(3) Oswald's CIA file.--The CIA has long acknowledged that prior to the president's assassination, it had a personality file on Oswald, that is, a file that contained data about Oswald as an individual. This file, which in Agency terminology is referred to as a 201 file, was opened on December 9, 1960. (26) The Agency explained that 201 files are opened when a person is considered to be of potential intelligence or counterintelligence significance.(27) The opening of such a file is designed to serve the purpose of placing certain CIA information pertaining to that individual in one centralized records system. The 201 file is maintained in a folder belonging to the Directorate for Operations, the Agency component responsible for clandesting activities.(28) The existence of a 201 file does not necessarily connote any actual relationship or contact with the CIA. For example, the Oswald file was opened, according to the Agency, because as an American de- fector, he was considered to be of continuing intelligence interest.(29) Oswald's file contained no indication that he had ever had a relation- ship with the CIA. Nevertheless, because the committee was aware of one instance (in an unrelated case) where an Agency officer had ap- parently contemplated the use of faked files with forged documents, (30) special attention was given to procedural questions that were occasioned by this file review. (4) Why the delay in opening Oswald's 201 file?--A confidential State Department telegram dated October 31, 1959, sent from Moscow to Washington and forwarded to the CIA, reported that Oswald, a recently discharged Marine, had appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to renounce his American citizenship and "has offered Soviets any information he has acquired as [an] enlisted radar operator."(31) At least three other communications of a confidential nature that gave more detail on the Oswald case were sent to the CIA in about the same time period.(32) Agency officials questioned by the committee testified that the substance of the October 31, 1959, cable was sufficiently important to warrant the opening of a 201 file.(33) Oswald's file was ot, however, opened until December 9, 1960.(34) The committee requested that the CIA indicate where documents pertaining to Oswald had been disseminated internally and stored prior to the opening of his 201 file. The agency advised the committee that because document dissemination records of relatively low national security significance are retained for only a 5-year period, they were no longer in existence for the years 1959-63. (35) 8 Consequently, the Agency was unable to explain either when these documents had been received or by which component. ----------------------------- 8 None of these documents were classified higher than confidential. 201 An Agency memorandum, dated September 18, 1975, indicates that Oswald's file was opened on December 9, 1960, in response to the receipt of five documents: two from the FBI, two from the State Department and one from the Navy. (36) This explanation, however, is inconsistent with the presence in Oswald's file of four State Department documents dated in 1959 and a fifth dated May 25, 1960. It is, of course, possible that the September 18 1975, memorandum is referring to State De- partment documents that were received by the Directorate for Plans 9 in October and November of 1960 and that the earlier State Depart- ment communications had been received by the CIA's Office of Secu- rity but not the Directorate for Plans. In the absence of dissemination record however, the issue could not be resolved. The September 18, 1975, memorandum also states that Oswald's file was opened on December 9, 1960, as a result of his "defection" to the U.S.S.R. on October 31, 1959 and renewed interest in Oswald brought about by his queries concerning possible reentry into the United States."(37) There is no indication, however, that Oswald expressed to any U.S. Government official an intention to return to the United States until mid-February 1961. (38) Finally, reference to the original form that was used to start a file on Oswald did not resolve this issue because the appropriate space that would normally indicate the "source document" that initiated the action referred to art Agency component rather than to a dated document. 10 (39) the basis for opening Oswald's file on December 9, 1960, by interviewing and then deposing the Agency employee who was directly responsible for initiating the open- ing action. This individual explained that the CIA had received a request from the State Department for information concerning Amer- ican defectors. After compiling the requested information, she re- sponded to the inquiry and then opened a 201 file on each defector involved. (40) This statement was corroborated by review of a State Department letter which indicated that such a request, in fact, had been made of the CIA on October 25, 1960. Attached to the State Department let- ter was a list of known defectors; Oswald's name was on that list. The CIA responded to this request on November 21, 1960, by provid- ing the requested information and adding two names to the State De- partment's original list. (41) Significantly, the committee reviewed the original State Department list and determined that files were opened in December 1960 for each of the five (including Oswald) who did not have 201 files prior to receipt of the State Department inquiry. In each case, the slot for "source document" referred to an Agency component rather than to a dated document.(42) Even so, this analysis only explained why a file on Oswald was finally opened; it did not explain the seemingly long delay in opening of the file. To determine whether such a delayed opening was unusual, the committee reviewed the files of 13 of the 14 persons on the CIA's November 21 1960, response to the State Department and --------------------------- 9 The Directorate for Plans was the predecessor of the Directorate of Operations. 10 The Agency indicated that it is customary to refer to a component when the opening action is taken on that component's authority. 202 of 16 other defectors (from an original list of 380) who were Amer- ican-born, had defected during the years 1958-63, and who had re- turned to the United States during that same time period. Of 29 in- dividuals whose-files were reviewed, 8 had been the subject of 201 files prior to the time of their defection. In only 4 of the remaining cases were 201 files opened at the time of defection. The files on the 17 other defectors were opened from 4 months to several years after the defection. (43) At the very least, the committee's review indicated that during 1958-63, the opening of a file years after a defection was not uncommon. In many cases, the opening was triggered by some event, independent of the defection, that had drawn attention to the individual involved. (5) Why was he carried as Lee Henry Oswald in his 201 file? Oswald's 201 file was opened under the name Lee Henry Oswald. (44) No Agency witness was able to explain why. All agency personnel however, including the person who initiated the file opening, testified that this must have been occasioned innocently by bureaucratic error.(145) Moreover, the committee received substantial testimony to the effect that this error would not-have prevented the misnamed file from being retrieved from the CIA's filing system during a routine name trace done under the name Lee Harvey Oswald. (46) (6) The meaning of "AG" under "Other Identificatian" in Os- wald's 201 file. The form used to initiate the opening of a 201 file for Lee Harvey Oswald contains the designation AG in a box marked "Other Identification." Because this term was considered to be of po- tential significance in resolving the issue of Oswald's alleged Agency relationship, the CIA was asked to explain its meaning. The Agency's response indicated that "AG" is the OI ("Other Identification") code meaning "actual or potential defectors to the East or the Sino/Soviet block including Cuba," and that anyone so described could have the OI code "AG." This code was reportedly added to Oswald's opening form because of the comment on the form that he had. defected to the Soviet Union in 1959. (47) An Agency official, who was a Directorate of Operations records expert and for many years one who had been involved in the CIA's investigation of the Kennedy assassination, gave the committee a somewhat different explanation of the circumstances surrounding the term "AG" and its placement on Oswald's opening form. This in- dividual testified that "AG" was an example of a code used to aid in preparing computer listings of occupational groupings or intelligence affiliations. He explained that these codes always used two letters and that, in this case, the first letter "A" must have represented com- munism, while the second letter would represent some category within the Communist structure. His recollection was that at the time of the assassination, the "AG" code was not yet in existence because there were no provisions then in effect within the Agency for indexing American defectors. He recalled that it was only during the life of the Warren Commission that the CIA realized that its records system lacked provisions for indexing an individual such as Oswald. Consequently, the CIA revised its records manual to permit the indexing of American defectors and established a code for its computer system to be used for that category. Although 203 this witness did not know when the notation "AG" was added to Oswald's opening sheet, he presumed that it must have been follow- ing the addition of the American defector code, thus placing the time somewhere in the middle of the Warren Commission's investigation. He explained that it was difficult to determine when any of the note- tions on the opening sheet-had been made, since it was standard pro- cedure to update the forms whenever necessary so that they were as reflective as possible of the available information.11 (49) Finally, this witness testified that the regulations regarding the use of this occupation and intelligence code specifically prohibited indicating that a particular person was either an employee of the Agency or someone who was used by the Agency. This prohibition was de- signed to prevent anyone from being able to produce any kind of categorical listing of CIA employees, contacts or connections.(50) (7) Why was Oswald's 201 file restricted?--The form used to ini- tiate the opening of Oswald's 201 file contains a notation indicating that the file was to be "restricted". (51) This indication was considered potentially significant because of the CIA's practice of restricting ac- cess to agents' files to persons on a "need-to-know" basis. Further in- vestigation revealed, however, that restricting access to a file was not necessarily indicative of an relationship with the CIA. The individual who actually placed the restriction on Oswald's file testified that this was done simply to allow her to remain aware of any developments that might have occurred with regard to the file.(52) The restriction achieved this purpose because any person seeking access to the file would first have to notify the restricting officer, at which time the officer would be apprised of any developments. This testimony was confirmed by a CIA records expert who further testified that had the file been permanently charged to a particular desk or case officer, as well as restricted, the possibility of a relationship with the CIA would have been greater. (53) There is no indication on Oswald's form that it had been placed on permanent charge. Finally, the committee reviewed the files of four other defectors that had been opened at the same time and by the same person as Oswald's, and determined that each of the files had been similarly re- stricted. Each of these other individuals was on the lists of defectors that had been exchanged by the CIA and State Department. None of the files pertaining to these other defectors had any evidence suggestive of a possible intelligence agency association. (8) Were 37 documents missing from Oswald's 201 file? In the course of reviewing Oswald's 201 file, the committee discovered an unsigned memorandum to the Chief of Counterintelligence. Research and Analysis, dated February 20, 1964, which stated that 37 documents were missing from Oswald's 201 file.(54) According to the memo- randum, this statement was based on a comparison of a machine listing of documents officially recorded as being in the 1201 file and those documents actually physically available in the file. (55) While the memo- randum mentioned that such a machine listing was attached, no such attachment was found in the 201 file at the time of the committee's --------------------------------------- 11 The CIA, after Considering this witness' recollection of the origin of the AG code, adhered to its original position regarding this issue. 204 review. The memorandum itself bears the classification "Secret Eyes Only" and was one of the documents that had been fully withheld from release under the Freedom of Information Act. (56) In response to a committee inquiry, the CIA advised that, because Oswald's file had been so active during the course of the Warren Com- mission investigation, up-to-date machine listings were produced periodically. On this basis, the Agency stated that * * * it must be assumed that whoever was responsible for maintaining the Oswald file brought this file up-to-date by locating the 37 documents and placing them in the file. (57) Because this response was incomplete, the author of the memorandum was deposed. He testified that once a document had been registered into a 201 file by the Agency's computer system, physical placement of the document in the file was not always necessary. (58) On this basis, he explained, the items listed in the memorandum were not missing but rather had either been routinely placed in a separate file because of their sensitivity or were being held by other individuals who needed them for analytical purposes. (59) He further stated that in the course of his custodianship of Oswald's file, he had requested perhaps as many as 100 computer listings on the contents of the Oswald file. While there had been many instances in which one or more documents had been charged out to someone, he stated that he had never discovered that any documents were actually missing. (60) According to his testimony, the 37 documents were, in fact, available, but they were not located in the file at the time. (61) The committee regarded this to be a plausible explanation. (9) Did the CIA maintain a dual filing system on Oswald? The committee was aware of the possibility that a dual filing system (one innocuous file and one that contained operational detail of a relation- ship with the CIA) could have been used to disguise a possible rela- tionship between Oswald and the Agency. This awareness became a concern with the discovery that at least two Agency officers had con- templated the use of faked files and forged documents to protect the ZR Rifle project from disclosure. 12(62) The implications of this dis- covery in terms of the possibility that the Oswald file might also have been faked were disturbing to the committee. In the Oswald case, two items were scrutinized because they were potentially indicative of a dual filing system. The first was a photo- graph of Oswald that had been taken in Minsk in 1961; the second was a copy of a letter that had been written to Oswald by his mother dur- ing his stay in the Soviet Union. At the time of President Kennedy's assassination, both of these items were in the CIA's possession, but neither was in Oswald's 201 file. The photograph of Oswald taken in Minsk shows him posing with several other people. According to the CIA, the picture was found after the assassination as a result of a search of the Agency's graphics files for materials potentially relevant to Oswald's stay in the Soviet --------------------------------- 12 ZR Rifle was an executive action (assassination of foreign leader) program unrelated to the Oswald case. Former CIA Director Helms testified that the assassination aspect of ZR Rifle was never implemented and, in fact, was discontinued as soon as it was brought to his attention.(63) 205 Union.(64) The Agency advised that this photograph, as well as several others not related to Oswald, were routinely obtained in 1962 from some tourists by the CIA's Domestic Contacts Division, an Agency component that regularly sought information on a nonclandes- tine basis from Americans traveling abroad in Communist countries. (65) Committee interviews with the tourists in question confirmed that the photograph, along with 159 other photographic slides, had routinely been made available to the Domestic Contacts Division. Neither tourist had heard of Oswald prior to the assassination or knew which photographs had been of interest to the Agency. (66) CIA records indicate that only 5 of the 160 slides initially made available were retained. (67) Committee interviews with the two CIA employees who had handled the slides for the Domestic Contacts Divi- sion established that Oswald had not been identified at the time that these photographic materials were made available.(68) One of these employees stated that the Oswald picture had been retained because it depicted a Soviet Intourist guide; the other employee indicated that the picture had been kept because it showed a crane in the back- ground.(69) Of these two employees, the one who worked at CIA headquarters (and therefore was in a position to know) indicated that the photograph of Oswald had not been discovered until a post- assassination search of the Minsk graphics file for materials pertain- ing to Oswald. (70) Accordingly, this photograph was not evidence that the CIA maintained a dual filing system with respect to Oswald. The picture apparently was kept in a separate file until 1964, when Oswald was actually identified to be one of its subjects. The committee's investigation of a copy of a letter to Oswald from his mother that was in the Agency's possession similarly did not show any evidence of a dual filing system. This letter, dated July 6, 1961 and sent by Marguerite Oswald, was intercepted as a result of a CIA program (71) known as HT-Lingual,13 the purpose of which was to obtain intelligence and counterintelligence information from letters sent between the United States and Russia. Typically, intercepted letters and envelopes would be photographed and then returned to the mails.(72) In response to a committee inquiry, the CIA explained that because of HT-Lingual's extreme sensitivity, all materials generated as a re- sult of mail intercepts were stored in a separate project file that was maintained by the counterintelligence staff.(73) Consequently, such items were not placed in 201 files. This explanation was confirmed by the testimony of a senior officer from the counterintelligence staff who had jurisdiction over the HT-Lingual project files 14 (74) (10) Did Oswald ever participate in a CIA counterintelligence project? The committee's review of HT-Lingual files pertaining to ---------------------------------- 13 The HT-Lingual program was no longer in effect in 1978. Prior to that time, it had been found to be illegal. 14 Since Oswald was known to have sent or received more than 50 communications during his stay in the Soviet Union, the committee also questioned why the Agency ostensibly had just one letter in its possession directly related to Oswald. In essence, the Agency's response suggested that H-T Lingual only operated 4 days a week, and, even then, proceeded on a sampl7ing basis. 206 the Oswald case 15 resulted in the discovery of reproductions of four index cards, two with reference to Lee Harvey Oswald and two to Marina Oswald, which were dated after the assassination of President Kennedy. The pages containing the reproductions of these cards were stamped "Secret Eyes Only." (75) The first card regarding Lee Harvey Oswald, dated November 9, 1959, states that Oswald is a recent defector to the U.S.S.R. and a former marine. It also bears the notation "CI/Project/RE" and some handwritten notations. (76) The second card on Oswald places him in Minsk. It contains background information on him and states that he "reportedly expresses a desire for return to the United States under certain conditions." This card is dated August 7, 1961, and also bears the notation "Watch List." (77) These cards, par- ticularly the reference to "CI/Project/RE," raised the question of whether Oswald was, in fact, involved in some sort of counterintel- ligence project for the CIA. The committee questioned former employees of the CIA who may have had some knowledge pertaining to the HT-Lingual project in general and these cards in particular. Some of these employees rec- ognized the cards as relating to the HT-Lingual project, but were unable to identify the meaning of the notation, "CI/Project/RE." (78) One employee, however, testified that the "CI Project" was "simply a name of convenience that was used to describe the HT-Lingual project"; (79) another testified that "CI Project" was the name of the component that ran the HT-Lingual project. This person also ex- plained that "RE" represented the initials of a person who had been a translator of foreign language documents and that the initials had probably been placed there so that someone could come back to the translator if a question arose concerning one of the documents.(80) Another employee indicated that the "Watch List" notation on the second card referred to persons who had been identified as being of particular interest with respect to the mail intercept program. (81) The committee requested the CIA to provide an explanation for the terms "CI/Project/RE" and "Watch List" and for the handwrit- ten notations appearing on the index cards. In addition, the committee requested a description of criteria used in compiling a "Watch List?' With respect to the meaning of the notation "CI/Project/RE." the CIA explained that there existed an office within the counterintelli- gence staff that was known as "CI/Project," a cover title that had been used to hide the true nature of the officers functions. In fact, this office was responsible for the exploitation of the material produced by the HT-Lingual project. The Agency further explained that "RE" repre- sented the initials of a former employee. (82) In responding to a request for the criteria used in compiling a "Watch List," the CIA referred to a section of the "Report to the Presi- dent by the Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States," which states: -------------------------- 15 Although the Agency had only one Oswald letter In its possession, the HT-Lingual files were combed after the assassination for additional materials potentially related to him. Approximately 30 pieces of correspondence that were considered potentially related to the investigation of Oswald's case (even though not necessarily directly related to Oswald) were discovered. None of these was ultimately judged by the CIA to he of any significance. These materials, however, were stored in a separate Oswald HT-Lingual file. 207 Individuals or organizations of particular intelligence interest (one should also add counterintelligence interest) were specified in watch lists provided to the mail project by the counterintelligence staff, by other CIA components, and by the FBI. The total number of names on the Watch List var- ied, from time to time, but on the average, the list included approximately 300 names, including about 100 furnished by the FBI. The Watch List included the names of foreigners and of U.S. citizens. (83) Thus, the full meaning of the notation is that on November 9, 1959, an employee whose initials were RE placed Oswald's name on the "Watch List" for the HT-Lingual project for the reason stated on the card--that Oswald was a recent defector to the U.S.S.R. and a former Marine.(84) The response went on to state that the handwritten number, No. 7305, which also appears on the first card, is a reference to the com- munication from the CI staff to the Office of Security. expressing the CI staff's interest in seeing any mail to or from Oswald in the Soviet Union. Finally, the other handwritten notation, "N/R-RI, 20 Nov. 59" signifies that a name trace run through the central records register indicates that there was no record for Lee Oswald as of that (85) The Agency's explanation of the meaning of the second card was that on August 7, 1961, the CIA staff officer who opened the Oswald 201 file requested that Oswald's name be placed on the "Watch List" be- cause of Oswald's expressed desire to return to the United States, as stated on the card. The handwritten notation indicates, in this instance, that Oswald's name was deleted from the "Watch List" on May 28, 1962.(86) With reference to the two cards on Marina Oswald, the Agency stated that her name was first placed on the "Watch List" on November 26, 1963, because she was the wife of Lee Harvey Oswald. The second card served the purpose of adding the name Marina Oswald Porter to the "Watch List" on June 29, 1965, after she had remarried. Both names were deleted from the list as of May 26, 1972. (87) . Thus the statements of former CIA employees were corroborated by the Agency's response regarding the explanation of the index cards in the CIA's HT-Lingual files pertaining to Oswald. The explanations attested that the references on the cards were not demonstrative of an Agency relationship with Oswald, but instead were examples of notations routinely used in connection with the HT-Lingual project.