Mrs. PAINE. That is a lie. She had delegated power of attorney, and I
knew that at this time I was reporting the conversation to Marina on
the 9th of March because I had read it in the paper.
Mr. JENNER. You had learned it in the meantime?
Mrs. PAINE. Had learned in the meantime that she had delegated power of
attorney.
Mr. JENNER. I have been seeking all that occurred in your visit with
Marina and Mrs. Ford in the Ford home on March 9. Have you completed
that? Is there anything you would like to add?
Mrs. PAINE. Well, I would like to add that Mrs. Ford was out for a
brief period. She went to the washerteria to pick up some clothes
that had been at the drier so that for a time Marina and I were alone
perfectly free to say anything we wanted.
Mr. JENNER. And during that period was your conversation, your visit
with Marina pleasant?
Mrs. PAINE. Oh, indeed; yes.
Mr. JENNER. Free and open? What reaction did you get during the period
you were alone with her as to her feeling or regard or how she felt
about you?
Mrs. PAINE. Well, I felt she was certainly friendly, but I felt the
strain of wanting to avoid any reference to her husband or to the
events that were so painful to us both. And I didn't want to ask
directly anything about why she hadn't written or confront her with
that. She did say as I was working at the tape recorder later, and Mrs.
Ford was reading from the book, we came to a break in the recording and
Marina commented, she had been sitting across the room watching, my
profile was very like her mother's, and this is not the first time she
has made the connection to my physical build and that of her mother. I
don't give this much significance, but I do have the impression that
there are many feelings and mixed feelings in us both. It is not a
simple relationship.
Mr. JENNER. Do you anticipate the possibility of, I will use the word,
renewing, it may not be the right word.
Mrs. PAINE. I think that would be right. There has been a distinct
break.
Mr. JENNER. Of this cordial friendship and relationship with Marina?
Mrs. PAINE. I would like that if it comes about.
Mr. JENNER. And do you have a feeling that there is a possibility of
that arising out of your contact with her on March 9, having now talked
with her face to face?
Mrs. PAINE. I think there is that possibility. I would like her to do
some of the initiating, if not most of it at this point. I said I was
going to Washington. I had just heard that same evening before going
to the Fords. Mrs. Ford said that she and her husband were to go to
Washington, and when. And I said when I would be back home, and Marina
implied that she might try to contact me then. I am hopeful that she
will. I don't have any particular plans to attempt to contact her.
Mr. JENNER. Do you have any feeling other than charity in your heart
for Marina?
Mrs. PAINE. Oh, yes; certainly. I like her very much as a person.
This doesn't mean that I understand her, that she is a person to whom
I feel automatically kindred. She was raised in Soviet Russia. She
has a background very foreign to my own. I am not even aware of some
of the kinds of differences this may cause. I do think that she is a
good thinker and a free thinker and that she thinks for herself. I
was interested to note what I have put into the record, I believe,
yesterday evening about her comment to Mr. Hosty, the first time he
came to the house, that she thought Castro was not getting an entirely
fair press or not being pictured well in this country, to present
a contrary opinion in this situation, and an independent opinion,
possibly, clearly unpopular, or she could well suspect it would be
unpopular with the FBI agent showed a certain amount of independence
and courage and self-confidence, I felt, more what I would expect of
an American than of a person raised to be fearful of secret police and
state domination.
Mr. JENNER. Do you have anything you want to add in this connection?
Mrs. PAINE. Just the observation that her view of herself and of what
she should do now that her husband has been accused of assassinating
the President of the United States must be very strongly affected by
the fact that she was raised in Soviet Russia, not here, but the fact
that she is an emigre hopeful of staying, but by no means native.
Mr. JENNER. Did she ever talk to you, I think you mentioned before that
she was hopeful of staying. Did she express that to you?
Mrs. PAINE. On several occasions.
Mr. JENNER. And of ultimately becoming a citizen of the United States?
Mrs. PAINE. She didn't mention that, but I assumed it.
Mr. JENNER. You assumed it from the nature of the conversation?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; I didn't hear anything specifically stated about that
until I read it in the paper after the assassination.
Mr. JENNER. I would like to limit it first not to what you read in the
paper and your being influenced thereby, but from your contacts with
Marina, and the conversations that you had, there must have been many,
many of them.
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. In your home. Do you have a feeling that she has a hope or
desire or an intention eventually to become a citizen of the United
States?
Mrs. PAINE. I don't recall that specifically. I recall on several
occasions that she----
Mr. JENNER. I am seeking only your impression now.
Mrs. PAINE. I will try to answer it by giving these impressions. She
expressed many times her wish to stay in this country. She wanted to
raise her children here. She was interested in June's learning English
and was very concerned that June be able to speak English before she
entered school. Indeed, I felt she was not enough concerned that June
maintain a bilingual background. She wouldn't have cared if June only
learned English, whereas, I, here struggling hard to learn Russian,
thought that June could have a chance to learn it easily, but her
expression of interest was in June's learning English and not any
particular desire to maintain a bilingual quality.
Mr. JENNER. I would share your feeling. I wish I had the command of
more than English. I would like very much to do so. I took a lot of
Spanish, but it is completely gone now.
Mrs. PAINE. It is very hard to be truly bilingual. Few children have
the opportunity.
Mr. JENNER. I have just a couple technicalities on the diary and on
your address book, so I can establish them for the record. I would like
to go through Commission Exhibit 401, which is the calendar. The entry
on page 3 of the exhibit in reference to Lawrence Hoke--that is your
brother-in-law? Oh, that is your nephew?
Mrs. PAINE. He was born last April 14, 1963, and I wrote it down.
Mr. JENNER. Nothing to do with the Oswalds?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Mr. JENNER. The next sheet is blank, of course. Now, to the calendar
itself, are there any entries in January that have reference to Oswalds?
Mrs. PAINE. None.
Mr. JENNER. February?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Pick them out according to dates.
Mrs. PAINE. Well, you must understand that some of these were written
at the time and some were put in later.
Mr. JENNER. All right; distinguish between them, please.
Mrs. PAINE. I wrote down on February 15, June's birthday, 9:55 a.m.,
Minsk. That was written in later.
Mr. JENNER. That is, she was born on February 15. Did you put the year
in there?
Mrs. PAINE. The year does not appear. I, of course, know it.
Mr. JENNER. And that was the previous year?
Mrs. PAINE. She was born in 1962.
Mr. JENNER. 1962. Any other reference or entry in the month of February
that has relation to the Oswalds?
Mrs. PAINE. At the top is written "Marina last period February 5"
crossed out "or 15th." This refers to menstrual period trying to figure
when the baby would be due, and it was an inaccurate notation I learned
later. Then there is a note written at the time, the only one on this
page that refers to the Oswalds that was written at the time, and that
says, "Everett's?"
Mr. JENNER. Entered where?