Mr. McCLOY. Let's get these years right.
Mr. HOSTY. The 25th of October 1963.
Mr. STERN. Had you received any information about any other contacts
with Russian officials by Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. HOSTY. Not at that time.
Mr. STERN. What other information did you have at anytime about that?
Mr. HOSTY. On November 22, after the assassination of President
Kennedy, I was advised that our Washington field office of the FBI had
determined that he, Lee Oswald, had been in contact with the Soviet
Embassy in Washington, D.C. I learned that after the assassination.
Mr. STERN. After the assassination?
Mr. HOSTY. Right, sir.
Mr. STERN. Putting that aside for the moment, what was your evaluation
of Lee Harvey Oswald based on the work that you had done and the
reports that you had made, the information you gathered early in
November?
Mr. HOSTY. Well, there were many questions to be resolved. I was quite
interested in determining the nature of his contact with the Soviet
Embassy in Mexico City. I had not resolved that on the 22d of November.
We were still waiting to resolve that. Prior to that, I mean that would
be the only thing----
Mr. STERN. What had you planned to do after November 5 about this case?
Mr. HOSTY. Well, as I had previously stated, I have between 25 and
40 cases assigned to me at any one time. I had other matters to take
care of. I had now established that Lee Oswald was not employed in
a sensitive industry. I can now afford to wait until New Orleans
forwarded the necessary papers to me to show me I now had all the
information. It was then my plan to interview Marina Oswald in detail
concerning both herself and her husband's background.
Mr. STERN. Had you planned any steps beyond that point?
Mr. HOSTY. No. I would have to wait until I had talked to Marina to see
what I could determine, and from there I could make my plans.
Mr. STERN. Did you take any action on this case between November 5 and
November 22?
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir.
Mr. STERN. I think we can then turn to the events of November 22, and
have you tell us what transpired that day, beginning with the morning.
Mr. HOSTY. All right. The first order of business from 8:15 to
9 o'clock the special agent in charge held the regular biweekly
conference. Now we held a conference in our office every other Friday
morning. It so happened that this was the Friday morning which we would
hold this conference, at which time the agent in charge would bring
various items to our attention. Among the items he brought to our
attention was the fact that President Kennedy would be in Dallas on
that date.
Mr. DULLES. Who was the special agent in charge?
Mr. HOSTY. Gordon Shanklin. Gordon L. Shanklin.
Representative FORD. How many others besides yourself were under his
jurisdiction?
Mr. HOSTY. About 75 agents.
Representative FORD. Seventy-five?
Mr. HOSTY. Yes. Now only the ones at headquarters city in Dallas were
present. That would be about 40 of the agents were present at this
conference.
Mr. Shanklin advised us, among other things, that in view of the
President's visit to Dallas, that if anyone had any indication of any
possibility of any acts of violence or any demonstrations against the
President, or Vice President, to immediately notify the Secret Service
and confirm it in writing. He had made the same statement about a week
prior at another special conference which we had held. I don't recall
the exact date. It was about a week prior.
Mr. STERN. Did you know that there was going to be a motorcade on
November 22?
Mr. HOSTY. I found out about 9 p.m. the night before that there was to
be a motorcade in downtown Dallas. I read it in the newspaper. That was
the first time I knew of it.
Mr. STERN. Did you know that the motorcade would pass the School Book
Depository Building?
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir.
Mr. STERN. Did you know the route of the motorcade?
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir.
Mr. DULLES. Had there been any contact between you or the Dallas office
with the Secret Service on this point?
Mr. HOSTY. On the motorcade route, sir?
Mr. DULLES. Yes.
Mr. HOSTY. No.
Mr. DULLES. Had not been?
Mr. HOSTY. No.
Mr. STERN. The newspaper stories did not as far as you can recall tell
what the motorcade route would be?
Mr. HOSTY. Yes; they did. There was a description of the motorcade
route, but as I say, I didn't bother to read it in detail. I noticed
that it was coming up Main Street. That was the only thing I was
interested in, where maybe I could watch it if I had a chance.
Mr. STERN. So that the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald was working in the
Texas School Book Depository meant nothing----
Mr. HOSTY. No.
Mr. STERN. In connection with the motorcade route?
Mr. HOSTY. No.
Mr. STERN. Did you think of him at all in connection with the
President's trip?
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir.
Representative FORD. Did you have any others among the cases that
were assigned to you that came to your attention in reference to the
President's visit?
Mr. HOSTY. I did turn over one item of information to the Secret
Service on the 21st; yes, sir. I did bring some matters to their
attention.
There were some scurrilous pamphlets circulated around Dallas on the
21st of November. You may have seen them. It was a poster of President
Kennedy with a front and a profile view saying, "Wanted for Treason."
I took those pamphlets over to the Secret Service office the morning
of the 21st. Then I assisted another agent in our division in giving
the Secret Service some information on an individual in Denton, Tex.,
who had made some remarks about the President, and another member of my
squad had also given some information to the Secret Service the evening
of the 21st about the possibility of a demonstration at the Trade Mart
against President Kennedy, some picketing.
Representative FORD. Do you recall to whom you gave this information?
Mr. HOSTY. The one piece of information I gave, I gave to an Agent
Warner of the Secret Service.
Representative FORD. That was the information about what?
Mr. HOSTY. The pamphlets, the "Wanted for Treason" pamphlets.
Representative FORD. Those are the only documents or contacts you
personally had?
Mr. HOSTY. That I personally had, that is correct.
The CHAIRMAN. Was it a pamphlet or a dodger?
Mr. HOSTY. It was, I guess you would call it a dodger.
The CHAIRMAN. Single sheet?
Mr. HOSTY. Single sheet; yes, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. A single sheet, was it not?
Mr. HOSTY. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. Did you ever ascertain who put that out?
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir; I never did.
The CHAIRMAN. Did you ever investigate it?
Mr. HOSTY. I didn't.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you know whether your office did?
Mr. HOSTY. I am not sure; no, sir.
Mr. STERN. What next occurred on the 22d, Mr. Hosty?
Mr. HOSTY. All right. After the conference that lasted until about 9
a.m., I then left the office and joined an Army Intelligence agent,
and an agent of the Alcohol Tax Unit of the Treasury Department. We
had a conference concerning a case not related to Lee Oswald. This
conference lasted most of the morning until about 11:45. At 11:45 the
Army Intelligence agent and myself left, and walked over towards Main
Street. The motorcade was scheduled to pass down Main Street near our
office at approximately noon. I was now on my lunch hour, so I stood
and watched the motorcade go by at the corner of Field and Main Street
in Dallas.
After the President passed by, I then went across the street, started
eating lunch. While I was eating my lunch, the waitress came up and
told me she had just heard a radio report that the President and the
Vice President had both been shot. I immediately stopped my lunch.
Mr. STERN. The President and the Vice President?
Mr. HOSTY. That was the earliest report, that the Vice President
had been shot too. These were the rumors. I then of course left the
lunchroom immediately and headed back for the office, which is only a
block away. I got back to the office.
One of the supervisors told me to get a radio car and get out on the
street right away and I would get further instructions. I did that. I
got in the car and started out. I gave the signal that I was on the air
and I was told to proceed towards Parkland Hospital. Just as I got to
Parkland Hospital I got a call to return to the office immediately.
Mr. STERN. Do you know why you were sent to Parkland Hospital?
Mr. HOSTY. No. We were just told they wanted four cars to proceed to
Parkland Hospital to stand by for further orders.
Mr. STERN. Were you told why you were ordered to return to the office?
Mr. HOSTY. When I got back they told me they wanted me to start
reviewing our files to see if I could develop any information, any
leads at all on the possible assassin, to help out administratively in
the office.
Mr. STERN. Did the case of Oswald come to your mind at that time?
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir.