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 would say at that date that we concurred in the
conclusion of the Embassy that he had not expatriated--that we had no
information or evidence that he had expatriated himself.
Mr. COLEMAN. Did you have anything to do with this decision?
Mr. SEELEY. Not the citizenship decision; no, sir. I had nothing to do
with that.
Mr. COLEMAN. You weren't consulted prior to the time the decision was
made?
Mr. SEELEY. No, sir.
Mr. COLEMAN. Did you approve the operations memorandum of August 18?
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. COLEMAN. 1961; before it was sent forward?
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir; I did. My initials are at the bottom there.
Mr. COLEMAN. If you had disapproved it, at least there would have been
further discussion?
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir; there would have been.
Mr. COLEMAN. So, to that extent, you did have something to do with the
decision?
Mr. SEELEY. Well, to that extent, there was no consultation. This
was sent up for clearance, and insofar as the citizenship angle was
concerned, I agreed with what they had done.
Mr. COLEMAN. Did you call for and look at the file prior to the time
you initialed the operations memorandum of August 18, 1961?
Mr. SEELEY. I would presume that I had the whole file. Mr. Ehrlich has
suggested that I mention that I was not in the citizenship area at the
time that I put my concurrence on this operations memorandum, and I was
looking at it only from the aspect of my own area.
Mr. COLEMAN. What was your area?
Mr. SEELEY. I was in the Security Branch. I was Chief of the Security
Branch of the Legal Division.
Mr. COLEMAN. What did you have to do with the decision?
Mr. SEELEY. In this particular case if you had objected, I am sure that
there would have been further discussion on this particular case.
Mr. COLEMAN. Could we mark as Seeley Exhibit No. 3--instead of "S"
I think we had better call these Seeley exhibits, the operations
memorandum dated August 18, 1961, from the Department of State to the
American Embassy.
Mr. SEELEY. Fine, sir.
(The document referred to was marked Seeley Exhibit No. 3 for
identification.)
Mr. COLEMAN. That is the document that you referred to as X-27, is that
correct?
Mr. SEELEY. X-27, that is correct.
Mr. COLEMAN. If you had felt that there was evidence in the file that
Oswald had renounced his citizenship, I take it you would not have
approved this memorandum, is that correct?
Mr. SEELEY. No, sir; I would not have.
Mr. COLEMAN. You would not have approved it?
Mr. SEELEY. No, sir; I would not have approved it.
Mr. COLEMAN. There would have been further discussions?
Mr. SEELEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. COLEMAN. So, therefore, as far as you were concerned in reviewing
the file and what you knew and looking over it, what Miss Waterman had
said and what Mr. Snyder had said, that your decision was that you saw
no reason why you would disagree with the decision?
Mr. SEELEY. I was in complete agreement with the decision.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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