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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. V - Page 373« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Frances G. Knight)

Mr. Coleman.
Did you ever participate or make any decision as to whether Lee Harvey Oswald lost his citizenship?
Miss KNIGHT. No.
Mr. Coleman.
In 1959?
Miss KNIGHT. No.
Mr. Coleman.
Did you ever make any personal decision or participate in any decision as to whether he should be reissued a passport in July 1961?
Miss KNIGHT. No.
Mr. Coleman.
I, therefore, take it you personally had nothing or you can't recall anything that you had to do with Lee Harvey Oswald up to the time of the assassination?
Miss KNIGHT. No; I had nothing to do with the papers that were involved at that time.
Mr. Coleman.
But the decision that he had not renounced his citizenship was made in your department?
Miss KNIGHT. It was made in the Passport Office by the citizenship lawyers. The two persons who were primarily involved were members of the staff, of long-standing service and with a great deal of experience in citizenship law and in expatriation.
Mr. Coleman.
Could you state the names, their names for the record?
Miss KNIGHT. Yes; Miss Bernice Waterman, and Mr. John T. White. Both of those employees have now retired from the Passport Office.
Mr. Coleman.
You said both were lawyers?
Miss KNIGHT. Miss Waterman was not a lawyer but she worked directly under Mr. John T. White who was a lawyer in charge of the Foreign Operations Division.
Mr. Coleman.
Well, since the assassination of President Kennedy, have you had occasion to review the passport file.
Miss KNIGHT. Well, the first time that I actually had an opportunity to look through the passport file was last Saturday.
Mr. Coleman.
Did you get a chance to read each document in the file?
Miss KNIGHT. I read through the file; yes.
Mr. Coleman.
Did you have occasion to form any judgment whether based upon the information that was in the file you would have reached the same decision as Waterman and White did with respect to Oswald?
Miss KNIGHT. Yes; I certainly did. From that standpoint, I did go through, the papers carefully. I am convinced that insofar as any expatriative act is concerned that we made the only decision that we could. The same decision was reached by the consul who interviewed Mr. Oswald in Moscow, at the Embassy, and I think, with all the facts on record, we had to come to the conclusion that Oswald did not perform any expatriative act.
(At this point, the Chief Justice left the hearing room.)
Miss KNIGHT (continuing). May I ask one question, please?
Mr. Coleman.
Yes.
Miss KNIGHT. I have a statement here, some notes that I prepared this morning which are based on the information I read in the file. These are some comments I would make and I think they may be helpful to you. Could I refer to them or possibly read them to you?
Would that be all right?
Mr. Coleman.
That would be fine.
Miss KNIGHT. After reading the file----
Mr. Coleman.
And by "file"' you mean the passport file?
Miss KNIGHT. The passport file of Lee. Harvey Oswald, I would say the handling of the case would break down into three separate actions: One, the adjudication of his citizenship; two, the documentation of his repatriation loan, and, three, the issuance of a passport to Oswald on June 25, 1963.
As I understand it, the Commission has been furnished with detailed information covering all these actions, and in addition we have supplied replies which were prepared in the Passport Office by our staff to the specific questions that were posed by the Commission.
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