Mr. Redlich. If you should find anything else which you inadvertently failed to bring before this Commission, will you mail it to us for examination and we will return it to you.
Mr. Martin. Yes, sir; there is a Worker that I have.
Mr. Redlich. You mean by Worker the Daily Worker?
Mr. Martin. Yes. I think they dropped the "Daily."
Mr. Dulles. They are no longer daily.
Mr. Martin. It is called the Worker now. It has quite a lengthy article about Marina in it, and I will send that to you.
Mr. Redlich. And you will send anything that you may come across which you may have inadvertently failed to produce before this Commission?
Mr. Martin. Yes, sir.
Mr. Redlich. I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Dulles. There were some questions that Senator Cooper had suggested. I don't know, have you looked those over? Have they been covered?
Mr. Rankin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. Those have been covered.
Mr. Dulles. All been covered?
Mr. Redlich. Yes.
Mr. Dulles. Did Marina ever express to you her opinion as to the guilt or innocence of her husband in connection with the assassination of the President?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Dulles. What did she say?
Mr. Martin. She believes he was guilty. She believes he did it, and the first time she said it I questioned her as to why she thought he did it, and she said she just felt it. It was a woman's intuition. She didn't know the word intuition at that time. I had to look it up in the Russian-English Dictionary.
Mr. Dulles. Did she indicate any view as to whether he did it alone or had an accomplice or accomplices?
Mr. Martin. She remarked about the Walker incident, that that was definitely done alone, and that he always was alone. He never did anything with anyone else. I don't recall that she mentioned that specifically in the case of the assassination of the President. But she had made that remark before or during the interim about Walker.
Mr. Dulles. Did she ever at any time express to you any interest in returning to the Soviet Union or her desire to stay in the United States?
Mr. Martin. Well, she has always said that she wanted to stay in the United States. One time she said that she thought she would go back to Russia, and I asked her why and she said, well, she was just joking.
Mr. Dulles. Did she ever refer to you any letters she wrote to the Soviet Embassy with regard to a desire to return?
Mr. Martin. No. There was only one incident that she told me about was a letter to a friend in Russia.
Mr. Dulles. You mentioned that I think.
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Dulles. The one that she didn't put enough stamps on, enough postage on.
Mr. Martin. Yes, it came back "insufficient postage."
Mr. Dulles. Did she ever mention to you any names of any friends or associates of her husband that had not been discussed here at one time or another in this testimony, including the list of names that was read out to you?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Dulles. Do you know any other friends that Marina has other than those that have been discussed in this testimony?
Mr. Martin. No. I was trying to think a while ago about that, and I can't think of anyone else.
Mr. Dulles. That is all I have.
Mr. Redlich. Mr. Leech, would you like to ask Mr. Martin any questions at this time?
Mr. Leech. Not a word.
Mr. Dulles. Mr. Rhyne? Mr. Rankin, have you any further questions?
Mr. Rankin. Mr. Chairman, I merely wish to thank him for appearing voluntarily.
Mr. Dulles. I do thank you for coming and responding so fully to our questions.
Mr. Martin. Anything I can do.
Mr. Dulles. And if anything occurs to you or to your counsel as sometimes happens later, we will be very glad if you or your counsel will bring it to our attention.
Mr. Martin. Yes, sir; I certainly will.
Mr. Redlich. May I before we adjourn ask another question?
Mr. Dulles. Certainly.
Mr. Redlich. Have you ever discussed with Mrs. Marguerite Oswald the question of the guilt or innocence of Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. Martin. No. The only time I was in contact with Marguerite Oswald was at the Inn of the Six Flags in Arlington, Tex., and I don't believe I really discussed anything with her. I was more on the sidelines and didn't enter into any discussions with her at all.
Mr. Redlich. And have you discussed with Robert Oswald the question of the guilt or innocence of Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. Martin. Yes. Let's see, on one occasion the article by Mark Lane, I think it was in the National Observer, was printed in the National Observer, and I called Robert's attention to that. I believe he cited 15 points where he believed that Lee Oswald was innocent, and I remarked to Robert that in nearly 100 percent of those points they were just completely out of line. The brief I believe was taken from newspaper accounts, from various newspaper accounts of the assassination, and a number of them contradicted each other.
Mr. Redlich. Did Robert Oswald comment on this?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Redlich. For the record I believe the publication you are referring to is the National Guardian.
Mr. Martin. The National Guardian, yes.
Mr. Redlich. Is that your recollection now?
Mr. Martin. Yes, National Guardian.
Mr. Redlich. And Robert Oswald had no comment on this?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Redlich. We have no further questions.
Mr. Dulles. The Commission will stand adjourned, subject to call.
(Whereupon, at 10:20 p.m., the President's Commission recessed.)
Wednesday, March 4, 1964
TESTIMONY OF MARK LANE
The President's Commission met at 2:30 p.m., on March 4, 1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE., Washington, D.C.
Present were Chief Justice Earl Warren, Chairman; Senator John Sherman Cooper and Representative Gerald R. Ford, members.
Also present were J. Lee Rankin, general counsel; Norman Redlich, assistant counsel; Charles Murray and Charles Rhyne, assistants to Walter E. Craig.
The Chairman. The Commission will be in order.
The Commission has been informed that Mr. Lane has collected numerous materials relevant to the Commission's work.
The Commission proposes to question Mr. Lane on all matters of which he has knowledge concerning the assassination of President Kennedy and the subsequent killing of Lee Harvey Oswald, and to request of Mr. Lane that he make available to the Commission any documentary material in his possession which can assist the Commission in its work.
In accordance with the rules of this Commission, Mr. Lane has been furnished with a copy of this statement.
Mr. Lane, would please rise and be sworn? Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole