Warren Commission (11 of 26): Hearings Vol. XI (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (11 of 26): Hearings Vol. XI (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. SEELEY. I don't have a recollection on this. I would imagine what
happened is that there was a request by the CIA for a copy of this, and
that I authorized them to be furnished a copy on October 5, 1961.
Mr. COLEMAN. I take it you actually read the instructions which went
forward on April 13, 1961.
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir. My initials are at the bottom.
Mr. COLEMAN. The fact that your initials are at the bottom indicates
that you approved them?
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. COLEMAN. What was the next occasion on which you had anything to do
with the Oswald file or heard the name Oswald?
Mr. SEELEY. I will have to check the file. The next occasion where the
record shows that I had something to do with the Oswald file concerns
Item X-31. It is a Department of State instruction, W-7, dated July
11, 1961, drafted by Mrs. Waterman, and I cleared this particular
instruction.
Mr. COLEMAN. Can we note for the record that that instruction has
already been marked as Commission Exhibit No. 975?
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. COLEMAN. You cleared those instructions prior to the time you
received word from Mr. Snyder in the Embassy in Moscow that Oswald had
appeared at the Embassy on July 8, 10, or 11?
Mr. SEELEY. Of 1961?
Mr. COLEMAN. 1961.
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir; that is true. I wasn't sure of the time element
in there, but that is true. This went out the same day, apparently,
that the instruction was drafted and was sent in, or the despatch was
drafted and sent in.
Mr. COLEMAN. So, therefore, you took that action or you approved that
action prior to the time that you knew that Oswald had appeared at the
Embassy in Moscow?
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. COLEMAN. Is it a fair reading of the July 11, 1961, instructions
which you approved, that you indicated that Oswald could be given back
his passport?
Mr. SEELEY. No, sir; I don't think so. I call your attention to
paragraph 5 of the despatch; "It is noted that the Embassy intends
to seek the Department's prior advice before granting Mr. Oswald
documentation as a United States citizen upon any application he may
submit."
Mr. COLEMAN. So, therefore, as of this time it was still open as far as
the Department was concerned in Washington whether Oswald had renounced
his citizenship and was entitled to a passport?
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir. I don't think that the adjudicative proceeding
had been completed.
Mr. COLEMAN. When was the adjudicative process completed so far as you
were concerned, that the Passport Office in Washington determined that
in its opinion, that Mr. Oswald was still a citizen?
Mr. SEELEY. I would say that the operations memorandum of August 18,
1961, from the Department of State to the American Embassy in Moscow
which refers to the Embassy Despatch No. 29, the passport renewal
application and the questionnaire.
Mr. COLEMAN. You would say that as of that date the Passport Office
determined that Oswald was still a citizen?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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