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

Oswald’s Trip to Mexico City

This section examines seven major speculations concerning Oswald’s trip to Mexico City in late September and early October 1963. The Commission found no credible evidence that Oswald traveled to Mexico pursuant to an assassination plot, received related instructions, or obtained large sums of money. Specific findings rebut claims that Oswald received his June 1963 passport through special intervention (24 other passports were authorized simultaneously), that the Walter-McCarran Act required an affidavit he did not file (the Act contains no such requirement), and that he lacked funds for the trip (a 7-day journey costing less than $85). The Commission also refuted allegations that Oswald traveled with companions, made a clandestine flight to Havana, or returned with $5,000. A claim that Fidel Castro’s November 27, 1963 speech contained a revealing slip about Oswald’s visits to Cuba was disproven by USIA monitoring of the actual tape, which showed Castro merely misspoke about the “Cuban Embassy” before correcting to “Cuban consulate.”

Oswald and U.S. Government Agencies

This section addresses suspicions that Oswald was an agent, informant, or operative of the FBI or CIA, as well as claims about government surveillance and knowledge prior to the assassination. The Directors of both agencies testified that Oswald was never employed or used by their organizations, and the Commission’s own investigation of federal files confirmed he was not an agent of any U.S. government agency aside from his Marine service. Specific findings rebut Marguerite Oswald’s claims that her son was an agent, Pauline Bates’s alleged “secret agent” statement (Bates denied the report and explained her assumption about the State Department), and speculation that the FBI tried to recruit Oswald (Agent Hosty’s name and number were provided to Oswald through Ruth Paine for contact purposes). The Commission also found that Dallas police did not know Oswald’s address before the assassination, that the FBI had no policy of informing employers about suspected Communist employees, that the FBI did not regard Oswald as a potential killer, that the rifle was successfully traced within 24 hours with no prior information, and that the last FBI interview with Oswald before the assassination occurred in New Orleans in August 1963.