(The document heretofore marked as Commission Exhibit No. 238 was received in evidence.)
Mr. Rankin. Mr. Reporter, will you mark this 239?
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 239 for identification and received in evidence.)
Mr. Rankin. Mrs. Oswald. I will ask you to glance through Exhibit 239 and state whether or not that appears to be photostatic copy of——
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, that is the photostatic copy——
Mr. Rankin. Of Exhibit 238?
Mrs. Oswald. That is correct.
Mr. Rankin. And you will see it has the same markings.
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir, that is correct.
Mr. Rankin. This is a copy we will substitute.
Now, do you want to tell about the shooting of Officer Tippit?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes. I have many, many clippings—as I say, we have all these people working. And we have come to the conclusion, and have never seen where they had an autopsy on Patrolman Tippit or even his gun or anything. In other words, Patrolman Tippit's life has been quiet from the very beginning after the shooting. I have never seen anything about him in print. And we question where all the money that has been given to Mrs. Tippit has come from. That is a tremendous amount of money—tremendous for donations.
The Chairman. You say you question the money?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir; the donations to Mrs. Tippit.
The Chairman. You mean you question whether she received them or not?
Mrs. Oswald. No—where is the money coming from? As far as she knows, sir, they are donations. But where is the actual money coming from, because it is such a large amount? Like I question Marina's money. She has now $38,000. That is just what they have stated she has. What she has may be more. But that is a lot of money for donations, a tremendous lot of money.
And Mrs. Tippit has, I think, almost half a million dollars. Is that correct? I am not quite sure. But, anyhow, it is a large amount of money. And with our investigation and things that are not according to Hoyle, we do question where the money is coming from.
The Chairman. Do you have any idea where it comes from, after your investigation?
Mrs. Oswald. Well, Mr. Lane has. I do not have all the information. He has this information. And we are still investigating it, sir. And we will investigate if it takes another year or two. We are going to continue to arrive at the truth.
Mr. Rankin. You referred to an article in the Time Magazine of February 14, 1964, volume 83, No. 7, when you said there were some things that were wrong in it—do you remember that?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Rankin. Did you write a letter about this assassination of President Kennedy to President Johnson at some time?
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir; I never have.
Mr. Rankin. Did you send a telegram?
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir. The only telegram I sent to President Johnson was stating that I had sent a telegram to you and Chief Justice Warren, if you remember.
Mr. Rankin. Did you get any response from the White House?
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir; I did not get a response from the White House. And I am indignant at the response that I did get. What it did was to inform me, I was so graciously treated by Mr. Kennedy and his Administration, as I have stated and testified, that I am shocked that I am now to be told that I am not to worry the President. "In response to your telegram to the President, I wish to inform you that any requests or any information dealing with the inquiry conducted by Chief Justice Warren should properly be directed to the Commission. I note in your telegram that you have directed your request to the Chief Justice and to Mr. Rankin, the Commission's General Counsel. Sincerely, Lee C. White, Assistant Special Counsel to the President."
Mr. Rankin. That is the response that you received from the White House?
Mrs. Oswald. From the telegram that I sent, when I sent a telegram to you and Chief Justice Warren—I sent him a telegram. I have it right here, sir. You don't know about the telegram.
Here is a copy of the telegram.
"President Lyndon B. Johnson. I have sent night letters to Chief Justice Earl Warren and J. Lee Rankin imploring both in the name of justice and our American way of life to let my son Lee Harvey Oswald be represented by counsel so that all witnesses including my son's widow will be cross-examined. Respectfully yours, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald."
And this is the response to that. And I don't think that is a gracious response at all. If I want to write the President or send him a telegram, I think I have as much right as anyone else to do so.
Mr. Rankin. Did you comment on the fact of this response from the White House when you received it to anybody?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir. There was a reporter from Time Magazine that I commented to, because I was indignant, as I said. And he said, "Well, if you or your next door neighbor or anybody walking in the street wanted to write the President, that is our American way of life." And I agreed with him.
Mr. Rankin. Now, you are quoted in this article as saying "Why, I have got as much right as any citizen to write the President of the United States, to petition him, and let me tell you this, Mr. Johnson should also remember that I am not just anyone, and that he is only President of the United States by the grace of my son's action." Is that a correct quote?
Mrs. Oswald. No, that is not a correct quote. And that is why I was indignant yesterday when I read that. And there is more discrepancies.
I did tell him about receiving the letter, and I had just received it—that I was indignant they should write and as much intimate that I should not write the President.
I made a special appeal to the President.
Mr. Rankin. Do you recall what you did say? Did you say anything like this?
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir. There was nothing said to this reporter about President Johnson—because I believe my son is innocent. So if I say that, then I would be saying that my son is guilty. And that is why the President is now the President. No, sir. I did not say that.
Mr. Rankin. What reporter for Time Magazine was that that you were talking to?
Mrs. Oswald. I can find out the name for you, or I can think about it. Let's see. I think the name is Sullivan. I did not want to think—but I think it is Sullivan. Do you have that information?
Mr. Rankin. No.
Mrs. Oswald. Well, I will get it for you, or maybe it will come to me.
Mr. Rankin. All right.
Mrs. Oswald. But I do know, because I was paid for the picture—one of the pictures in that magazine.
Mr. Rankin. We would appreciate your telling us as accurately as you can.
Mrs. Oswald. I want to give you any and every information I can.
The Chairman. Did the man who interviewed you in this matter also pay for the picture—the same man?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes sir—for the Time Magazine.
Mr. Rankin. Did he pay you for any part of the story?
Mrs. Oswald. No sir. No, I am wrong there, he did. He paid me for part of the story. That is not the story.
This isn't the story that was supposed to have come out. It was a much nicer and softer story. But we have found out that when we give these press notices, that they don't come out the way you give them. And they explain—like if I was to tell Mr. Sullivan, "I am disappointed in your story"—"Well, Mrs. Oswald, our editor edits to make room," and so on. That is what you get. I was disappointed in the story, because the story was that I felt so sorry for Marina, to think that she had to go through the rest of her life