Representative FORD. He says some place in there he is without
nationality. Did you have that at the time----
Miss WATERMAN. "I am described as being without citizenship." That is
right. In other words, it is questionable whether the Embassy should
have crossed out "have not." In other words, he might have said I have
done this, but his explanation----
Representative FORD. That is what the document shows.
Miss WATERMAN. But his explanation clearly shows that he had not.
Mr. DULLES. Do you know whether that was noted at the time, or deemed
to be a clerical error, or how did you interpret that crossing out of
that particular line there?
Miss WATERMAN. Well, in any event--I actually cannot recall, Mr.
Dulles. But the questionnaire, which was also under oath, at the
Embassy, would be the material part here. And there is no information
in here to show that he had been naturalized. He said he was not known
as a Soviet citizen, he did not have a Soviet passport. And as for the
other items of possible expatriation, I don't see how they could have
applied to him, in any event.
Representative FORD. Mr. Coleman, I suggest that, to make the record
complete as to what the evidence was in the file, that we have
reprinted in the record at this point Commission Exhibit No. 912,
because it was a followup statement by Oswald on the status as he saw
it of his citizenship at that time.
Mr. COLEMAN. You want the reporter to print physically in the record
Commission Exhibits Nos. 912 and 913, the two Oswald letters?
Mr. DULLES. Just one question. I note here this is typed out. The line
I saw had been marked out. I think it is a fair inference that this was
typed out, since the typing was probably done in the American Embassy.
He had no typewriter. There is a fair inference that might have been a
mistake.
Representative FORD. All we can go by is what the record shows.
Mr. DULLES. I think we ought to clarify that through the record in
Moscow, because the record is not good at this point.
Mr. EHRLICH. There is another copy, as you know, that came in from the
Embassy that we sent to you that showed in fact--it was not a carbon,
it was a separate one, in which the "have" was----
Mr. COLEMAN. That is Commission Exhibit No. 947.
Mr. EHRLICH. That was in the Embassy. It was not in the Department.
Mr. DULLES. There the "X's" were above everything, but probably were
intended to mark out the "have."
Representative FORD. Is Commission Exhibit No. 938 the original?
Representative FORD. This is a photostat of the original?
Miss WATERMAN. The original is in the Department's file.
Mr. COLEMAN. Congressman Ford, the original document is right
physically in front of you.
Representative FORD. That one is crossing out his "have not." It is
very clear.
Mr. DULLES. And on this one, which is the copy in the Embassy files,
the crossed out is above all three. It apparently was intended to be
crossed out, the "have."
(At this point, Representative Ford withdrew from the hearing room.)
Mr. COLEMAN. We just thought the record should--you recall we asked Mr.
Snyder a question about this, and he said he didn't know whether it was
a typographical error, or just what the reason for it was.
Miss Waterman, would you be kind enough to look at the document in your
file which is X-30, and could you look at the original, in the original
State Department file?
Now, we have marked it as Commission Exhibit No. 977.
Now, the second page of the document that we have has inserted a
sheet of paper called a passport office lookout file. Is that stamped
physically on the back of the first page?
Miss WATERMAN. Yes.
Mr. COLEMAN. That indicates that the document was received on July 19,
is that correct? There is a stamp on there?
Miss WATERMAN. Yes; July 19.
Mr. COLEMAN. There is another stamp on there, August 3, 1961.
Miss WATERMAN. Yes; I see that.
Mr. COLEMAN. You also have the lookout file on the Passport Office, is
checked under "No Lookout (refusal) File Record."
Do you see that?
Miss WATERMAN. Yes; I see it.
Mr. COLEMAN. Does this mean that when someone ordered a search of the
lookout record file in July or August, 1961, that there was no lookout
file record on Lee Harvey Oswald?
Miss WATERMAN. Apparently so. That was probably done automatically. The
records people probably did that.
Mr. COLEMAN. This was prior to the time when you had made your decision
there had been no expatriation, is that correct?
Miss WATERMAN. I will have to look at this.
Mr. COLEMAN. Your recommendation wasn't made until August 18, 1961.
Miss WATERMAN. That is what we were replying to. That is one of the
communications that we were acknowledging, yes, that is right.
Mr. COLEMAN. Well, should there have been a lookout card when the
search was made in July 1961, on Lee Harvey Oswald?
Miss WATERMAN. Well, I would say that if one were made, it would have
been in there.
Now, I don't know that I always would have examined the reverse of
every dispatch. If I had examined the reverse of that despatch, I
probably would have noted it.
Mr. COLEMAN. Well, what I am saying, as a result of the refusal sheet
that you prepared in 1960, when the lookout section made the search on
August 3, 1961, should there not have been a lookout file at that time
on Lee Harvey Oswald?
Miss WATERMAN. Are you talking about a lookout card?
Mr. COLEMAN. A lookout card, yes.
Miss WATERMAN. A lookout card would only have referred to this file.
Mr. COLEMAN. Yes.
Miss WATERMAN. Which we already had, and which we already determined
had no evidence of expatriation.
Mr. COLEMAN. I am suggesting that you did not make that determination
until August 18, 1961.
Miss WATERMAN. Well, Mr. Coleman, the card itself would have been
totally immaterial to the decision we made here, inasmuch as we had the
entire file, and also our refusal--the refusal sheet would be in here.
As I said, that was not for expatriation. It was just to flag an
adverse--possible adverse interest in the case.
Mr. DULLES. But there has been testimony given here before, Miss
Waterman, that when the question came up later of the issuance of a
passport, since there was no lookout card, this file was not consulted.
Miss WATERMAN. Well, that could be. That was, I believe--I believe that
was after I had anything to do with the file.
Mr. DULLES. Yes; I know. You cannot testify as to that.
Mr. COLEMAN. Now, Miss Waterman, would you be kind enough to turn over
to the next document which you have before you, after the August 18,
1961, memorandum?
Miss WATERMAN. Yes.
Mr. COLEMAN. And that is in the file--your file as 1X-24. It has been
given Commission Exhibit No. 980.
Miss WATERMAN. Yes.
Mr. COLEMAN. And will you note that there is some typewritten material
that appears on the first page which says, "Attached report is a
summation of Subject's background and case since he renounced U.S.
citizenship and sought Soviet citizenship in the fall of 1959. As his
citizenship status does not appear to be resolved, copies of the report
are furnished to both PPT and VO."
And the attachment is an FBI report.
Miss WATERMAN. Yes.
Mr. COLEMAN. Written on the side in your handwriting, I assume, is the
word "incorrect."
Miss WATERMAN. That is correct.
Mr. COLEMAN. Do you recall when you wrote that on that paper?
Miss WATERMAN. Well, probably when I saw it. I would not recall when I
wrote it, but it would be--the statement--my inference there that the
statement in this memorandum is what you might call a misnomer would
have been correct at any date.
Mr. DULLES. Who wrote this memorandum which you indicated was incorrect?
Miss WATERMAN. I have a line there "renounced U.S. citizenship." In
other words, somebody who had nothing to do with the adjudication
of the case or citizenship had made a statement in there that this
person had renounced, and that is a rather poor thing to have in the
file which is going around to various places in the Department or
possibly elsewhere. And I did write that on, with reference only to his
renunciation.
Mr. DULLES. With reference to that one statement?
Miss WATERMAN. That is right.
Mr. COLEMAN. And then on December 28, 1961, you drafted a memorandum
which purports to be from Miss Knight to Robert F. Hale, in which you
indicated that any inference in the memorandum of July 27, 1961, which
is the document I have just asked you about----
Miss WATERMAN. Yes.
Mr. COLEMAN. That Oswald was not a citizen of the United States is
incorrect.
Miss WATERMAN. That is right.