Mr. DULLES. I was just there so I want to know.
Mr. BRIAN. We came around the ramp and we parked in the basement. We
were parked in the basement, and we got out, and started around, there
is a railing there, we started around the railing and at that time Jim
Hosty was coming across the basement, at a fast trot, or moving fairly
fast----
Mr. RANKIN. Special Agent Hosty of the Bureau?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
And he came across there and I know him, and I had known him for a good
while to speak to him.
Mr. RANKIN. Where were you with reference to Lieutenant Revill at that
point?
Mr. BRIAN. I think I was on his, probably his right-hand side.
Mr. RANKIN. Close to him?
Mr. BRIAN. Fairly close; yes, sir.
And so we walked over to meet, kind of cornered, you cross paths and we
walked up there to meet Jim, and he said, he came up there and he said,
that Lee Oswald, a Communist, killed the President, and then Revill
said, "What?" He said, Lee Oswald, a Communist, killed the President.
He was in--nervous--in a hurry, and was just talking.
And then he said, he said that he knew that he was a Communist and he
knew he worked in the Book Depository, and then Lieutenant Revill said
something else to him, I am not--I don't know what he said, and they
walked off in front of me going in around and in through the door over
to the elevator to go up, and then we accompanied Agent Hosty up to
Captain Fritz' office which is on the----
Mr. DULLES. Was the elevator there at the basement floor when you took
it or did you have to wait?
Mr. BRIAN. We had to wait just a very short time on it. It wasn't
standing open waiting; no, sir.
We had to wait on it just a very short time, I believe, and we went up
to the third floor, and Hosty and Lieutenant Revill went in there and
talked. I went to the door and just stepped inside and waited and then
we went back downstairs to our office which is on two, right underneath
Captain Fritz' office.
Mr. DULLES. You accompanied them to the third floor and then you came
down?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. DULLES. In the elevator?
Mr. BRIAN. That I am not sure.
Mr. DULLES. Or did you get out and come down the stairs?
Mr. BRIAN. I am not sure.
Mr. DULLES. But you weren't with Lieutenant Revill any further?
Mr. BRIAN. When we came back down to our office, we came back down, I
am not sure whether we rode the elevator or not. It is a short trip
down and I am--I would be afraid to say whether we walked, rode, or
how we got down, but we went into Captain Gannaway's office and Revill
told, Lieutenant Revill told the Captain what Hosty had said, so he
said, "Write a report."
Mr. RANKIN. What did he say at that time? What did he tell the Captain
that Agent Hosty had said?
Mr. BRIAN. He told him, short and very quick, that they knew that
Oswald was a Communist and that he was in the Book Depository, and he
said, "Write a report and get it back to me right now."
And he went right back and wrote a report.
I forgot about the whole incident, I didn't think it would be important
and I didn't--well, in fact, I didn't have time to because when I got
back there they had a list of names they were going to start checking
out and they handed me six of them and says, "Start going and checking
here and here and here and checking these people."
So I never did dwell on it again.
Mr. RANKIN. In this conversation down in the basement, have you told us
all that Agent Hosty said that you recall?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. And have you told us all that Lieutenant Revill said that
you recall?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. Have you told us all that Lieutenant Revill told to Captain
Gannaway that you recall?
Mr. BRIAN. Well, let's see. I believe that I have, yes, sir.
When--Captain Gannaway's office, as you go in the door and turn right
and his office is in there and if I recall correctly I didn't go all
the way in his office, he did and I stood in the door, and I really
didn't make a mental note of what happened and things were moving at a
rather fast pace, and I believe that I did; yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. You have made an affidavit about this, have you not?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir; I made a report to Chief Curry.
Mr. RANKIN. And you swore to that?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. Is Exhibit 711 a photostatic copy of your report that you
made that you have just described?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you swear to that report on the date that it bears?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. April 20, 1964?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. You read the Exhibit 711 right now, didn't you?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. Is it correct?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. Are there any additions or corrections that you wish to
make to it?
Mr. BRIAN. No, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. I was just going to ask if you fixed the date on which he
dictated that or wrote it, whichever he did.
Mr. RANKIN. I haven't, but I will.
Will you tell us on what date you wrote or dictated Exhibit 711?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir; the day before, I believe it was the day before,
Chief Curry came up here. It was either a day or 2 days before April
20th is what it says on there. That is the date that I made the report,
the day or 2 days before Chief Curry came up here.
Will you tell us on what date you wrote or dictated Exhibit 711?
Mr. BRIAN. I didn't think--well, Captain Gannaway told Lieutenant
Revill to write a report about the thing the date it happened, and he
did, or I assumed he did, and I guess that he did. I haven't----
Mr. RANKIN. Have you ever seen that report?
Mr. BRIAN. I have seen it, but I haven't read it. That is unusual but I
haven't. I didn't think the incident was really important, that is the
reason why I didn't dwell on it, and I am sure it is now or I wouldn't
be up here.
But they, a few days before Chief Curry was to come up here they said
they wanted a report, you know, to what I had heard in the basement
and this and that and the other, and I said, "Well, I better write one
then."
I just assumed it was all taken care of, and so I wrote one on the
20th, I wrote that report on the 20th and swore to it and turned it in
and he brought it up here.
Mr. DULLES. You made no contemporaneous memoranda, that is on November
22 you made no notes or memoranda of this?
Mr. BRIAN. No, sir.
Mr. DULLES. So the report of April 20 you dictated on or about April 20
is based on your memory?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. Exhibit 711, your report, was that written out in longhand
or dictated to a girl?
Mr. BRIAN. No, sir; I typed it myself on the typewriter. We don't have
a stenographer in our office to dictate to.
Mr. RANKIN. You did type the part about the notary and so forth on the
bottom?
Mr. BRIAN. No, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know who did that?
Mr. BRIAN. I believe Bill Biggio.
Mr. RANKIN. Who is he?
Mr. BRIAN. He is a detective who works the desk there, who is a notary
who notarized it.
Mr. RANKIN. Now, before you made Exhibit 711 did anyone give you
Lieutenant Revill's report to examine?
Mr. BRIAN. No, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. Compare your report with?
Mr. BRIAN. No, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. And you have never read that?
Mr. BRIAN. I don't recall reading it; no, sir. I sure don't. I probably
looked at it but as far as sitting down and reading it, I have never
read the report, I don't believe.
Mr. RANKIN. So if there is any differences between your report and his
you are not familiar with them?
Mr. BRIAN. No, sir.
Representative FORD. Subsequent to November 22 and prior to April 20,
when you prepared this Exhibit 711, did you ever talk to Lieutenant
Revill about the incident?
Mr. BRIAN. Yes, sir; I sure did. He couldn't remember who was with him
down in the basement, and it rocked on there and had rocked on there,
and somewhere it came out that somebody said he was lying about it and
he was telling us, he said, "I am telling you the truth". "You don't
have to tell me, I know you are; I was standing there with you."