Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. Do you consider yourself a friend of his?
Mr. Martin. No. An acquaintance.
Mr. Redlich. Have you gone out socially?
Mr. Martin. No. He came out to the Inn one time with some little gimmick. It is called a Detwist Board. It is quite a piece of plywood about like this with a round plate on the bottom of it, seated in ball bearings and you are supposed to stand on this thing to twist, and came out to ask me to see who to ask at the park to merchandise it, the Six Flags over Texas Amusement Park, and I told him. Now, whether he went over there or not, I don't know.
Mr. Redlich. I understand that you have had a conversation with an aid of General Walker concerning the General Walker incident.
Would you tell the Commission about that?
Mr. Martin. They contacted us——
Mr. Redlich. Who is "they"?
Mr. Martin. General Walker's aide, Mr. Moore or Morse, a tall thin gentleman, about 55 or 60, and wanted actually an interview with Marina which we didn't think was necessary.
They came out to John Thorne's office and we sat and talked. They were of the opinion—what they were trying to do was find out who else was involved—this was right after the announcement was made in the paper about Lee Oswald shooting at Walker. They were trying to find out who else was involved because General Walker is still in fear of his life.
Mr. Dulles. This was some time before the 22d.
Mr. Martin. No, it was after.
Mr. Dulles. After November 22?
Mr. Martin. Yes, sir. This was after the announcement was made in the paper that——
Mr. Dulles. Oh, yes.
Mr. Martin. That Lee Oswald had attacked him.
Mr. Dulles. The actual attack was in April. This was after the newspaper announcement.
Mr. Martin. Yes.
The Chairman. After the newspaper announcements that Lee had tried to kill him which was after the assassination?
Mr. Martin. That is correct.
Mr. Dulles. Yes.
Mr. Martin. And they just wanted verification actually that or to try to get verification as to how many people were involved, and we told them that there was just one person involved.
Mr. Redlich. At the time did you ask Marina about this?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. And this is what she told you?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Dulles. The persons involved in the Walker incident?
Mr. Martin. Yes. She said that Lee did it alone without any help. There was no one with him.
Mr. Redlich. Mr. Martin, I have at this time no further questions other than those which may be suggested by a perusal of the records which you have forwarded to this Commission.
As we indicated in the brief recess earlier, Mr. Dulles is able to be here at 9 o'clock this evening, and I would envisage then a very brief session at which time your testimony would be completed.
Mr. Martin. All right.
Mr. Redlich. Are there any questions that anyone would like to ask of Mr. Martin at this time?
The Chairman. Would you like to ask your client any questions?
Mr. Leech. No. I am not going to make that mistake.
(Laughter.)
The Chairman. All right.
Mr. Dulles. I have no questions. I will reserve them for tonight. I don't think I have any further questions.
The Chairman. Mr. Rhyne, do you have any questions you would like to ask. Mr. Rankin, are you through for the day?
Mr. Rankin. Until 9 o'clock.
The Chairman. Well then, gentlemen, we will adjourn until 9 o'clock.
(Whereupon, at 5:15 p.m., the President's Commission recessed.)
Evening Session
TESTIMONY OF JAMES HERBERT MARTIN RESUMED
The President's Commission reconvened at 9:20 p.m.
Mr. Dulles. The Committee will come to order.
Will you continue with the testimony?
Mr. Redlich. Thank you, Mr. Dulles.
Mr. Martin, at our last session I asked you whether you knew Jack Ruby, and you replied that you did. You indicated the brief contact that you have had with him and the two times, I believe, that you have been to his business establishment?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. Apart from your own personal contact with Jack Ruby, do you have any other information about him and his activities which you would like to present before this Commission?
Mr. Martin. No, nothing that I definitely know about him. It is just he is a city character. He is very friendly to everyone.
Mr. Redlich. Please understand I am not asking you for rumors or that type of thing.
Mr. Martin. No, I know. Well, just what I know of him, he seems very friendly to everyone, and he is always around. You are liable to see him anywhere.
Mr. Redlich. Has he ever been to the motel that you have?
Mr. Martin. Yes, I mentioned that.
Mr. Redlich. Oh, yes.
Mr. Martin. He brought that twist board out there one time.
Mr. Redlich. Never been there as a guest?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Redlich. I hand you a copy of an invoice for a Revere recorder and a 1,200-foot reel of recording tape, and ask you if you have ever seen this?
Mr. Martin. Yes. That is a tape recorder that I rented and recorded the——
Mr. Redlich. I will ask you about it shortly. I would just like to know if you are familiar with it.
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. Mr. Chairman, I am marking this as Commission Exhibit No. 332, and ask that it be admitted in evidence.
Mr. Dulles. Any objection?
Mr. Leech. No, sir.
Mr. Dulles. It may be admitted.
(The tape recorder and tape invoice referred to were marked Commission's Exhibit No. 332 for identification and received in evidence.)
Mr. Redlich. Mr. Martin, I hand you Commission Exhibit No. 332, and ask you to tell the Commission the conditions under which this invoice arose?
Mr. Martin. We had Marina's manuscript interpreted by Ilya Mamantov, and this was part of it. He was only able to interpret about half of it.
Mr. Redlich. He interpreted it and put it on tape?
Mr. Martin. And we recorded that on tape as he interpreted it.
Mr. Dulles. How do you mean interpreted?
Mr. Martin. He read it in English?
Mr. Dulles. Oh, I see, translated it.
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Dulles. From Russian into English?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. When