157 10004 10144

157-10004-10144

2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992

JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION FORM

AGENCY INFORMATION

AGENCY: SSCIA RECORD NUMBER: 157-10004-10144

RECORDS SERIES : MEMORANDUM

AGENCY FILE NUMBER :

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

ORIGINATOR : CIA FROM : ΤΟ :

TITLE : MEETING WITH THE WARREN COMMISSION ON 12 MARCH 1964

DATE: 03/12/64 PAGES: 5

SUBJECTS : CIA MEETING WITH WARREN COMMISSION HELMS, RICHARD ROCCA, RAYMOND WARREN COMMISSION OSWALD, LEE HARVEY

DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT CLASSIFICATION : U RESTRICTIONS: 1A, 1B, 1C, DONOR REST., REFERRED CURRENT STATUS : X DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 07/14/94

OPENING CRITERIA :

COMMENTS: 302-3

[R] ITEM IS RESTRICTED

Date: 07/14/94 Page:1

daily movements while in Mexico City nor could they confirm the date of his departure or his mode of travel. The original assumption that he had returned by bus could not be proven. Several possibilities were discussed whereby the Commission could fill in the gaps of its investi- gation of the Mexican phase. The suggestion was made that the most effective way of resolving the questions they had would be to have a member of the Commission visit Mexico City and discuss the issues on the spot with those American and Mexican officials directly concerned. Mr. Helms noted that it would be possible for a member of the Com- mission to visit our Chief of Station who would then be able to work out with the Warren Commission staff member the best way to handle inter- views with Mexican police officials, particularly if it is desired that these interviews be informal in nature. Our Chief of Station would also be able to put the Warren Commission staff member in contact with the FBI officials and Immigration and Naturalization Service officers stationed in Mexico City. Mr. Helms cautioned that our Chief of Station would be under State Department cover and that it would be proper to advise the Department of the planned visit and upon arrival to meet briefly with the Ambassador or Minister Counselor before proceeding to work out details with the CIA Chief of Station.

  1. In connection with the Mexican phase of the investigation, mem- bers of Mr. Rankin's staff questioned Mr. Helms and Mr. Rocca regarding the extent of the CIA file on Oswald for the period 8 October to 22 November

  2. They questioned the sanitized extracts which they had been shown and wondered if there were not more. Mr. Rocca summarized the ma- terials that had come to the attention of the Secret Service, or had been disseminated to the Secret Service, immediately after the assassination. Mr. Rocca said there was not additional substantive information and that the sanitized version seen by the Commission constituted the sum of our holdings. Mr. Helms then explained that as a matter of practice we did not release actual copies of our messages because they contained code- words and digraphs which would be unintelligible to a person not familiar with them. He added, however, that he would be happy to show the file with the original messages to any staff member of the Warren Commission who might come to visit him at Langley.

  3. The question of why no action was taken by other agencies of the government after their receipt of CIA information that Oswald was in contact with the Soviet and Cuban Embassies in Mexico City was next discussed. Mr. Rankin and members of his staff clearly felt that this was a crucial question which needed careful review. They appeared to

believe that the information on Oswald was unusual enough to have caused recipients to take special measures which might conceivably have led to a closer scrutiny of Lee Harvey Oswald and his movements. Mr. Helms pointed out that the information on Oswald's visit to the Cuban and Soviet embassies in Mexico City came from telephone inter- cepts which were placed on both embassies. These intercepts were recorded on tape and reviewed by persons at our Station for any infor- mation affecting U. S. security. Such information is routinely passed to other agencies and entered in CIA files. Given the enormous bulk which is involved, the tapes are not kept on file but erased after a brief period of time. Thus the information on Oswald was similar to that provided on other American citizens who might have made contacts of this type. In Oswald's case, it was the combination of visits to both Cuban and Soviet Embassies which caused the Mexico City Station to report this to Headquarters and Oswald's record of defection to the Soviet Union which prompted the Headquarters dissemination. At the conclusion of his remarks on this subject, Mr. Helms specified that the information he had given Mr. Rarkin was extremely sensitive and that the very existence of these telephone intercepts had to be very carefully protected.

  1. The Commission, Mr. Rankin said, would be interested in any information held by CIA on Jack Ruby. Mr. Rankin said the Com- mission staff had prepared a roundup on Ruby, a copy of which he handed Mr. Helms. He said he would appreciate any file reflections or comments that CIA analysts might make on this material. Mr. Rankin and members. of his staff then discussed Ruby's confirmed trip to Havana in 1959. The Commission has received information from an unspecified source that Ruby was in Havana again in 1963 under a Czech passport. Mr. Rankin asked whether CIA could provide any assistance in verifying this story. Mr. Helms replied that CIA would be limited in its possibility of assist- ing, to air manifest checks in Mexico, These would be carried out he said.

  2. Mr. Helms was then asked if CLA had done any follow up to its original telegraphic dissemination of the information on Oswald's visits to the Cuban and Soviet embassies in Mexico City. Mr. Helms replied that there had been no CIA action following our initial dissemi- nation. Mr. Willems then asked if there were any liaison problems faced by CIA in its efforts to deal with other agencies in matters affect- ing internal security. Mr. Helms replied that there were always under- standable human problems in conducting any liaison on any subject but