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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. V - Page 560« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Mark Lane Resumed)

Mr. Lane.
Did I, personally, collect any money?
The Chairman.
Did you have money collected?
Mr. Lane.
I collected no money.
The Chairman.
Did you have any money collected?
Mr. Lane.
I did not.
The Chairman.
Was there money collected at that meeting--at those meetings that you had?
Mr. Lane.
I spoke at probably 40 different college campuses throughout the United States.
The Chairman.
Was money collected at those places?
Mr. Lane.
To my knowledge, at none of those meetings was money collected at one or two or perhaps three other meetings, funds have been collected for the purpose of paying the salary of the secretary of this citizens committee of inquiry, and to pay the rent.
The Chairman.
Who got the money?
Mr. Lane.
The citizens committee of inquiry.
The Chairman.
Who is the head of that?
Mr. Lane.
I am the chairman of that.
The Chairman.
Who else belongs to it?
Mr. Lane.
Among others, Jessica Mitford, who is the author who wrote "The American Way of Death," a best-selling book; Sterling Hayden, who is an actor; a number of attorneys, some in California, some in New York; and a number of others. I did not know that I was going to be questioned about the makeup of the citizens committee. Otherwise, I would have brought the entire membership list.
The Chairman.
I didn't intend to ask you, but we are trying to get information about these different things that you considered vital in the assassination of the President. And it is a matter of great concern to the Commission that you are unwilling to tell us about those things that you considered bear upon the guilt or innocence of Lee Harvey Oswald. And it handicaps us greatly in what we are trying to do, because of the things that you do say when you are away from the Commission, and then when you refuse to testify before us as to those very things that you discuss in public.
Mr. Lane.
I have not said anything in public, Mr. Chief Justice, that I have not said first before this Commission, or at one time before this Commission.
The Chairman.
But, before your audiences, do you not claim to be telling the truth and to be verifying the things that you tell them, and then when you come here you refuse to give us the verification?
Mr. Lane.
When I speak before an audience, I do hold myself out to be telling the truth, just as when I have testified before this Commission I have also told the truth.
Mr. Rankin.
Mr. Lane, you expressed a desire in your telegram to examine the rifle. We have that here for you to see. Let the record show that at this time the Commission is giving Mr. Lane an opportunity to examine the rifle known as Commission Exhibit No. 139.
Mr. Lane.
Thank you. May I comment upon the examination?
The Chairman.
Yes; you may; if you saw anything of any significance there, you may state it.
Mr. Lane.
Yes. I would like to call to the attention of the Commission the affidavit signed by a police officer, Seymour Weitzman, dated the 23d day of November 1963, the original of which was at one time in the office of the district attorney of Dallas. In that document, Officer Weitzman states he found, along with another person--a deputy sheriff, I believe, or a deputy of some sort--the alleged murder weapon, on the 22d day of November 1963, on the sixth floor of the Book Depository Building.
And in that affidavit Mr. Weitzman--Officer Weitzman--swears that the murder weapon which he found, or the weapon which he found on that floor, was a Mauser 7.65 millimeters. A Mauser, of course, is a German weapon. The rifle which is before the Commission, and which is, I assume, allegedly now the murder weapon, is, of course, not a German Mauser 7.65 millimeters, but is an Italian carbine, 6.5 millimeters.
Although I am personally not a rifle expert, I was able to determine that it
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