(The proceeding reconvened at 2 p.m.)
Mr. HUBERT. Mr. Senator, we are now continuing the deposition which we
began this morning. I am sure you understand and I want the record to
show that this deposition is being continued under the same authority
and under the same conditions as it began this morning, and also that
you are under the same oath. Now there are a few more general areas
that I would like to talk to you about concerning the character of Jack
Ruby and the type of man he was. Let me direct your attention to the
political beliefs and thinking of Jack Ruby, and ask you what comment
you have to make about that.
Mr. SENATOR. None whatsoever on his beliefs on political issues.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you mean by that that you don’t know?
Mr. SENATOR. Break down when you say political issues.
Mr. HUBERT. I mean do you know anything about what his thinking was
from what he told you concerning his beliefs about politics in general?
Mr. SENATOR. No; he was not of the nature, he never went into anything
of that nature.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you ever hear him discuss international politics?
Mr. SENATOR. No.
Mr. HUBERT. Did he seem to show any interest in international affairs
as they were developing?
Mr. SENATOR. No.
Mr. HUBERT. I mean would he be the type of person that would read the
newspapers at all? Did he read newspapers at all?
Mr. SENATOR. Oh, sure; he read newspapers religiously every day.
Mr. HUBERT. Did he read all of them, I mean every part of it?
Mr. SENATOR. I will tell you, when you ask me that, I tell you where
his reading is. On the toilet bowl. That is where all his reading is—is
on the toilet bowl. It may sound funny, but it is true.
Mr. HUBERT. Can you give us any idea from what you know, of what his
reaction to international events was, such as, for instance, the Cuban
crisis in 1962?
Mr. SENATOR. He never discussed these.
Mr. HUBERT. You are familiar with what I am talking about? I think it
was in the fall of 1962 when we discovered that Cuba had some possible
atomic weapons over there, a subject of national interest.
Mr. SENATOR. Yes; I have read that.
Mr. HUBERT. And the Berlin crisis of the year before?
Mr. SENATOR. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. That is the sort of thing I mean. Did he comment about that?
Mr. SENATOR. No; he didn’t.
Mr. HUBERT. Is it your thought that he just had no interest in that
sort of thing at all?
Mr. SENATOR. Well, if he did or not, he never discussed it too much.
He would read a paper. He would read his ad. He reads these—of course,
I am certain he reads all parts of the paper, but especially the
entertainment part, he was very anxious in reading.
Mr. HUBERT. Normally when two people share space such as you do, and
are in each other’s company and have any conversation at all, the
conversation normally relates to the topics of the day, as it were, as
reflected by newspapers and other news media.
I wonder if you can throw any light on what his attitude was or his
interest was towards topics of the day of international import.
Mr. SENATOR. I just don’t recall. All I know is that he reads the—of
course, I am certain he reads all of the paper, you know, or various
parts, but he would talk about show business a lot with me, see.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you ever hear him discuss at all any international
incident?
Mr. SENATOR. I just can’t think offhand. I don’t say he did or didn’t.
I just can’t think offhand if he did or didn’t.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you ever seek to engage him in small talk, shall we
say, about subjects of that nature?
Mr. SENATOR. Well, he talked about the President. I remember once we
were watching a picture of President Kennedy’s kid going between the
desk. He thought that was so wonderful, you know, enjoyed over that. I
remember that distinctly.
Mr. HUBERT. You mean he saw that on TV?
Mr. SENATOR. Yes; this he marveled over. But the discussion, we never
went into papers too much. He was mainly, I know when he grabbed the
paper the first thing he would go to is the show part of it, his
competitors, the show part of it, the night life, Tony Zoppi, with a
nightclub. He is like, I don’t know how to compare him, to somebody who
writes a column in New York.
Mr. HUBERT. You don’t recall in all of the years you have known Jack of
his being interested in international affairs to the point that you can
remember any discussion with him?
Mr. SENATOR. No.
Mr. HUBERT. At all?
Mr. SENATOR. I really can’t think offhand. I don’t say that he probably
hadn’t, but I just don’t think offhand.
Mr. HUBERT. You don’t remember any such discussions?
Mr. SENATOR. I don’t; no.
Mr. HUBERT. Now what would be your impression, knowing Jack as a whole,
of his interest in international affairs?
Mr. SENATOR. I don’t know.
Mr. HUBERT. The reason I asked you that, although I realize it is an
opinion question, is because you have been able to give us your opinion
on other aspects of his life and character, for instance, that he was a
man who was not a homosexual, and so forth, and you based your opinions
upon your experience with him, and this is just another aspect of his
character, that is all.
Now I am simply asking you what is your opinion about his interest in
communism or rightism or leftism or middle-of-the-roadism or any kind
of ism.
Mr. SENATOR. The only way I can refer to anything of that nature is the
time we saw the billboards.