with several other things, his mother's concern regarding his whereabouts, the fact that he had made a declaration that he wished to become a Soviet citizen; and the question of expatriation. But there was nothing in the files to indicate that he had had any contact or any active part in the Communist Party.
Senator COOPER. The fact that he had married a Russian girl and brought her to the United States have any significance in the determination that the issuing officer would have to make?
Miss KNIGHT. No.
Senator COOPER. You are sure that the FBI nor any other security agency had placed any information in that file which would fall within the scope of this first section dealing with, applicable to passports?
Miss KNIGHT. I am sure of that; yes, sir.
Senator COOPER. Have you yourself examined those files?
Miss KNIGHT. I examined the file last Saturday for the first time.
Senator COOPER. And do you know who had charge of the file?
Miss KNIGHT. The file was in the Passport Office up until November 22, the day of the assassination.
Senator COOPER. Where did it go then?
Miss KNIGHT. It went to the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, to Mr. Schwartz.
Senator COOPER. Who is in charge there?
Miss KNIGHT. Mr. Schwartz. He is the Administrator.

Mr. Ehrlich.

I might add he turned them over immediately, he turned them over to Mr. Chayes who was authorized to take charge of all files and they were maintained in the Office of the Legal Adviser.
And anyone in the Department who wanted to review them was free to do so but we kept them all in one place.
Senator COOPER. Have you been testifying?

Mr. Ehrlich.

I have broken in.
Senator COOPER. Just for the purpose of the record identify yourself.

Mr. Ehrlich.

I have not been sworn in. My name is Thomas Ehrlich, I am Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser to the Department of State.

Mr. Dulles.

I might add Mr. Chayes testified in some detail that he was asked by Mr. Ball, Acting Secretary of State, on the night, afternoon, late afternoon and late evening of the assassination, to get all the files regarding Oswald together and to prepare for him and the Secretary of State, who was returning the next morning, a detailed report on the whole Oswald case, and I assume that the file went from you to Mr. Schwartz, to Mr. Chayes.
And from there Mr. Chayes collected reports from other sources.
Miss KNIGHT. That is right.
Senator COOPER. I am not questioning any fact that these people testified to but I think for the record it is important to know where the file was and whether or not it is the same file, with the same papers in it that were in existence on November 22, which you turned over to your superior.
Miss KNIGHT. Well, of course, we presume all the papers are in there. The file was pretty thick, and, of course, it takes time to go over the papers. We had not time to look at the file or to check it, and there is no way of knowing whether any papers were taken in or out.

Mr. Coleman.

Senator Cooper, we have the files and we also have letters from Mr. Chayes that to the best of his knowledge and ability every piece of paper which the State Department had which in any way bore on Oswald has now been turned over to the Commission and those letters were marked today.
Senator COOPER. I go a little further.
Look at 51.136, "Limitations on issuance of passports to certain other persons.
"In order to promote and safeguard the interests of the United States, passport facilities, except for direct and immediate return to the United States, shall be refused to a person when it appears to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State that the person's activities abroad would: (a) Violate the laws of the United States; (b) be prejudicial to the orderly conduct of foreign relations; or (c) otherwise be prejudicial to the interests of the United States."

« Previous | Next »

Found a Typo?

Click here

Last Update: Wed, 3 Aug 2016 21:56:34 CET