the Bureau by teletype, and to refrain from evaluating the information. Written threats required a copy to be given to local Secret Service with the original forwarded to the Bureau for Secret Service headquarters.