Chairman. Well, thank you very much, Mrs. Oswald, for appearing voluntarily before the Commission and giving your testimony, and Mr. Doyle, I want to express the appreciation of the Commission for the help you have been to Mrs. Oswald and to the Commission in representing her on this occasion. We know that it disrupted your week very badly. We know that you responded to this call for public service on a moment's notice, and we appreciate it all the more because of that.
My own personal thanks to you in addition to those of the Commission.
Mr. Doyle. Thank you, Your Honor. I assume that my designation was for the purpose of the hearing and with the conclusion that will have finished my job.
The Chairman. Thank you. Unless Mrs. Oswald should like to ask you some questions about the matter at the conclusion of the testimony, I think that will be all.
Mr. Doyle. Very well.
The Chairman. Thank you both.
Mrs. Oswald. You and I are through as attorney and client?
Mr. Doyle. Yes.
Mrs. Oswald. This will not be pursued any further?
Mr. Doyle. Unless you have some questions, thank you.
Mrs. Oswald. Gentlemen, you are making a very big mistake. I thank you very much for inviting me here.
The Chairman. I don't understand you.
Mrs. Oswald. I think you are making a very big mistake not pursuing this further because I have told important people about this particular incident and I say it is correct and I hope you will continue while I am gone not just to ignore what I have said.
The Chairman. Mrs. Oswald, you misjudge the Commission when you say we will not pursue it further.
Mrs. Oswald. Fine, I don't know, I am asking.
The Chairman. You may be sure we will pursue it further.
Mrs. Oswald. Thank you, and I have more people that I could call. I have told Mr. Doyle the people.
Would you like me to name the people on the record for you? Mr. Lane, I called Mr. Lane——
The Chairman. To what purpose are you naming these people?
Mrs. Oswald. To the purpose that Mr. Mike Howard who came to Fort Worth last week to protect me, I called these people and told them how concerned I was that he was the one.
The Chairman. I think you have told us what you told them, so that we have it here in the record now.
We are adjourned.
(Whereupon, at 5:15 p.m., the President's Commission recessed.)
Thursday, February 20, 1964
TESTIMONY OF ROBERT EDWARD LEE OSWALD
The President's Commission met at 9:30 a.m., on February 20, 1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE., Washington, D.C.
Present were Chief Justice Earl Warren, Chairman; Senator John Cooper, Representative Hale Boggs, Representative Gerald R. Ford, and Allen W. Dulles, members.
Also present were J. Lee Rankin, general counsel; Albert E. Jenner, Jr., assistant counsel; Wesley J. Liebeler, assistant counsel; William McKenzie, attorney for Robert Edward Lee Oswald and Leon Jaworski, special counsel to the attorney general of Texas.
The Chairman. Gentlemen, the Commission will be in order.
I will make a brief statement for the benefit of Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Oswald, so you will know just what this is about.
On November 29, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order No. 11130, appointing a Commission "to ascertain, evaluate and report upon the facts relating to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy and the subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination."
On December 13, 1963, Congress adopted Joint Resolution S.J. 137, which authorizes the Commission or any member of the Commission or any agent or agency designated by the Commission for such purpose to administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, and receive evidence.
On January 21, 1964, the Commission adopted a resolution authorizing each member of the Commission, and its General Counsel, J. Lee Rankin, to administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, and receive evidence concerning any matters under investigation by the Commission.
The purpose of this hearing is to take the testimony of Mr. Robert Oswald, the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald, who prior to his death was charged with the assassination of President Kennedy.
Since the Commission is inquiring fully into the background of Lee Harvey Oswald and those associated with him, it is the intention of the Commission to ask Mr. Robert Oswald questions concerning Lee Harvey Oswald on any and all matters relating to the assassination.
The Commission also intends to ask Mr. Robert Oswald questions relating to the assassination of President Kennedy and the subsequent violent death of Lee Harvey Oswald. Mr. Robert Oswald has also been furnished with a copy of this statement and a copy of the rules adopted by the Commission for the taking of testimony and the production of evidence. Mr. Robert Oswald has also been furnished with a copy of Executive Order No. 11130, and Congressional Resolution S.J. No. 137, which set forth the general scope of the Commission's inquiry and its authority for examining witnesses and receiving evidence.
That is just for your general information, Mr. Oswald.
You are here with your attorney, Mr. McKenzie.
Would you state your name for the Commission?
Mr. McKenzie. Mr. Chief Justice and members of the Commission, my name is William A. McKenzie. Our office is 631 Fidelity Union Life Building, Dallas, Tex. I am a member of the State Bar of Texas and licensed to practice before the Supreme Court of that State.
The Chairman. And you are here to advise and represent Mr. Robert Oswald?
Mr. McKenzie. I am here to advise and represent Mr. Oswald. And I might state, further, that Mr. Oswald will freely give answers to any questions that the Commission might desire to ask of him.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
There are present at the Commission this morning Mr. Allen Dulles, Commissioner, and myself. I will be leaving fairly shortly to attend a session of the Supreme Court, but in my absence Mr. Allen Dulles will conduct the hearing.
Mr. Oswald, would you please rise and be sworn?
Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God, in all of these proceedings at which you are to testify?
Mr. Oswald. I do.
Mr. McKenzie. Mr. Chief Justice, if you may pardon me for just a second. In coming down to the Commission's hearing room, I left part of my file in Mr. Jenner's office, and I have asked Mr. Liebeler
