James Angleton in real life was the mastermind not, as the film suggests, of the Bay of Pigs (that was Richard Bissell), but of a false defector program that sent spies into the Soviet Union. Among them was one Lee Harvey Oswald. This talk is based on interviews I conducted for my book, A Farewell to Justice, as well as new interviews since its publication a year ago. I refer also to some of more than four million documents released under the JFK Records Collection Act at the National Archives.
An FBI document demonstrates that Oswald, who was indeed one of Angleton's assets in the Soviet Union, communicated back to the CIA through a CIA asset at American Express named Michael Jelisavcic. One of my discoveries for A Farewell to Justice was the original of a note that Oswald, arrested in New Orleans for a street fight, handed to police lieutenant, Francis Martello.
One CIA document refers to an FBI "65" file, an espionage file, for Jelisavic, a reference inadvertently unredacted when CIA declassified the document. This number clearly directs CIA to an espionage file. Oswald also had Jelisavcic's name and room number in his possession. Angleton's false defector program, not mentioned in The Good Shepherd, remains among the CIA's most closely guarded secrets; a secret necessary to preserve the fiction of the Warren Report.
-Joan Mellen
***
Shane O'Sullivan's documentary "Who Shot Bobby Kennedy?," which aired in the UK on November 20, 2006, revealed photographic evidence that three senior CIA operatives were present at the scene of RFK's assassination. Present at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968 were David Morales (who was Chief of Operations), Gordon Campbell (who was Chief of Maritime Operations), and George Joannides (who was Chief of Psychological Warfare Operations). Although Sirhan Sirhan – a Palestinian – was arrested as the lone gunman, witnesses placed his gun several feet in front of Kennedy, while the autopsy showed the fatal shot came from one inch behind. Even under hypnosis Sirhan remembers nothing, and psychiatrists have stated Sirhan may have been in a hypnotic trance. (BBC Newsnight, 11/21/06; pics from Shane O'Sullivan's website: http://www.rfkmustdie.com/)
***
FALSE DEFECTORS curtjester1 wrote:
> Name one true defector who stayed. Name one person that wasn't on
> assignment. Name anybody who stayed.
MARSH REPLIED;
Charles Jenkins of Rich Square, N.C.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904EEDD1139F935A25752C0A960958260
James Dresnok.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/deserter.php
Read the HSCA defector study.
THE DEFECTOR STUDY
The HSCA conducted a defector study to ascertain if OSWALD'S defection
was suspicious. The Committee: "To determine which individuals the
Committee would study, a letter was sent to the CIA requesting the names
of persons who defected to the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1964." The
CIA "provided a list of the names and variations of the names of 380
Americans who were in the USSR during that time period," entitled, "U.S.
Persons Who Have or May Have Defected to the USSR Between 1958 and
1963." This list included the names of Communist Party members who made
frequent trips to the Soviet Union or were there on official Party
business, like Henry Winston. Winston could not be termed a defector.
The names of emigrants were included in this list. Some had been in the
Soviet Union for over 20 years. The CIA: "This listing represented U.S.
persons, including some non-U.S. citizens, who owed some measure of
allegiance to the United States, who had either defected or shown some
interest in defecting." [HSCA V12 p404] The HSCA requested the CIA
provide more information so that it could select, for a detailed
analysis, those defectors who were most similar to OSWALD. The CIA
provided a second list which was "a computer listing of the name, 201
file number, date and place of birth, and a compilation of information
derived from the 201 file, as well as citations for various other
Government agency reports." No HSCA investigators visited CIA
headquarters and went through defector files there. Instead, the CIA
gave the HSCA some of the files the Committee requested, "the vast
majority of which" were in undeleted form. The HSCA conceded there was
not always "an independent means of verifying that all materials
requested from the Agency had, in fact, been provided. Accordingly, any
finding that is essentially negative in nature - such as that LEE HARVEY
OSWALD was neither associated with the CIA in any way, nor ever in
contact with that institution - should explicitly acknowledge the
possibility of oversight." [HSCA R 197] From the second defector list,
the HSCA eliminated those who had :
(A) Been born outside the United States.
(B) Gone to the USSR some time other than the 1958 to 1962 time period.
© Remained outside the United States until 1964."
The HSCA focused on the files of 23 defectors from the original list of
380. The Committee then examined the request dated October 25, 1960,
from the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research on 13
individuals whom it considered defectors. That list included the following:
(A) OSWALD.
(B) Seven individuals whose files the committee had decided to examine
under the previous criteria: Mollie Block; Morris Block; Bruce Frederick
Davis; William H. Martin; Bernon F. Mitchell; Libero Ricciardelli;
Robert Edward Webster.
© Two individuals whose names appeared on the computer listing but had
been excluded since they were not born within the United States [Joseph
Dutkanicz and Vladimir Sloboda]
(D) Three individuals who had not previously been known to the committee
as defectors: David DuBois; (FNU) Sergeant Jones; Sergeant Ernie Fletcher.
When the CIA responded to the October 25, 1960 request of the Bureau of
Intelligence and Research of the Department of State, two additional
names were added to the original list of twelve defectors - Maurice
Halperin and Virginia Coe. The HSCA had already selected Maurice
Halperin from the computer list of 380 names, but had no knowledge of
Virginia Coe.
MAURICE HALPERIN
Maurice Halperin (born March 3, 1936) was a specialist in Latin American
affairs employed by the OSS during World War II. In the summer of 1967
Maurice Halperin assisted Soviet agents Martha Dodd Stern and her
husband Alfred Kaufman Stern to secretly travel from Mexico to
Czechoslovakia. Maurice Halperin traveled to the USSR shortly after the
departure of the Sterns from Mexico; he was employed by the Soviet
Government as a Latin American specialist and has "periodically renewed
his American passport." This information on Maurice Halperin was
compiled by JAMES ANGLETON. [CIA CSCI-316/01206-67]
The Committee requested all CIA 201 files on the 23 individuals from the
computer list. It requested files on Joseph Dutkanicz, Vladimir Sloboda,
Jones, David DuBois and Ernie Fletcher, since their names appeared on
the State Department defector list. Finally, it asked for the file on
Virginia Coe.
Out of the 29 individuals whose files were the subject of this request,
five were immediately dropped. The CIA could not identify Jones (an Air
Force Intelligence document existed about his defection); David DuBois
and Virginia Coe had defected to China, not the Soviet Union; and the
Martin & Mitchell file was too sensitive and could not be presented to
the HSCA. Now the list was down to 24, on whom the Committee asked other
Government Agencies to provide selected information. After this
analysis, thirteen more defectors were eliminated: 5 for lack of
substantive information; 5 for being Communist Party members who made
frequent trips to the Soviet Union, or for residing outside the United
States for an extended period of time before entering the Soviet Union;
and three for remaining in the Soviet Union for over 20 years. The HSCA:
"Thus, the defector study was reduced to 11 individuals, two of whom
were married." Actually, three of the defectors were married. These
three couples could logically have been eliminated from the study
because OSWALD was single when he defected.
THE THEORY
Anyone who defected to the Soviet Union at the height on the Cold War,
and wasn't a hard core Communist ideologue, had to be a little crazy.
Many of the defectors were just that.
THE BLOCKS
Morris Block (born March 30, 1920) attended the 1957 Sixth World Youth
Festival in the Soviet Union. After the conference, he traveled to
Communist China, prompting the State Department to impound his passport
for misuse. He tried to defect to the Soviet Union with a falsified
passport in 1958. In 1959 Morris Block, his wife Mollie, (born November
6, 1912) and his child defected to Poland. They were transferred to
Moscow, where they applied for visas to China. The Soviets suggested the
Blocks accept Soviet asylum in September 1959, and later issued them
Soviet internal passports for foreigners. They were sent to Leningrad.
There, Morris Block had an affair with his Russian-language teacher, and
his family left him and moved to Moscow where his daughter was
hospitalized for a nervous disorder. After the Blocks were reunited,
they decided to re-defect; however, their applications for Soviet exit
visas were refused. Morris Block disconnected a loudspeaker broadcasting
propaganda at his place of work. Molly Block granted an anti-Soviet
interview to The New York Times. Finally, the Blocks were expelled from
the USSR.
LIBERO RICCIARDELLI
Libero Ricciardelli decided that exposing his three children to a
Communist system of government could straighten out his domestic
problems. In February 1959 he defected, contracted influenza, and was
granted Soviet citizenship after he denounced the United States. By June
1963, the Ricciardelli family returned to the United States.
HAROLD CITRYNELL
Harold Citrynell (born March 10, 1923) entered the Soviet Union with his
wife and child on February 27, 1958. He was granted Soviet citizenship
and remained in the Soviet Union until June 29, 1959. The FBI: "Subject
was born in the U.S. in 1923 and served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to
1945. He graduated from the College of the City of New York with a
degree in mechanical engineering and held many jobs in that field
between 1950 and 1958. In February 1958 he took his wife and infant
daughter to Russia and attempted to obtain Soviet citizenship...he
returned to the U.S. in July 1959. His wife divorced him in 1962 and
after holding several jobs in the U.S. he traveled to England and then
to Bulgaria in 1964. After working for one month in Bulgaria he went on
strike and refused to work. He had numerous difficulties in that country
and eventually returned to the U.S. in 1965 and it appears that he is
emotionally disturbed and suffers from a persecution complex." [From
Legat London (163-2201) Director (165-70603) 8.12.67] That brought the
number of relevant defectors down to eight. Two of these should have
been excluded because they fit the not native-born American criterion,
although their names appeared on the State Department list.
VLADIMIR SLOBODA
Vladimir Sloboda, a native of the Ukraine, was sent to Germany as a
forced laborer during World War II. He enlisted in the United States
Army in Germany in 1953. He became a United States citizen in 1958.
After basic training in the United States, Sloboda was assigned in
August 1958 to an Army Intelligence Group in Europe. He defected to East
Germany in August 1960 requesting Soviet asylum. Vladimir Sloboda's CIA
201 file reflected that the "fact of Army countermeasures caused by the
arrest of 154 MID [East German Military Intelligence] agents recently"
was responsible for his defection. JAMES ANGLETON agreed: "The Sloboda
defection was participated by increased Army security measures,
according to (deleted) in January 1962. Our conclusion that Sloboda was
in prior connection with the KGB turned on the facts that:
(1) Sloboda's prior KGB involvement was confirmed by (deleted) in
January 1962. (It is our assumption that he made the same statements to
the Army debriefers who spoke with him in early 1962.
(2) He was a KGB resettlement case.
(3) he later told an American Embassy official in Moscow that he had
been blackmailed and framed in going to the USSR." Counter-Intelligence
Staff member Newton S. Miler (CI/OG/SOV) prepared a report on Vladimir
Sloboda on October 12, 1960.
SLOBODA'S ATTEMPT AT RECRUITMENT
On April 25, 1969, the CIA reported:
"The Office of Security file of (deleted) reflects that on November 20,
1960, (deleted), an employee of the Joint Overt Interrogation Center
Berlin received a telephone call from an English speaking male
identifying himself as 'your friend Vladimir.' The caller asked
(deleted) if he had been to his mailbox yet, and when (deleted) answered
in the negative, the caller said there was a letter in the box and he
suggested that (deleted) pick it up. The caller added that (deleted)
should not worry about the letter since it had been placed in the box by
a secure means. (Deleted) retrieved the letter, which was postmark
November 20, 1960, read it and immediately called his chief."
The text of the recruitment letter read:
"Dear Mr. Deleted. Don't be surprised at his way of contacting you and
don't take rash action before considering the contents. After watching
and studying your life and activities for some time in the United
States, Austria (Vienna), in Zone (Ulm) and here in West Berlin we have
concluded we might be of service to each other. From different sources
we have come to know many details of your official and private life and
we are aware that your present position gives you small chance for
promotion, and we are aware of the financial hardships you must face.
These difficulties could be much greater if we did not think of sending
you this letter. Being aware of your slips and blunders in work we have
not made any moves which could undermine your reputation with Col. Ross
(Berlin) and Major Huey (Oberusel). It is believed you could draw the
right conclusion from out attitude. It is enough to mention that we were
able to learn much from the documents in March 1959 in Frankfurt Am Main
when you were driving a hired car. Through your slips in handling your
sources Wolfgang and Dieter, in whose path we put no obstacles, many
things became known to us. The same is to be said about the sources you
ran in Vienna under the cover name Porter. By so doing, we hoped to come
to an agreement with you at a suitable time on mutually profitable
terms. We could continue to relate information regarding your activities
and work of your office known to us because of your mistakes, but this
would be pointless. We offer you a business-like cooperation on terms
profitable to both sides. There is no need to describe what we are. It
must be clear to you. Since you are a man of reason and sound logic you
must understand that cooperation will give you a chance to overcome
financial difficulties and make savings for the future. Also, we could
create conditions which would aid the growth of your prestige at your
office and in turn help you get a better job on your return to the
United States. If agreement is reached we will immediately provide you
with a substantial sum to settle your affairs and guarantee you monthly
pay in the future, higher than your salary, as long as you stay in
contact. If you agree to our proposal, come to the democratic sector of
Berlin for future talks. On November 20, 1960, from 1930 to 2000 hours
arrive at the U-Bahn Station in Warchauerbruecks. A representative of
our organization, Vladimir, will meet you at the flower shop at the
entrance to the station...It goes without saying that if during talks we
can't reach mutual agreement, that we will still guarantee you absolute
security and safety. You face no danger during the talks. If we do not
hear from you by December 1, 1960 we shall consider ourselves free to
act. To assure you this letter is not a trap laid by your security
service, we shall broadcast on Soviet Forces Volga Network an old waltz
tune on November 20, 1960, at 1310. If this is not convincing, write us
in advance what other piece of Russian music you would like to hear and
when you would like to hear it. Write to Herr Gruneat, Berlin,
Lichtenberg 1, Postschliessfach 34. When writing we recommend you do not
sign the letter, using any fictitious return address you like...We would
like to warn you that it would be a mistake on your part to show this
letter to your chiefs, because in the long run this will only harm you.
We know there is an instruction from Washington which deals with such
cases and that is kept at the Security Section of Lt. Col. McCord's
office. We do not like to resort to threats, and in principle blackmail
runs counter to our working methods, but you must realize we may be
forced to resort to certain measures, not to compromise you, but to stop
your activities against us. So you have ample chance to get everything
you are striving for. For this you must have courage and resourcefulness."
(Deleted) was of the opinion "that the Russian Intelligence Service was
attempting to suggest that Vladimir Sloboda (MIG defector in August
1960) was being used in this approach." [CIA AC/FIOB/SRS Jerry G. Brown
4.25.69] Vladimir Sloboda had engaged in discussion with (deleted)
regarding "Wolfgang and Dieter" who were assets. Vladimir Sloboda was
clearly a spy seeking asylum, not an American defecting. The Russians
quoted Vladimir Sloboda as saying that he defected because of his
revulsion to the U-2 flights. He never returned to the United States. On
March 23, 1962 ANGLETON'S Deputy, James Hunt, Deputy Chief,
Counter-Intelligence, was consulted about questioning Mrs. Lilian
Sloboda by (deleted) SR/CI/RED. [NARA 1993.06.18.17:30:46:900000 dated
3.28.62]
In 1965 the CIA prepared a report on Vladimir Sloboda, much of which was
withheld. This report dealt with Vladimir Sloboda's knowledge of CIA
personnel and a possible recruitment attempt by him. The document
concluded: "It is not known whether Sloboda is affiliated with the
Soviet Intelligence Services at this time. According to a December 19,
1962, Foreign Service Dispatch from the American Embassy, Moscow,
(deleted)." [CIA Memo J.F. Meredith to Chief/FIOB 9.30.65]
JOSEPH DUTKANICZ
Foreign-born Joseph Dutkanicz visited the Soviet Embassy, Washington, in
1952, made pro-Soviet statements, and listened to Radio Moscow. In 1954
the U.S. Army court-martialed Joseph Dutkanicz on charges of subversive
activity. He was acquitted and allowed to continue his normal U.S. Army
activities. In 1958, while he was stationed in Germany with the U.S.
Army, he was approached and recruited by the KGB. A Western-bloc
security investigation caused him to seek asylum in the USSR.
Joseph Dutkanicz defected to the Soviet Union in June 1960. JAMES
ANGLETON commented: "Security investigations was immediate cause of
defection. USAREUR Case Summary 2-62-2 indicated that DUTKANICZ told
American Embassy, Moscow, official that he was under investigation for
security reasons. He defected soon after, in accord with a KGB
suggestion that he do so...A more significant indication of his KGB
involvement before his defection is the fact that the special decree
granting him Soviet citizenship was enacted three months before his
arrival in the USSR." In 1962 Joseph Dutkanicz's wife, Lilian Dutkanicz
recounted that after their arrival, Russian agents contacted her husband
on a daily basis for a period of six months or more. After one year, her
husband told her he wished to return to the United States and that she
should tell the officials at the U.S. Embassy he had been blackmailed
into collaborating with the Soviets. Joseph Dutkanicz's wife was allowed
to leave the USSR. On November 15, 1963, Joseph Dutkanicz died in a
hospital in Lvov, USSR. [FBI LHM 5.20.65 highly deleted no serial
"Enclosure 105-189"]
Colonel Burke, an Army Counter-Intelligence officer informed Jane Roman
that he suspected Joseph Dutkanicz had KGB connections only after his
defection: "Dutkanicz had not been attached to the 513 MID but to a
signal outfit in which his job was climbing telephone poles. The
statement that both these men had prior KGB connections is not true.
Army just suspected this to be the case after their defection. The
statement that both men fled as the result of Army Security checks is
not true. Both men were not under security check although the Army was
taking an "informal look into" the activities of one of them." ANGLETON
prepared a report on Joseph Dutkanicz's pre-defection KGB connections
for the Department of the Army in connection with the Warren Commission
report: "USAREUR Case summary 2-62-2 indicated that Dutkanicz himself
told American Embassy officials in Moscow that he had been approached by
KGB representatives in a bar near Darmstadt in 1958 and accepted
recruitment as a result of their threats and inducements. He claimed to
have given them a minimum for cooperation from then until his defection,
although the Army considered it probable that the had done more than he
admitted." [CSCI-316/01779-64 dated 11.7.64 NARA 1993.06.18:56:10:93000]
Lee H. Wigren, Chief, Soviet Research, Counter-Intelligence Research,
noted Joseph Dutkanicz's wife indicated her husband had connections with
the Counter-Intelligence Corps: "She indicated that their trip behind
the Iron Curtain 'had been made possible because her husband worked for
the CIC and was allowed to do things the ordinary 'GI' could not do.
There are also penciled notations in the 201 file suggesting that his
Army assignment may have included intelligence functions of some kind."
[NARA 1993.06.18.17:18:53:500000 - CIA 893-910]
The file made a convincing argument for both defectors having prior
contact wit the KGB. This brought the number of relevant defectors down
to six.
SHIRLEY DUBINSKY
In October 1961 Shirley Dubinsky (born March 11, 1925) wrote several
letters to Premier Khrushchev asking for citizenship, then traveled to
the Soviet Union, where her bizarre behavior caused her to be placed in
a mental hospital. She returned to America in February 1963.
NICHOLAS PETRULLI
Nicholas Petrulli (born February 13, 1921; died in April 1982) was
another mentally ill defector. Nicholas Petrulli visited the Soviet
Union in August 1959 and believed he could land a high-paying job there.
He went to the U.S. Embassy, Moscow, and renounced his citizenship.
Richard Snyder administered the oath of renunciation. About two months
later, Nicholas Petrulli realized he had made a mistake. The State
Department declared him legally incompetent and he was allowed to return
to the United States. Nicholas Petrulli had received a medical discharge
during World War II based on a mental breakdown, and had received
disability payments as a schizophrenic. [FBI Los Angeles JFK case
#-11.24.63] Richard E. Snyder recalled, "The Soviets decided that they
didn't want him. They looked him over for quite a while, the same as
they did OSWALD. And they said, 'No, go home boy.' He was no longer an
American citizen, which made for a bureaucratic tangle. The out that
arose in his case was that he had been discharged from the Air Force on
a mental discharge." After Petrulli returned to the United States the
FBI interviewed his brother, Dominick Petrulli who said Nicholas
"returned from Russia about three or four years ago; shortly thereafter
the attempted to commit suicide, was committed to a mental hospital on
Long Island and later moved to California. Dominick described Nicholas
as being extremely nervous, highly sensitive and one who become
emotional after he realized the gravity of a situation." [FBI Los
Angeles 11.24.63]
On October 31, 1960, the Staff of the Office of Security of the CIA
drafted a memorandum which was sent to the Chief, Security Research
Staff, that listed defectors of interest to the CIA: "Robert Edward
Webster, and Nicholas Petrulli were subject of OO/C [Domestic Contacts
Division] requests on May 29, 1959, and June 15, 1959, respectively,
with a view to their being debriefed upon their return from visits to
Russia. Neither was interviewed by CIA, either before or after their
visits. With reference to Nicholas Petrulli it is noted that his cousin,
Michael Thomas Schiralli, [SSD 84, 253] is a former CIA covert employee
who was assigned to the Robalo site in Panama under Project FJ-HOPEFUL
and also took part in PB SUCCESS. [The overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in
Guatemala in 1954]. As of 1954 he was to be debriefed as he chose to
return to private employment." [CIA Memo from M.D. Stevens 10.31.60
Subject: American Defectors]
MARTIN GREENLINGER
Martin Greenlinger, had fallen in love with a Russian woman while he was
attending the 1957 World Youth Festival in Moscow. In April 1958 he
returned to the Soviet Union and married her, then applied for an exit
visa for her and her child from a previous marriage. In July 1958 Martin
Greenlinger returned to the United States alone. One year later, the
Soviet authorities issued Mrs. Greenlinger the exit visa. The U.S.
Embassy, however, refused to issue an entrance visa due to her Communist
Party affiliation. The CIA file on Martin Greenlinger stated: "This
apparently involved Komsomol membership although the wives of Parker and
OSWALD - q.v. - had many more drawbacks and were let in." In September
1960 Martin Greenlinger was awarded a National Science Foundation
fellowship for one year. Still unable to obtain a U.S. entrance visa for
his wife, he applied for visas at the British Embassy, and was told his
wife would be issued a visa if he got a job in England. Eventually the
National Science Foundation approved his plans to study mathematics in
Manchester, England. The HSCA reported: "No further information is
known." If no further information was known, then this defector did not
fit the criterion of having re-defected before 1964.
BRUCE FREDERICK DAVIS/LEE HARVEY OSWALD
This left three defectors to correlate. One of them was Bruce Frederick
Davis (born Rome, N.Y. May 4, 1936).
1. Bruce Frederick Davis was born in Rome, New York in 1936. He was the
son of Dorothy Talbert of Scottsdale, Arizona. His father was killed in
the Second World War. His stepfather was an officer in the U.S. Army and
his family moved frequently around the U.S. His upbringing was very
strict. [CIA Memo 6.29.62] Bruce Frederick Davis had a difficult
childhood since he spent 12 years of schooling in ten different schools.
OSWALD'S mother moved frequently during his childhood and OSWALD
attended ten different public schools. [WR pp. 672-681]
2. In June 1954, following his high school graduation, Bruce Frederick
Davis enlisted in the Marines and served three years. Bruce Frederick
Davis attended the U.S. Marine Aviation Electronics School. OSWALD
enlisted in the Marines around this time, and attended a similar school.
After discharge from the Marines, Bruce Frederick Davis attended college
and supported himself through various part-time jobs. He enlisted in the
Army in November 1958, and was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for
advanced training, and then to Germany, where he was given a Secret
clearance. While in Germany, Bruce Frederick Davis was involved in an
incident with "a Negro soldier, name unrecalled. During the fight half
of Bruce Frederick Davis' right ear was bitten off...Subject's injury
was called 'service connected.'" OSWALD was involved in an attack on a
Mexican-American soldier while he was in the Marines.
3. Bruce Frederick Davis defected to East Germany on August 19, 1960. He
raced his car past the U.S. military patrol near the border, then
abandoned it at the barricade of the border itself. "He walked past the
barricade and was apprehended about 300 yards inside the Soviet Zone of
Germany by two border policemen who searched for weapons and turned him
over to another two man police border patrol." Bruce Frederick Davis was
questioned by Soviet Zone authorities. He claimed he answered all their
questions innocuously, and did not reveal he had a Secret clearance
while assigned for a short period to Division Headquarters in Wuerzberg,
Germany. The Soviets were dissatisfied with the results of the
interview, and Bruce Frederick Davis was sent to East Germany, where he
was kept in a series of safehouses, then blindfolded and sent to a
barred building. Bruce Frederick Davis asked if he could attend
Friendship University in Moscow to complete his college education.
Instead, on October 3, 1960, he was sent to the University of Kiev.
In October 1960 two articles appeared in Izvestya and Pravda, with
statements by Bruce Frederick Davis attributing his defection to
disillusionment with U.S. foreign and military policy: "On the night of
August 19, 1960, I deserted the U.S. Army. I am 24 years old. I was born
and raised in the U.S.A. I am not married. I didn't belong to any
political party and didn't have any other reasons to be discontented
with my life in the West. All my hopes as a simple American who wants
peace were destroyed by the spy flights of the U-2 and RB-47 planes, and
the breakdown of the Paris conference for heads of states...I hope to
receive this political asylum in the USSR, to continue my education and
to live and work among the Soviet people." On July 1, 1960, the Soviets
had shot down an Air Force RB-47 reconnaissance plane which was on a
ferret flight along the Soviet border, a mission designed to activate
and pinpoint Soviet radar. [Ross & Wise The Espionage Establishment
p251] OSWALD denied that he was a communist prior to his defection,
which allegedly was based on similar objections to capitalism.
4. Although Bruce Frederick Davis physically defected, he did not
officially denounce his American citizenship, and the documents provided
to him by the Soviets categorized him as a stateless person. OSWALD was
issued a stateless-person passport. Bruce Frederick Davis settled in
Kiev as a student at the Kiev Institute of National Economy, where he
was provided a free dormitory room and a subsidy of 900 old rubles per
month. OSWALD received a government subsidy of 700 old rubles per month.
UNAUTHORIZED TRAVEL
Bruce Frederick Davis made many unauthorized trips while he was studying
in the Soviet Union. The CIA reported: "After his repatriation in 1963,
Davis told U.S. authorities that he made a total of seven unauthorized
trips from Kiev during the 1961 to 1963 period...Davis was apprehended
on two of his seven trips, and was returned to Kiev each time under
escort. On both occasions he was merely reprimanded by the Deputy Chief
of the Institute at which he was studying." On May 1, 1961, he flew to
Moscow and spent three days there, where "he met an American tourist, a
former salesman for an electronics firm in Los Angeles, approximately 27
years old, who stated that he had been in Rumania. He was separated from
his wife, by whom he had two children, because of a love affair with a
girl in Rumania. Bruce Frederick Davis later wrote a letter to him and
sent it off to Rumania. The unidentified tourist answered by stating
that correspondence between them might be dangerous to those in the
U.S.A., and therefore was not to be continued." The meaning of this was
unclear. In July 1961 Bruce Frederick Davis made an unauthorized trip to
Johnkoi, Crimea, where he had seen some Badger bombers arriving and
departing from an unseen military airfield. Bruce Frederick Davis was
apprehended for traveling without a permit, and sent back to Kiev. In
September 1962 he appeared at the American Embassy, Moscow, to request
an American passport. He was apprehended on the second day and sent back
to Kiev under guard. He phoned the Embassy and stated he would not be
completing the application, as he had been arrested for participation in
a brawl in Kiev. He returned to the Embassy in October 1962, and was
issued a passport and an entry visa into West Germany. Bruce Frederick
Davis allowed the passport and visa to expire, allegedly due to a new
Soviet girlfriend he met.
Bruce Frederick Davis visited the Embassy on another unauthorized trip
in January 1963. He delivered papers to the Embassy from another unhappy
defector and from Soviet citizen Vitalya Kalinochenko. These papers
contained Kalinochenko's autobiography, the reasons he was dissatisfied
with the Communists, and a request to be contacted regarding his
experiences with the Soviet Navy and the rockets used by the Soviet
Navy. On July 19, 1963, Bruce Frederick Davis went to the U.S. Embassy,
Moscow, and, "with the help of a Mr. Fain, U.S. Embassy official" his
re-defection plans were completed. Fain was listed in Who's Who in the
CIA: "Fain, Thomas Alexander. Born: March 22, 1922; Language: Russian.
1943 to 1945 First Lieutenant in G-2 of U.S. Army; from 1949 in
Department of State, work for CIA (Economic espionage); 1962
Intelligence School in Oberammergau; OpA: Belgrade, Oberammergau, Moscow
(2nd Secretary), Washington." The decision that Bruce Frederick Davis
had not expatriated himself was made by Counsel Samuel G. Wise: "Samuel
Wise may well be Samuel Griffin Wise Jr. #74574, SD & SSD, who
apparently was once (deleted). The State Department reviewed Wise's file
on June 2, 1954; and as of September 1962 a Samuel G. Wise was Second
Secretary of the American Embassy in Moscow. At that time Wise advised
in a cable to the State Department that it appeared that Bruce Fredrick
Davis, #352267 who defected from the United States Army in Germany on
August 18, 1960, had not expatriated himself. Davis' case is very
similar to that of OSWALD, and he, like OSWALD, lived in the Soviet
Union for two years after his defection and prior to making application
for return to the United States. Wise was an applicant for CIA
employment in early 1953 and was security approved Subject to polygraph
on August 11, 1953. He did not enter on duty and in September 1953 the
office which had been interested in him was 'no longer interested.' On
November 13, 1953, Wise was (deleted)." [CIA Office of Security
Marguerite D. Stevens 1.29.64]
BRUCE FREDRICK DAVIS' POLYGRAPH TEST
Bruce Frederick Davis was returned to military control in July 1963 and
was debriefed by Army Intelligence. He told Army Intelligence that he
believed in "the theory of Marxism and Leninism. He feels that the
system would work in a highly industrialized nation, such as the United
States, because in the USSR, which is a backward nation, the system does
not work properly. Bruce Frederick Davis does not believe in the present
method of application of the system in the USSR. Bruce Frederick Davis
refused to admit he was a communist, but he did admit that he was
sympathetic towards communism. During the interview, he, at every
opportunity, defended the Soviet way of life, praised their economic
struggle, and voiced admiration for the Soviet communist personality."
Bruce Frederick Davis was polygraphed by Army Intelligence with such
questions as, "Were you required to sign a statement of obligation to
work for Eastern intelligence upon your return to the U.S.?" Bruce
Frederick Davis answered, "No," and the polygraph showed no sign of
deception. Bruce Frederick Davis was then asked a similar question,
which was withheld by Army Intelligence. His answer to this question was
also withheld, but we are told he displayed reactions indicative of
deception. The debriefing report continued: "A reaction indicative of
deception was recorded in his answer to Question 2, Test III," which
was, "Isn't it true you were forced to leave Russia?" Bruce Frederick
Davis answered, "No." When confronted with his reaction, "He denied
being forced in any way to leave Russia, or that he was asked by anyone
to leave. He denied that he left for any reason except of his own desire
and he left by the method he had previously revealed, that of contacting
the U.S. Embassy, Moscow, and being given a visa." The report continued:
"Bruce Frederick Davis failed to answer Question 7, Test III." This
question was: "Do you believe in communist theory?" "No answer." He was
asked why he did not answer the question. "He replied that he refused to
answer under the provisions afforded him in Article 31, UCMJ, because
his answer might tend to incriminate him."
The FBI: "Following his return to United States control he was sentenced
on October 1, 1963 to a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay
and allowances, hard labor for one year, and reduced to the enlisted
grade of Private E-1. He is currently serving this sentence at the
Federal Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas." [highly deleted memo D.J.
Brennan to Sullivan 12.7.63] In the early 1960's, the CIA and the State
Department conducted an interagency exchange of information on
defectors. The CIA reported to the State Department that there were five
defectors who were ascertained KGB agents: Dutkanicz, Martin, Mitchell,
Sloboda and Bruce Frederick Davis. [CIA 1634-1088 p11] This researcher
has no further information on Bruce Frederick Davis other than a highly
deleted FBI report from Phoenix, Arizona, dated November 13, 1964. [FBI
105-92510-35 pgs. B, 1-4, 6-8; FBI 105-92510 NR Serial dated 7.28.69]
ANALYSIS
When Bruce Frederick Davis was not on the polygraph, he expressed his
belief in communist doctrine. When he was connected to the polygraph,
however, he refused to discuss his beliefs. Would the polygraph have
indicated deception? Bruce Frederick Davis fit OSWALD'S profile. He was
possibly an Army "dangle." A recently released CIA document described
him as "a source."
ROBERT EDWARD WEBSTER
Robert Edward Webster, (born October 23, 1928, Tiffin, Ohio), was a
plastics technician for the Rand Development Corporation who made
several trips to the Soviet Union to prepare for the 1959 U.S.
Exhibition in Moscow. He defected to the USSR in October 1959.
THE RAND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
The Rand Development Corporation was a CIA proprietary. On October 9,
1959, the CIA surmised that "As was pointed out last June and earlier,
it might well have been of value to have obtained from ATIC, or the
coordinator for the fair, a list of persons who Rand was sending to the
USSR in order to avoid inadvertent contacts with such people as Robert
Edward Webster and Ted Korycki as Guide 223 or Lincoln Leads
respectively. This might be something to note for any future operation.
Of the others mentioned [in a newspaper article about Webster's
defection] H.J. Rand was (deleted)." In 1975 the CIA reported: "A check
of Agency records has not revealed that Webster has ever been used in
any capacity by this Agency or ever been given any type of clearance.
Consideration was being given in late May 1959 and early June 1959 for a
debriefing of Webster in regard to his proposed travel to the USSR.
However, Webster was not contacted prior to his departure for the USSR.
On his return to the United States in 1962 Subject was debriefed by
Agency Officers to obtain Soviet Realities data." [NARA
1993.08.14.09:37:45:870028]
DOCTOR H. J. RAND
The President of the Rand Development Corporation was Doctor H. J. Rand.
H.J. Rand's father was Vice-Chairman of Sperry-Rand. [63-Civ-2753-USDC
SDNY; Fortune 11.63 p135] The telephone number for the Rand Development
Corporation in New York City was answered at a division of
Martin-Marietta. Martin-Marietta was a major stockholder in Sperry-Rand.
H.J. Rand undertook private negotiations with the USSR for the purchase
of technical devices and information, on behalf of the CIA's Office of
Scientific Intelligence. During the late 1950's, CIA Agent Christopher
Bird was the representative of the Rand Development Corporation in
Washington, D.C. The Executive Vice President for Research and
Development of the Rand Development Corporation, George Bookbinder, was
a former OSS man who worked under Frank Wisner in Bucharest in 1944.
[NYT 6.15.59; Smith OSS Univ. of Calif. Press London 1977 p397;
Bookbinder DOB 7.7.14 died 11.79] In 1967 the Chairman of Rand
Development was J. Elroy McCaw. In 1990 Forbes Magazine named him one of
the richest 400 men in America. In 1970 Bookbinder and H.J. Rand had a
falling out. Bookbinder sued Rand Development. [USDC SDNY 71 Civil 5631]
On October 23, 1964, Birch O'Neal suggested that Yuri Nosenko (AEDONER,
"Sammy") be questioned about George Bookbinder, H.J. Rand and Brigadier
General W. Randolf Lovelace's connection to Galina Ivanovna Rednikina, a
Russian language secretary.
Sammy Misc Ex 355
October 23, 1964
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, SR/CI/K (Deleted). Attention Miss (Deleted).
SUBJECT: Requirement for AEDONER
1. It is requested that AEDONER be shown the attached items which refer
to the following individuals and be requested to provide all information
he may have concerning the persons and events referred to in all the items:
Galina Ivanova Rednikina, an interpreter at the Sovietskaya Hotel in
Moscow who has acted as a Russian language secretary for,
George H. Bookbinder, an official of the Rand Development Corporation of
Cleveland, Ohio, and
Henry James Rand, head of the Rand Development Corporation, and
Brigadier General W. Randolph Lovelace, Flight Surgeon and head of
aero-space medical program of NASA, who visited the USSR in 1958 with
Bookbinder and Rand.
2. For your information, only Rand, Bookbinder and Lovelace have had
frequent contact with Soviet officials both in the United States and the
USSR, including Mikhail Ilich Bruk, formerly with the Soviet Ministry of
Health, who was identified by AEDONER as an agent of the KGB.
3. You will also note that Rand was the employer of Robert E. Webster,
who defected to the Soviet Union in 1959 and renounced his U.S. citizenship.
4. This matter will also be of interest to Mrs. (Deleted) of SR/CI.
Birch O'Neal Chief, CI/SIG
Attachments: Bio Sheet and Photo of Redivkina (Photo to be returned to
CI/SIG); Original clipping and copy from New York Times dated November
15, 1959, with photo of Bookbinder (Original photo of Bookbinder to be
returned to CI/SIG); Copies of clipping referring to Rand and Webster;
Copy of clipping referring to Lovelace.
Distribution: SR, OS/SRS, CI/SIG
THE RAND CORPORATION
The Rand Development Corporation was often confused with CIA-linked
think tank known as the Rand Corporation - the Rand Development
Corporation was called the Rand Corporation in at least one State
Department document. The Rand Corporation was organized in 1946 by
General Henry "Hap" Arnold to perpetuate the partnership of military men
and university scientists that had been established during the war. Rand
was initially administered by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation. The
Sperry-Rand Corporation provided part of the initial funding for the
Rand Corporation although Rand stands for research and development.
In 1968 the CIA ties of the Rand Development Corporation were exposed
because of an Department of Interior expense inquiry into an
antipollution contract between the Rand Development Corporation and that
Agency. Donald L. Hambric of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Administration mentioned the contract to Department of the Interior
officials. He wrote: "Rand also has a small classified contract with the
CIA and any auditor working at Rand should have at least a secret
clearance." [NYT 4.25.55, 4.16.67, 3.7.68, Sel. Repat. Cases Inv. U.S.
Def. to USSR c/c 11.6.64; 71-Civ-5631 USDC-SDNY p3; Balt. News. American
1.31.75; NYT 3.7.68]
TONY ULASEWICZ AND RAND DEVELOPMENT
Tony Ulasewicz, a member of NIXON's White House/Special Operations Group
wrote: "When I first met Chotiner, the first thing he did was to hand me
a file on the Rand Development Corporation and its officers...Chotiner's
file on the Rand Development Corporation disclosed that during the 1968
presidential campaign Rand was named as a defendant in a lawsuit started
by some angry Minnesota businessmen. The charge was that the Small
Business Administration and the Government Services Administration were
guilty of fraud and conspiracy in the way a government contract for some
postal vehicles was awarded to a wholly-owned the Rand Development
Corporation subsidiary, the Universal Fiberglass Corporation. The
Universal Fiberglass Corporation, the lawsuit charged, was born for the
sole purpose [of obtaining this contract]. "Despite apparent lack of
qualifications, a crony of Senator Hubert Humphrey awarded the contact
to the Universal Fiberglass Corporation. The Universal Fiberglass
Corporation defaulted and disappeared under Rand Development's
umbrella." Murray Chotiner was trying to bring this situation to the
attention of the media. [Ulasewicz, Pres. Priv. Eye, 1990]
ROBERT EDWARD WEBSTER'S DEFECTION
While in Moscow for seven weeks, beginning May 1959, Robert Edward
Webster dated Vera Ivchenko, the hostess employed at the tourist
restaurant of the Hotel Ukraine. In this capacity, Vera Ivchenko
contacted many foreign correspondents, including those who accompanied
Vice President NIXON to the USSR. According to the information given to
the HSCA by the CIA, Vera Ivchenko was suspected of being a KGB agent.
When the HSCA wrote about Robert Edward Webster, it never mentioned Vera
Ivchenko's name: it referred to her as Robert Edward Webster's
girlfriend. Robert Edward Webster conveyed to Ivchenko that he wished to
divorce his wife in the United States and return to the Soviet Union to
marry her. Robert Edward Webster first revealed his desire to defect on
July 11, 1959. He approached two Soviet officials in charge of
arrangements for the U.S. Exhibition, and requested information
concerning the procedures for a U.S. citizen to remain in the USSR.
Robert Edward Webster was given a telephone number to call, and a
meeting was set up in the private room of a restaurant. Robert Edward
Webster was instructed to write a letter to the Supreme Soviet
requesting to remain as a citizen. He was given a form to fill out which
he would submit to Mr. Popof. With Popof, Robert Edward Webster filled
out a questionnaire furnishing his background and expressing his wish to
remain in Russia to "better himself in the plastics industry." When
Popof would not accept this, Robert Edward Webster said: "I want to stay
in the Soviet Union because all the businesses in America are
government-controlled." He refused to publicly denounce the United
States, but stated that he "wished to cooperate in every way with the
Soviet Union." In late July or early August, he attended a meeting in a
private restaurant room at the Metropole Hotel. Robert Edward Webster
told two Soviet chemists he could help them make the Rand spray gun
which he demonstrated at the U.S. Exhibition. Robert Edward Webster also
attempted to design a fiberglass resin depositor, but due to the lack of
parts and equipment, the machine did not work.
Robert Edward Webster told the FBI that he was never questioned by the
KGB: "The only time I was questioned concerning American defense matters
occurred when some Moscow engineers asked me what government work was
handled in the Rand Development Corporation. I denied any knowledge of
this, because I had none." Robert Edward Webster informed the HSCA that
the KGB never contacted him, that there was no reason for them to do so
as the government officials who aided him in his defection had his
entire story. He said he had never been questioned relative to
intelligence matters. On September 9, 1959, he was told that he had been
accepted as a Soviet citizen. He disappeared the next day. Although he
asked to work in Moscow, the Soviets informed him he would be sent to
Leningrad. The following day, the Soviet officials registered Robert
Edward Webster at the Bucharest Hotel, and instructed him not to leave.
He was given 1000 old rubles, and asked to write a note to a Rand
Development employee requesting that money be left for him at the hotel,
since he was going on a tour of Russia. The KGB threw a short party for
Robert Edward Webster on September 11, 1959. He was then flown to
Leningrad with an interpreter, where an Intourist representative met
him. He applied for work at the Leningrad Scientific Institute of
Polymerized Plastics, and lived in a hotel with Ivchenko. On October 17,
1959, Robert Edward Webster was in Moscow. He attended a meeting at the
OVIR Central Office with the original Soviet representative with whom he
had contact; an unknown Soviet; Doctor H.J. Rand; George H. Bookbinder;
and Richard E. Snyder. At this meeting, Robert Edward Webster said he
was free to speak; he told Richard E. Snyder that when he applied for
Soviet citizenship, he was granted a Soviet passport on September 21,
1959. He never exhibited the passport to Richard E. Snyder, because it
had not yet been issued to him. When Robert Edward Webster later decided
to re-defect, he told Richard E. Snyder he had no Soviet documentation
at the OVIR meeting but was still in possession of the American passport
which he never sent to Richard E. Snyder as requested. He did, however,
fill out a State Department form, "Affidavit for Expatriated Person," in
which he renounced his American citizenship. Vera Ivchenko joined him
the following day for a month-long vacation. [also see DOS ltr. Snyder
to Boster 10.28.59; Davis to Snyder 12.10.59] On return to Leningrad,
the couple began work at the plastics institute, where Vera Ivchenko was
employed as an assistant and translator. They resided in a new apartment
building.
On October 8, 1959, an Memorandum for the Record was generated by
(deleted) "Regarding: Attempts to Locate Webster; receipt of (above)
Emb. Cable. - AIIC Cleveland asked whether Webster was carrying out
clandestine task for CIA which hadn't been coordinated with them. Was
assured that this was not case & to best of our knowledge Webster had
not been briefed by & was unknown to either DDP or OO Offices. Check
made with (deleted); had encountered Webster on a few social occasions;
he will consult with Messrs. (deleted) to produce a more complete
picture of Webster."
On October 20, 1959, this Memorandum for the Record was generated by
Bruce L. Solie, Office of Security / Security Research Staff regarding
Robert Edward Webster: "(Deleted) advised (deleted) called Roman
regarding Agency interest in Webster. - Office of Security files - no
clearance; was an OO/C interest in Webster in late May 1959, but Webster
wasn't contacted by OO/C prior to trips to USSR. CI/OA files - no record."
On October 21, 1959, this document was sent by (deleted) to Chief,
Domestic Contacts Division, attention Support Branch "Regarding: Webster
case at recent Machine Searching Conference on October 20, 1959. Our
organization has no interest in matter."
On October 22, 1959, an Office Memo (Deleted) to Chief, Contact
Division, Attention Support (Deleted) re: Webster was generated
"Questions asked by Major Robert Lochera (?) of OSI: a) Is this office
doing anything re: Webster's defection? b) If not, do they contemplate
doing anything? c) What would this office have done if Webster left
normally? (Deleted) called next day w/response they knew only what was
in newspapers regarding Webster; (not very cooperative)."
"A CIA Office Memorandum dated October 23, 1959, was sent to Chief
Contact Bureau (Deleted)concerned: "information on Vera Ivchenko,
Webster's girlfriend."
"October 26, 1959. Memo (Deleted) to Director, FBI, regarding Agency
interest in Webster. Webster never used by Agency; was considered for
debriefing May 1959 to June 1959, however, he wasn't contacted prior to
departure for USSR. Agency does have (deleted) [interest in Rand
Development]. In view of Webster's employment with Rand Development
Corporation, please forward any information obtained in the
investigation of Webster."
On October 28, 1959 a report on Robert Edward Webster stated: "Webster
was given security clearance on June 5, 1959, but never had access to
military information."
"October 30, 1959. Office Memo (Deleted) regarding Kent (of WRU)
conversation with H.J. Rand regarding Webster."
These document came from a handwritten summary of all the CIA documents
in Webster's file prepared by the HSCA on March 15, 1978. Several pages
of entries marked Volume III (Cont.) & Vol. IV have been deleted.
ANALYSIS
Some people in the CIA thought Robert Edward Webster was an operation
due to his connection with the Rand Development Company. This researcher
thought Robert Edward Webster was an operation until documents
declassified in 1995 revealed that before coming to Rand Development,
Robert Edward Webster had worked for six corporations that had nothing
to do with the intelligence community. Just before Robert Edward Webster
left for the Soviet Union The New York Times took a family photograph.
It on October 20, 1959, and showed Robert Edward Webster, a Quaker, with
wife Martha, his seven-year-old son Michael, and daughter six-year-old
Anne reading a magazine entitled USSR. Robert Edward Webster deserted
his wife of eight years and his two children in Ohio with no apparent
warning except for a call to the Russian secretary in the Rand
Development Company's Moscow office; he requested the secretary notify
his family he was not returning. If Robert Edward Webster was an agent,
his method of establishing a cover was extraordinary. The KGB would have
found it difficult to believe that a CIA spy would leave his wife and
children in the United States, then have a child with a Russian woman.
Robert Edward Webster was destroying his family. Was someone carrying
out the dictates of the Doolittle Report and "hitherto acceptable norms
of human conduct no longer applied" or was Robert Edward Webster crazy?
Logic dictated that the KGB would have been interested in the Rand
Development Corporation, simply because its name evoked the Rand
Corporation. Webster was probably questioned by the KGB.
WEBSTER LOOSES HIS CITIZENSHIP
Robert Edward Webster was granted a Soviet internal passport after
writing a summary of his life, listing his relatives and where they
worked, submitting photographs of himself, and undergoing a medical
examination. In December or January 1960, he turned over his American
passport and obtained a Soviet passport at the OVIR office in Leningrad.
Robert Edward Webster had lawfully renounced his citizenship; the State
Department issued a Certificate of Loss of Citizenship.
MARINA OSWALD AND ROBERT WEBSTER?
This entry was found in a CIA Name List With Traces on Marina Oswald's
address book: "Prizentsev, Lev Kondrat'yevskiy Prosepepekt 7, Apt. 63 or
Kondrat'yevskiy Prosepepekt 63 Apt 7, Leningrad." In a December 17, 1963
FBI interview, Marina Oswald said she met Lev Prizentsev at a rest home
near Leningrad [October 1960?] and that 'he had an amorous interest in
Irina Volkova [q.v.] who, unfortunately was already married.' Traces: 1.
No traces on Prizentsev. 2. Robert E. Webster claimed to have resided in
a three-room apartment at Kondrat'yevskiy Prosepepekt 63 Apt. 18,
Leningrad." Did Robert Edward Webster know Marina Oswald? Robert Edward
Webster told the FBI he had no contact with LEE OSWALD, although he had
heard of him. [David Slawson WC Notes #340] In 1993 Lev Prizentsev said
he did not know that Robert Edward Webster lived in his building.
[Interview with W.S. Malone 5.12.93] ANGLETON sent a memorandum to J.
Edgar Hoover about this on May 11, 1964. Marina Oswald told this
researcher in 1994: "There may have been a connection or there was none
at all. I tell you what it is. When I was going to pharmacy school I was
there with Ellie Sobreta whose address is in my book. It just happened
to be in a good neighborhood, and if Robert Edward Webster was living
there, neither of us knew. She doesn't know it up to this day. So people
started making connections where is none. I did not know Webster. She
simply was my friend and I visit her and he lived in her building."
WEBSTER REDEFECTS
After six months had passed, Robert Edward Webster began to take the
steps necessary to re-defect. In early December 1959 he wrote to the
U.S. Embassy; he claimed he had received no reply to this letter. In
January 1960 he received a letter from his father informing him that his
mother had a nervous breakdown and he was needed in the United States. A
daughter, Svetlana Robertovna Webster, was born to the couple in August
1960. In late April 1961 Popof arranged for him and Ivchenko to visit
Moscow on Mayday. In Moscow, due to his American clothing, he entered
the American Embassy unchallenged. He informed Consul John McVickar that
he wished to return to the United States. John McVickar requested two
notarized statements from Robert Edward Webster's father saying he would
be responsible for his son after Robert Edward Webster's return, and
told him to apply for a Soviet exit visa. When he returned to Leningrad,
Ivchenko helped him prepare the application for the exit visa. She gave
her consent, which was required.
Still, high government officials, suspected Robert Edward Webster was on
a CIA mission. On April 15, 1961, the Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency, Allen Dulles, sent a letter to McGeorge Bundy, the
National Security advisor to President John F. Kennedy's, which stated
the CIA had no operational relationship with Robert Edward Webster.
{Rockefeller Commission handwritten notes.] In June 1961, Robert Edward
Webster was apprised that his request for an exit visa had been denied;
he would have to wait one year before he could reapply.
On November 8, 1961, a CIA Official Routing Slip indicated that
documents on Webster had been sent to CI/SIG Mr. O'Neal, Mrs. Egerter,
Evans, Grady, RID Files. Remarks: CD/OO Case 29.267 From S. Stetson
CD/OO Support Branch.
Soviet officials from Moscow visited Robert Edward Webster, inquired why
he was unhappy, and suggested he send for his American family. In
February 1962 he was granted an exit visa. In March 1962 the American
Embassy gave him instructions on obtaining an American entrance visa.
Robert Edward Webster quit his job, and his father sent him a plane
ticket for his passage home. He surrendered his internal Soviet passport
for his exit visa in May. Robert Edward Webster arrived in the United
States as an alien under the Russian quota, on May 20, 1962. He did not
attempt to get Ivchenko or his daughter out of the Soviet Union. [DOS
For. Ser. Disp. 10.25.59 - Edward Freers; WCE960 p3; FBI 105-82555-NR
2.7.64; HSCA V12 p448-450]
WEBSTER'S DEBRIEFING
Shortly after his return to the United States, Robert Edward Webster's
wife divorced him. She married W.G. Belding of Zelienople, Pennsylvania.
Eugene S. Rittenburg, Cleveland Resident Agent, reported this to
Headquarters. Robert Edward Webster was debriefed in Ohio by CIA and Air
Force representatives. The CIA reported: "(Deleted) and (Deleted) talked
alone with Webster in the INS offices for about one hour. During this
time, no attempt was made to secure any FPI, rather it was a general
'get acquainted' type session. Webster was very well-dressed, but
extremely nervous. His nervousness was not caused by our presence, as
Mr. O'Brian had previously told us that he was having difficultly
getting Webster's fingerprints as he was perspiring so profusely - even
through his fingertips." [CIA Pitts F.O. 6.28.62] Robert Edward Webster
was brought to CIA Headquarters where he was debriefed for two weeks.
The debriefing reports included a chronology of his life, the CIA's
assessment of him, information regarding life in the Soviet Union,
Robert Edward Webster's work there, biographical data on persons he met
there, and other information which was classified. [CIA SR/6-62-274,
11.1.62, Kay Grady] Ann Egerter, Birch O'Neal, (FNU) Grady and (FNU)
Evans received copies of the debriefing.
Robert Edward Webster told the CIA that his father was a ceramics
engineer who was still in college when he was born. "The family lived in
Columbus until the father graduated from college and then moved to South
Milwaukee...Subject describes these years as being lean and describes
the family as being 'poor.'He recalls that in Milwaukee he developed a
fear of being in water. In Louisville he was caught trying to steal
apples from a neighborhood store. He states he was sent home by the
store owner but not punished. In Louisville, when the Subject was six or
seven years old his mother reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown. It
was described to him that his mother passed out and was hospitalized in
a Louisville City Hospital. He states that his father indicated that he
never knew the reason why his mother became ill. He recalls visiting his
mother in the hospital and viewing her through a screen wire door. This
scene became quite vivid for him again in January 1960 in Moscow when he
received a letter from his father in which the father stated that his
mother had suffered a complete mental breakdown and was in the hospital
again...He isn't sure how long his mother was in the hospital...At the
same time while studying at night he took a day job in a manufacturing
plant. On weekends he went home to his parents by bus and during one
such trip he met his future wife. She was also studying away from home
in a beauticians school and going home on weekends. After a short
courtship he proposed, she accepted and they eloped. His wife was under
age and kept her true age from the authorities when applying for a
marriage license. Their plan was to keep their marriage secret until
after his wife had finished beauticians school. However, the news
somehow got back to his wife's parents and the secret was out. His
mother-in-law was quite upset over the marriage. His parents, however,
accepted in calmly and without fanfare and the subject notes that they
could do little else since they also eloped when they were married. His
wife finished beauticians school and he dropped out of Carnegie Tech and
began the job of supporting them. He changed jobs and his wife began
part-time work as a beautician. But they found the going difficult and
after a few months he found a job in a plastics factory in his home
town. His wife, who is a diabetic and has been since childhood, became
pregnant. Because of her diabetes she required special medical care
during her pregnancy. One year and one month after their marriage their
first child, a son, was delivered by cesarean section. Subject became
active in civic and church affairs, was promoted to foreman capacity in
the plastics plant and he began attending a local small college in the
evening studying chemistry. (Paragraph Deleted) His wife required
constant medical attention as well as insulin and special diet. On two
occasions early in their marriage she went into insulin coma and was
seriously ill. Their expenses were greater than his income and he found
himself getting deeper in debt. Feeling he could better himself he began
looking for a new job and found a better paying one in a nearby town. He
again was given a supervisory position in this plastics plant but this
time he was supervising all female workers. (Paragraph Deleted). The
plastics plant where he was working was purchased by another firm and
though he was advised that he would not loose his job, in anticipation
of being fired he quite his job...he continued to look for other work
and through business contacts was approached by the Rand Development
Company of Cleveland and was offered a better paying job with them. He
accepted an moved to Cleveland. Soon he was assigned to a traveling job
in which he was to demonstrate a new piece of plastics manufacturing
equipment. He began to travel frequently and each trip began to keep him
away from home for longer periods of time. His wife became increasingly
upset because of his prolonged absences...On one trip in 1958 in Chicago
after getting an exhibit set up and eating and drinking in excess he had
his first episode of passing out. He describes being under a great deal
of tension he knew he was going into shock. Realizing what was going on
he told people what to do for him and after lying down for a while, he
soon recovered. A similar episode occurred in Moscow in May 1959 where
he was preparing the plastics equipment for the exhibition. In 1959 his
company asked him to go to Moscow to set up an exhibit...On the second
trip he was gone much longer than originally planned for and he soon
began receiving letters from his wife in which she gave him a 'fit about
his long absences. He notes that once in the States he was away for some
time and on returning home he found that his wife had taken the children
and had left town. He located them at his in-laws and when he asked his
wife to return she questioned whether he really wanted his family or
not. He convinced her that he did and she returned.
"During his second stay in Moscow he met a Russian girl, Vera. He first
met her in restaurant where she worked as a translator and soon
thereafter began dating her. He found himself comparing her with his
wife and soon began telling Vera all his family troubles. He describes
Vera as married but separated from her husband. She was pictured as
petite, womanly and passionate. In the next breath he spontaneously
denied intimate relationships with her until after the Soviets had
officially informed him he could stay in the Soviet Union (Deleted). The
Subject feels that somehow, somewhere during his second prolonged seven
to eight week visit in Moscow, Vera subtly suggested that he stay in
Russia. But at the same time she 'pooh-poohed the idea that he could or
would stay.' During this visit he made up his mind to attempt to stay in
Russia and so informed Vera. 'I must have been way off base and I wonder
if I had a nervous breakdown.' But staying in Russia offered him a
chance to get as far away as possible from his troubles at home and the
plastics industry in Russia was in its infancy and he felt he could make
his mark there.
"Sometime in mid-summer 1959 he returned to the U.S. and was home for
ten days. This period with his wife is described as being a honeymoon
but in spite of this he continued with his plan to return to the Soviet
Union and request permission to remain there. He packed some winter
clothes, books and jazz records to take with him.
"On returning to the USSR sometime in July 1959 he approached a male
translator at the exhibit and inquired as to necessary procedure to
obtain permission to become a permanent resident of the USSR. He
received some vague answers and then was asked to identify the person
who was interested in such a step. He then indicated he was the
interested party and there began shortly thereafter a series of
clandestine meetings with various Soviet officials. At each meeting he
states he drank heavily and was generally 'loaded' by the time the
meeting was over."
Technical information supplied by Robert Edward Webster was included in
a Joint Report of the Foreign Technical Division, Air Force Systems
Command, and the CIA. On February 20, 1970, the Domestic Contacts
Division/Operational Support Staff contacted CI/Liaison Jane Roman
regarding Robert Edward Webster. [NARA 1993.08.02.20:01:25: 870033]
Robert Edward Webster
Sstetson/ bm HH-20822
DCS/Operational Support Staff 2268
900 Key Building February 20, 1970
DO/DCSL
CI Liaison (Illegible)
Mrs. Roman For your information
2 C 42 Hq. (Illegible)
ROBERT EDWARD WEBSTER: A VEGETABLE
Frontline located Robert Edward Webster in 1993. He was in Oaks Nursing
Home, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and was allegedly unable to converse.
[CIA 535-227A, 522-228; CIA Name List with Traces Vladimir Makarov,
Robert Aleksanddrovich Ivanov also Vanda Kuznetsova] Robert Edward
Webster's nurse, Susan Gilbert, told me: "He suffers from no mental
illness. His family doesn't want him to talk and his legal guardian
doesn't want him to talk. He's a shell of the man he once was. Medical
ethics prevent me from telling you more. He doesn't want to talk to you
or see you."
OSWALD'S DOMESTIC CONTACTS DIVISION DEBRIEFING
The HSCA conducted a review of defector files to determine whether
defectors were routinely debriefed upon their return to the United
States. The HSCA began with the CIA's full list of 380 defectors. From
this list, the HSCA compiled a list of persons who were U.S. born
citizens who defected, or attempted to defect, to the Soviet Union
between 1958 and 1963, and who returned to the U.S. within the same
period. In addition, the Committee included individuals from the October
25, 1960, State Department letter regarding defectors sent to the CIA.
The Committee requested files on 29 individuals and the CIA provided
files on 28 individuals on whom it maintained records. These 201 files
were reviewed as well as any existing Domestic Contacts Division files.
The review revealed that, in the cases of six of the individuals, there
was no indication they had ever returned to the United States. As for
the other 22 defectors, the file review showed there was no record of
CIA contact with 17, although 4 of these files contained reports by
sources who had advised the Agency of their contact with the
re-defectors, so they had been indirectly contacted. The circumstances
of the CIA's contact with the other five defectors differed:
Irving Amron (born December 4, 1917) - His file reflected that he had
been living in the USSR since 1933 and returned to the United States in
1962. He was debriefed by a CIA officer after applying for employment in
response to a newspaper advertisement. Amron had been in the Soviet
Union too long to have been included in the study.
Bruce F. Davis - His file contained a CIA debriefing report.
Harold Citrynell - His file reflected he was unwittingly debriefed by a
CIA officer, upon the departure of the official from the Soviet Union,
in the American Embassy, Copenhagen. Also interviewed by Domestic
Contacts Division.
Robert Edward Webster - Extensive debriefing at CIA Headquarters.
Libero Ricciardelli - CIA debriefing by Boston Domestic Contacts Division.
Out of 22 defectors, nine had been debriefed by the CIA either directly
or indirectly, almost half. The HSCA: "Based on this file review, it
appeared to the committee that the CIA did not contact returning
defectors in 1962 as a matter of standard operating procedure. It
becomes clear from the review of these defector files that CIA
debriefing of defectors was a random occurrence. Nonetheless, in the
instances when the Agency did choose to debrief returning American
defectors...the persons who were debriefed were similar to OSWALD in
that they defected and returned within the same general time period and
each spent his time in the Soviet Union in areas of interest to the CIA."
If the CIA had debriefed Robert Edward Webster and Bruce Frederick
Davis, the defectors whose circumstances most closely resembled
OSWALD'S, why not OSWALD? Was he debriefed by a component other than
Domestic Contacts Division? The Committee: "The CIA has denied ever
having any contact with OSWALD and its records are consistent with this
position. Because the Agency has a Domestic Contacts Division that
routinely attempts to solicit information on a non-clandestine basis
from Americans traveling abroad, the absence of any record indicating
that OSWALD, a returning defector who had worked in a Minsk radio
factory, had been debriefed has been considered...not to be indicative
that OSWALD had been contacted through other than routine Domestic
Contacts Division channels."
REDWOOD
The Committee discovered conflicting information when it "interviewed
the former chief of an Agency component responsible for research related
to clandestine operations within the Soviet Union," who, on November 25,
1963, wrote the following memo:
Chief, (Deleted)
Chief, (Deleted)
Chief of Station, (Deleted).
(Deleted) OSWALD
For Information
For the record we forward herewith a memorandum by (Deleted) Staff
Employee in which he gives his recollections of (Deleted) interest in
Subject following Subject's return to the United States from the USSR.
(Deleted).
SUBJECT: OSWALD
TO: Deleted.
(1) It makes very little difference now but REDWOOD [the CARS - another
version] had at one time an OI (Overseas Intelligence) interest in
OSWALD. As soon as I heard OSWALD'S name, I recalled that as Chief of
the 6 Branch I had discussed, sometime in the summer of 1962, with the
then Chief and Deputy Chief of the 6 Research Section the laying on of
interviews through the Domestic Contacts Division or other suitable
channels. At the moment I don't recall if this was discussed while
OSWALD and his family were on route to this country or if it was after
their arrival. (2) I remember that OSWALD'S unusual behavior in the USSR
had struck me from the moment I had read the first (deleted), and I told
my subordinates something amounting to 'Don't push to hard to get the
information we need, because this individual looks odd.' We were
particularly interested in the information that OSWALD might provide on
the Minsk Radio factory in which he was employed, and of course we
sought the usual biographic information that might help develop foreign
personality dossiers.
(3) I was phasing into my (deleted) cover assignment, and out of
(deleted) at the time. Thus, I would have left the country shortly after
OSWALD'S arrival. I do not know what action developed thereafter. Addendum
(4) As an afterthought, I recall also at the time I was becoming
increasingly interested in watching a pattern we had discovered in the
course of our biographical and research work in 6: the number of Soviet
women marrying foreigners, being permitted to leave the USSR, then
eventually divorcing their spouses and settling down abroad without
returning 'home.' The (deleted) case was among the first of these, and
we eventually turned up something like two dozen similar cases. We
established links between some of these women and the KGB. (Deleted)
became interested in the developing trend we had come across. It was
partly to learn if OSWALD'S wife would actually accompany him to our
country, partly out of interest in OSWALD'S own experiences in the USSR,
that we showed operational intelligence interest in the HARVEY story.
(Deleted.)" [CIA 435-173A; CIA DO-02647-p3 of 3]
Edward Petty: "REDWOOD was not an operation, it was a type of activity.
It was the examination for exploitation of people who had come out of
the Soviet Union. REDSKIN was more a penetration type activity. Looking
for operational opportunities with people who were going in."
The author of this document told the HSCA that, to his knowledge,
contact was never made with OSWALD. Moreover, if a debriefing had
occurred, the officer stated he would have been informed. This officer
was wrong. OSWALD photographed the plant and procured a floor plan; this
was corroborated by a CIA employee, who, in 1962, had worked in the
Soviet Branch, Foreign Documents Division, Directorate of Intelligence.
He "Advised the HSCA he specifically recalled collecting intelligence
regarding the Minsk radio plant. This individual claimed, that during
the summer of 1962, he reviewed a contact report from CIA Field Office
representatives who had interviewed a former Marine who had worked at
the Minsk radio plant following his defection to the USSR. This
defector, whom the employee believed may have been OSWALD, had been
living with his family in Minsk. The employee advised the HSCA that the
contact report had been filed in a volume on the Minsk radio plant that
should be retrievable from the Industrial Registry Branch, then a
component of the Central Reference Office. Accordingly, the committee
requested that the CIA provide both the contact report and the volume of
materials concerning the Minsk radio plant. A review by the committee of
the documents in the volumes of the Minsk radio plant, however, failed
to locate any such contact report." Frontline researcher John Newman
reported: "A memo from CI/SIG has surfaced in these files with
handwriting on it which gives the name of a Domestic Contacts Division
employee - a name which appears to be one 'Andy' Anderson - as a CIA
contact for OSWALD. This document confirms the recollections of other CS
employees that Andy Anderson did in fact debrief OSWALD. Don Deneselya,
who worked in the Russian Branch, Foreign Documents Division, Office of
Contacts read Anderson's debrief in 1962." [Testimony to Rep. Conyers
11.17.93] John Newman stated that the former deputy chief of the
Domestic Contacts Division Division said that the CIA did debrief Oswald.
OSWALD'S ADDRESS BOOK
Scott Malone reported that when OSWALD was questioned about his address
book he pointed to a number and said it belonged to a CIA agent who
debriefed him. OSWALD had the telephone number of McGehee Investments
(RI 8 7604) in the Texas Bank Building in his address book. The words
"Rand 4 U at Jobco" appeared before this number. This firm was not
listed by Dunn and Bradstreet. There was no indication it existed other
than a listing in the 1963 Dallas Criss-Cross Directory. Earl Goltz
reported that President John F. Kennedy's Under Secretary Of State,
Dallas resident George McGhee (born March 10, 1912), was mentioned in a
letter written by OSWALD associate George DeMohrenschildt in 1961, in
which he suggested the Soviets might be interested in the film of his
Central American walking trip. George McGehee had an office in the
Republic National Bank Building. McGehee was in Washington and Germany
during the period OSWALD was in Dallas.
> Name one true defector who stayed. Name one person that wasn't on
> assignment. Name anybody who stayed.
MARSH REPLIED;
Charles Jenkins of Rich Square, N.C.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904EEDD1139F935A25752C0A960958260
James Dresnok.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/deserter.php
Read the HSCA defector study.
THE DEFECTOR STUDY
The HSCA conducted a defector study to ascertain if OSWALD'S defection
was suspicious. The Committee: "To determine which individuals the
Committee would study, a letter was sent to the CIA requesting the names
of persons who defected to the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1964." The
CIA "provided a list of the names and variations of the names of 380
Americans who were in the USSR during that time period," entitled, "U.S.
Persons Who Have or May Have Defected to the USSR Between 1958 and
1963." This list included the names of Communist Party members who made
frequent trips to the Soviet Union or were there on official Party
business, like Henry Winston. Winston could not be termed a defector.
The names of emigrants were included in this list. Some had been in the
Soviet Union for over 20 years. The CIA: "This listing represented U.S.
persons, including some non-U.S. citizens, who owed some measure of
allegiance to the United States, who had either defected or shown some
interest in defecting." [HSCA V12 p404] The HSCA requested the CIA
provide more information so that it could select, for a detailed
analysis, those defectors who were most similar to OSWALD. The CIA
provided a second list which was "a computer listing of the name, 201
file number, date and place of birth, and a compilation of information
derived from the 201 file, as well as citations for various other
Government agency reports." No HSCA investigators visited CIA
headquarters and went through defector files there. Instead, the CIA
gave the HSCA some of the files the Committee requested, "the vast
majority of which" were in undeleted form. The HSCA conceded there was
not always "an independent means of verifying that all materials
requested from the Agency had, in fact, been provided. Accordingly, any
finding that is essentially negative in nature - such as that LEE HARVEY
OSWALD was neither associated with the CIA in any way, nor ever in
contact with that institution - should explicitly acknowledge the
possibility of oversight." [HSCA R 197] From the second defector list,
the HSCA eliminated those who had :
(A) Been born outside the United States.
(B) Gone to the USSR some time other than the 1958 to 1962 time period.
© Remained outside the United States until 1964."
The HSCA focused on the files of 23 defectors from the original list of
380. The Committee then examined the request dated October 25, 1960,
from the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research on 13
individuals whom it considered defectors. That list included the following:
(A) OSWALD.
(B) Seven individuals whose files the committee had decided to examine
under the previous criteria: Mollie Block; Morris Block; Bruce Frederick
Davis; William H. Martin; Bernon F. Mitchell; Libero Ricciardelli;
Robert Edward Webster.
© Two individuals whose names appeared on the computer listing but had
been excluded since they were not born within the United States [Joseph
Dutkanicz and Vladimir Sloboda]
(D) Three individuals who had not previously been known to the committee
as defectors: David DuBois; (FNU) Sergeant Jones; Sergeant Ernie Fletcher.
When the CIA responded to the October 25, 1960 request of the Bureau of
Intelligence and Research of the Department of State, two additional
names were added to the original list of twelve defectors - Maurice
Halperin and Virginia Coe. The HSCA had already selected Maurice
Halperin from the computer list of 380 names, but had no knowledge of
Virginia Coe.
MAURICE HALPERIN
Maurice Halperin (born March 3, 1936) was a specialist in Latin American
affairs employed by the OSS during World War II. In the summer of 1967
Maurice Halperin assisted Soviet agents Martha Dodd Stern and her
husband Alfred Kaufman Stern to secretly travel from Mexico to
Czechoslovakia. Maurice Halperin traveled to the USSR shortly after the
departure of the Sterns from Mexico; he was employed by the Soviet
Government as a Latin American specialist and has "periodically renewed
his American passport." This information on Maurice Halperin was
compiled by JAMES ANGLETON. [CIA CSCI-316/01206-67]
The Committee requested all CIA 201 files on the 23 individuals from the
computer list. It requested files on Joseph Dutkanicz, Vladimir Sloboda,
Jones, David DuBois and Ernie Fletcher, since their names appeared on
the State Department defector list. Finally, it asked for the file on
Virginia Coe.
Out of the 29 individuals whose files were the subject of this request,
five were immediately dropped. The CIA could not identify Jones (an Air
Force Intelligence document existed about his defection); David DuBois
and Virginia Coe had defected to China, not the Soviet Union; and the
Martin & Mitchell file was too sensitive and could not be presented to
the HSCA. Now the list was down to 24, on whom the Committee asked other
Government Agencies to provide selected information. After this
analysis, thirteen more defectors were eliminated: 5 for lack of
substantive information; 5 for being Communist Party members who made
frequent trips to the Soviet Union, or for residing outside the United
States for an extended period of time before entering the Soviet Union;
and three for remaining in the Soviet Union for over 20 years. The HSCA:
"Thus, the defector study was reduced to 11 individuals, two of whom
were married." Actually, three of the defectors were married. These
three couples could logically have been eliminated from the study
because OSWALD was single when he defected.
THE THEORY
Anyone who defected to the Soviet Union at the height on the Cold War,
and wasn't a hard core Communist ideologue, had to be a little crazy.
Many of the defectors were just that.
THE BLOCKS
Morris Block (born March 30, 1920) attended the 1957 Sixth World Youth
Festival in the Soviet Union. After the conference, he traveled to
Communist China, prompting the State Department to impound his passport
for misuse. He tried to defect to the Soviet Union with a falsified
passport in 1958. In 1959 Morris Block, his wife Mollie, (born November
6, 1912) and his child defected to Poland. They were transferred to
Moscow, where they applied for visas to China. The Soviets suggested the
Blocks accept Soviet asylum in September 1959, and later issued them
Soviet internal passports for foreigners. They were sent to Leningrad.
There, Morris Block had an affair with his Russian-language teacher, and
his family left him and moved to Moscow where his daughter was
hospitalized for a nervous disorder. After the Blocks were reunited,
they decided to re-defect; however, their applications for Soviet exit
visas were refused. Morris Block disconnected a loudspeaker broadcasting
propaganda at his place of work. Molly Block granted an anti-Soviet
interview to The New York Times. Finally, the Blocks were expelled from
the USSR.
LIBERO RICCIARDELLI
Libero Ricciardelli decided that exposing his three children to a
Communist system of government could straighten out his domestic
problems. In February 1959 he defected, contracted influenza, and was
granted Soviet citizenship after he denounced the United States. By June
1963, the Ricciardelli family returned to the United States.
HAROLD CITRYNELL
Harold Citrynell (born March 10, 1923) entered the Soviet Union with his
wife and child on February 27, 1958. He was granted Soviet citizenship
and remained in the Soviet Union until June 29, 1959. The FBI: "Subject
was born in the U.S. in 1923 and served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to
1945. He graduated from the College of the City of New York with a
degree in mechanical engineering and held many jobs in that field
between 1950 and 1958. In February 1958 he took his wife and infant
daughter to Russia and attempted to obtain Soviet citizenship...he
returned to the U.S. in July 1959. His wife divorced him in 1962 and
after holding several jobs in the U.S. he traveled to England and then
to Bulgaria in 1964. After working for one month in Bulgaria he went on
strike and refused to work. He had numerous difficulties in that country
and eventually returned to the U.S. in 1965 and it appears that he is
emotionally disturbed and suffers from a persecution complex." [From
Legat London (163-2201) Director (165-70603) 8.12.67] That brought the
number of relevant defectors down to eight. Two of these should have
been excluded because they fit the not native-born American criterion,
although their names appeared on the State Department list.
VLADIMIR SLOBODA
Vladimir Sloboda, a native of the Ukraine, was sent to Germany as a
forced laborer during World War II. He enlisted in the United States
Army in Germany in 1953. He became a United States citizen in 1958.
After basic training in the United States, Sloboda was assigned in
August 1958 to an Army Intelligence Group in Europe. He defected to East
Germany in August 1960 requesting Soviet asylum. Vladimir Sloboda's CIA
201 file reflected that the "fact of Army countermeasures caused by the
arrest of 154 MID [East German Military Intelligence] agents recently"
was responsible for his defection. JAMES ANGLETON agreed: "The Sloboda
defection was participated by increased Army security measures,
according to (deleted) in January 1962. Our conclusion that Sloboda was
in prior connection with the KGB turned on the facts that:
(1) Sloboda's prior KGB involvement was confirmed by (deleted) in
January 1962. (It is our assumption that he made the same statements to
the Army debriefers who spoke with him in early 1962.
(2) He was a KGB resettlement case.
(3) he later told an American Embassy official in Moscow that he had
been blackmailed and framed in going to the USSR." Counter-Intelligence
Staff member Newton S. Miler (CI/OG/SOV) prepared a report on Vladimir
Sloboda on October 12, 1960.
SLOBODA'S ATTEMPT AT RECRUITMENT
On April 25, 1969, the CIA reported:
"The Office of Security file of (deleted) reflects that on November 20,
1960, (deleted), an employee of the Joint Overt Interrogation Center
Berlin received a telephone call from an English speaking male
identifying himself as 'your friend Vladimir.' The caller asked
(deleted) if he had been to his mailbox yet, and when (deleted) answered
in the negative, the caller said there was a letter in the box and he
suggested that (deleted) pick it up. The caller added that (deleted)
should not worry about the letter since it had been placed in the box by
a secure means. (Deleted) retrieved the letter, which was postmark
November 20, 1960, read it and immediately called his chief."
The text of the recruitment letter read:
"Dear Mr. Deleted. Don't be surprised at his way of contacting you and
don't take rash action before considering the contents. After watching
and studying your life and activities for some time in the United
States, Austria (Vienna), in Zone (Ulm) and here in West Berlin we have
concluded we might be of service to each other. From different sources
we have come to know many details of your official and private life and
we are aware that your present position gives you small chance for
promotion, and we are aware of the financial hardships you must face.
These difficulties could be much greater if we did not think of sending
you this letter. Being aware of your slips and blunders in work we have
not made any moves which could undermine your reputation with Col. Ross
(Berlin) and Major Huey (Oberusel). It is believed you could draw the
right conclusion from out attitude. It is enough to mention that we were
able to learn much from the documents in March 1959 in Frankfurt Am Main
when you were driving a hired car. Through your slips in handling your
sources Wolfgang and Dieter, in whose path we put no obstacles, many
things became known to us. The same is to be said about the sources you
ran in Vienna under the cover name Porter. By so doing, we hoped to come
to an agreement with you at a suitable time on mutually profitable
terms. We could continue to relate information regarding your activities
and work of your office known to us because of your mistakes, but this
would be pointless. We offer you a business-like cooperation on terms
profitable to both sides. There is no need to describe what we are. It
must be clear to you. Since you are a man of reason and sound logic you
must understand that cooperation will give you a chance to overcome
financial difficulties and make savings for the future. Also, we could
create conditions which would aid the growth of your prestige at your
office and in turn help you get a better job on your return to the
United States. If agreement is reached we will immediately provide you
with a substantial sum to settle your affairs and guarantee you monthly
pay in the future, higher than your salary, as long as you stay in
contact. If you agree to our proposal, come to the democratic sector of
Berlin for future talks. On November 20, 1960, from 1930 to 2000 hours
arrive at the U-Bahn Station in Warchauerbruecks. A representative of
our organization, Vladimir, will meet you at the flower shop at the
entrance to the station...It goes without saying that if during talks we
can't reach mutual agreement, that we will still guarantee you absolute
security and safety. You face no danger during the talks. If we do not
hear from you by December 1, 1960 we shall consider ourselves free to
act. To assure you this letter is not a trap laid by your security
service, we shall broadcast on Soviet Forces Volga Network an old waltz
tune on November 20, 1960, at 1310. If this is not convincing, write us
in advance what other piece of Russian music you would like to hear and
when you would like to hear it. Write to Herr Gruneat, Berlin,
Lichtenberg 1, Postschliessfach 34. When writing we recommend you do not
sign the letter, using any fictitious return address you like...We would
like to warn you that it would be a mistake on your part to show this
letter to your chiefs, because in the long run this will only harm you.
We know there is an instruction from Washington which deals with such
cases and that is kept at the Security Section of Lt. Col. McCord's
office. We do not like to resort to threats, and in principle blackmail
runs counter to our working methods, but you must realize we may be
forced to resort to certain measures, not to compromise you, but to stop
your activities against us. So you have ample chance to get everything
you are striving for. For this you must have courage and resourcefulness."
(Deleted) was of the opinion "that the Russian Intelligence Service was
attempting to suggest that Vladimir Sloboda (MIG defector in August
1960) was being used in this approach." [CIA AC/FIOB/SRS Jerry G. Brown
4.25.69] Vladimir Sloboda had engaged in discussion with (deleted)
regarding "Wolfgang and Dieter" who were assets. Vladimir Sloboda was
clearly a spy seeking asylum, not an American defecting. The Russians
quoted Vladimir Sloboda as saying that he defected because of his
revulsion to the U-2 flights. He never returned to the United States. On
March 23, 1962 ANGLETON'S Deputy, James Hunt, Deputy Chief,
Counter-Intelligence, was consulted about questioning Mrs. Lilian
Sloboda by (deleted) SR/CI/RED. [NARA 1993.06.18.17:30:46:900000 dated
3.28.62]
In 1965 the CIA prepared a report on Vladimir Sloboda, much of which was
withheld. This report dealt with Vladimir Sloboda's knowledge of CIA
personnel and a possible recruitment attempt by him. The document
concluded: "It is not known whether Sloboda is affiliated with the
Soviet Intelligence Services at this time. According to a December 19,
1962, Foreign Service Dispatch from the American Embassy, Moscow,
(deleted)." [CIA Memo J.F. Meredith to Chief/FIOB 9.30.65]
JOSEPH DUTKANICZ
Foreign-born Joseph Dutkanicz visited the Soviet Embassy, Washington, in
1952, made pro-Soviet statements, and listened to Radio Moscow. In 1954
the U.S. Army court-martialed Joseph Dutkanicz on charges of subversive
activity. He was acquitted and allowed to continue his normal U.S. Army
activities. In 1958, while he was stationed in Germany with the U.S.
Army, he was approached and recruited by the KGB. A Western-bloc
security investigation caused him to seek asylum in the USSR.
Joseph Dutkanicz defected to the Soviet Union in June 1960. JAMES
ANGLETON commented: "Security investigations was immediate cause of
defection. USAREUR Case Summary 2-62-2 indicated that DUTKANICZ told
American Embassy, Moscow, official that he was under investigation for
security reasons. He defected soon after, in accord with a KGB
suggestion that he do so...A more significant indication of his KGB
involvement before his defection is the fact that the special decree
granting him Soviet citizenship was enacted three months before his
arrival in the USSR." In 1962 Joseph Dutkanicz's wife, Lilian Dutkanicz
recounted that after their arrival, Russian agents contacted her husband
on a daily basis for a period of six months or more. After one year, her
husband told her he wished to return to the United States and that she
should tell the officials at the U.S. Embassy he had been blackmailed
into collaborating with the Soviets. Joseph Dutkanicz's wife was allowed
to leave the USSR. On November 15, 1963, Joseph Dutkanicz died in a
hospital in Lvov, USSR. [FBI LHM 5.20.65 highly deleted no serial
"Enclosure 105-189"]
Colonel Burke, an Army Counter-Intelligence officer informed Jane Roman
that he suspected Joseph Dutkanicz had KGB connections only after his
defection: "Dutkanicz had not been attached to the 513 MID but to a
signal outfit in which his job was climbing telephone poles. The
statement that both these men had prior KGB connections is not true.
Army just suspected this to be the case after their defection. The
statement that both men fled as the result of Army Security checks is
not true. Both men were not under security check although the Army was
taking an "informal look into" the activities of one of them." ANGLETON
prepared a report on Joseph Dutkanicz's pre-defection KGB connections
for the Department of the Army in connection with the Warren Commission
report: "USAREUR Case summary 2-62-2 indicated that Dutkanicz himself
told American Embassy officials in Moscow that he had been approached by
KGB representatives in a bar near Darmstadt in 1958 and accepted
recruitment as a result of their threats and inducements. He claimed to
have given them a minimum for cooperation from then until his defection,
although the Army considered it probable that the had done more than he
admitted." [CSCI-316/01779-64 dated 11.7.64 NARA 1993.06.18:56:10:93000]
Lee H. Wigren, Chief, Soviet Research, Counter-Intelligence Research,
noted Joseph Dutkanicz's wife indicated her husband had connections with
the Counter-Intelligence Corps: "She indicated that their trip behind
the Iron Curtain 'had been made possible because her husband worked for
the CIC and was allowed to do things the ordinary 'GI' could not do.
There are also penciled notations in the 201 file suggesting that his
Army assignment may have included intelligence functions of some kind."
[NARA 1993.06.18.17:18:53:500000 - CIA 893-910]
The file made a convincing argument for both defectors having prior
contact wit the KGB. This brought the number of relevant defectors down
to six.
SHIRLEY DUBINSKY
In October 1961 Shirley Dubinsky (born March 11, 1925) wrote several
letters to Premier Khrushchev asking for citizenship, then traveled to
the Soviet Union, where her bizarre behavior caused her to be placed in
a mental hospital. She returned to America in February 1963.
NICHOLAS PETRULLI
Nicholas Petrulli (born February 13, 1921; died in April 1982) was
another mentally ill defector. Nicholas Petrulli visited the Soviet
Union in August 1959 and believed he could land a high-paying job there.
He went to the U.S. Embassy, Moscow, and renounced his citizenship.
Richard Snyder administered the oath of renunciation. About two months
later, Nicholas Petrulli realized he had made a mistake. The State
Department declared him legally incompetent and he was allowed to return
to the United States. Nicholas Petrulli had received a medical discharge
during World War II based on a mental breakdown, and had received
disability payments as a schizophrenic. [FBI Los Angeles JFK case
#-11.24.63] Richard E. Snyder recalled, "The Soviets decided that they
didn't want him. They looked him over for quite a while, the same as
they did OSWALD. And they said, 'No, go home boy.' He was no longer an
American citizen, which made for a bureaucratic tangle. The out that
arose in his case was that he had been discharged from the Air Force on
a mental discharge." After Petrulli returned to the United States the
FBI interviewed his brother, Dominick Petrulli who said Nicholas
"returned from Russia about three or four years ago; shortly thereafter
the attempted to commit suicide, was committed to a mental hospital on
Long Island and later moved to California. Dominick described Nicholas
as being extremely nervous, highly sensitive and one who become
emotional after he realized the gravity of a situation." [FBI Los
Angeles 11.24.63]
On October 31, 1960, the Staff of the Office of Security of the CIA
drafted a memorandum which was sent to the Chief, Security Research
Staff, that listed defectors of interest to the CIA: "Robert Edward
Webster, and Nicholas Petrulli were subject of OO/C [Domestic Contacts
Division] requests on May 29, 1959, and June 15, 1959, respectively,
with a view to their being debriefed upon their return from visits to
Russia. Neither was interviewed by CIA, either before or after their
visits. With reference to Nicholas Petrulli it is noted that his cousin,
Michael Thomas Schiralli, [SSD 84, 253] is a former CIA covert employee
who was assigned to the Robalo site in Panama under Project FJ-HOPEFUL
and also took part in PB SUCCESS. [The overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in
Guatemala in 1954]. As of 1954 he was to be debriefed as he chose to
return to private employment." [CIA Memo from M.D. Stevens 10.31.60
Subject: American Defectors]
MARTIN GREENLINGER
Martin Greenlinger, had fallen in love with a Russian woman while he was
attending the 1957 World Youth Festival in Moscow. In April 1958 he
returned to the Soviet Union and married her, then applied for an exit
visa for her and her child from a previous marriage. In July 1958 Martin
Greenlinger returned to the United States alone. One year later, the
Soviet authorities issued Mrs. Greenlinger the exit visa. The U.S.
Embassy, however, refused to issue an entrance visa due to her Communist
Party affiliation. The CIA file on Martin Greenlinger stated: "This
apparently involved Komsomol membership although the wives of Parker and
OSWALD - q.v. - had many more drawbacks and were let in." In September
1960 Martin Greenlinger was awarded a National Science Foundation
fellowship for one year. Still unable to obtain a U.S. entrance visa for
his wife, he applied for visas at the British Embassy, and was told his
wife would be issued a visa if he got a job in England. Eventually the
National Science Foundation approved his plans to study mathematics in
Manchester, England. The HSCA reported: "No further information is
known." If no further information was known, then this defector did not
fit the criterion of having re-defected before 1964.
BRUCE FREDERICK DAVIS/LEE HARVEY OSWALD
This left three defectors to correlate. One of them was Bruce Frederick
Davis (born Rome, N.Y. May 4, 1936).
1. Bruce Frederick Davis was born in Rome, New York in 1936. He was the
son of Dorothy Talbert of Scottsdale, Arizona. His father was killed in
the Second World War. His stepfather was an officer in the U.S. Army and
his family moved frequently around the U.S. His upbringing was very
strict. [CIA Memo 6.29.62] Bruce Frederick Davis had a difficult
childhood since he spent 12 years of schooling in ten different schools.
OSWALD'S mother moved frequently during his childhood and OSWALD
attended ten different public schools. [WR pp. 672-681]
2. In June 1954, following his high school graduation, Bruce Frederick
Davis enlisted in the Marines and served three years. Bruce Frederick
Davis attended the U.S. Marine Aviation Electronics School. OSWALD
enlisted in the Marines around this time, and attended a similar school.
After discharge from the Marines, Bruce Frederick Davis attended college
and supported himself through various part-time jobs. He enlisted in the
Army in November 1958, and was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for
advanced training, and then to Germany, where he was given a Secret
clearance. While in Germany, Bruce Frederick Davis was involved in an
incident with "a Negro soldier, name unrecalled. During the fight half
of Bruce Frederick Davis' right ear was bitten off...Subject's injury
was called 'service connected.'" OSWALD was involved in an attack on a
Mexican-American soldier while he was in the Marines.
3. Bruce Frederick Davis defected to East Germany on August 19, 1960. He
raced his car past the U.S. military patrol near the border, then
abandoned it at the barricade of the border itself. "He walked past the
barricade and was apprehended about 300 yards inside the Soviet Zone of
Germany by two border policemen who searched for weapons and turned him
over to another two man police border patrol." Bruce Frederick Davis was
questioned by Soviet Zone authorities. He claimed he answered all their
questions innocuously, and did not reveal he had a Secret clearance
while assigned for a short period to Division Headquarters in Wuerzberg,
Germany. The Soviets were dissatisfied with the results of the
interview, and Bruce Frederick Davis was sent to East Germany, where he
was kept in a series of safehouses, then blindfolded and sent to a
barred building. Bruce Frederick Davis asked if he could attend
Friendship University in Moscow to complete his college education.
Instead, on October 3, 1960, he was sent to the University of Kiev.
In October 1960 two articles appeared in Izvestya and Pravda, with
statements by Bruce Frederick Davis attributing his defection to
disillusionment with U.S. foreign and military policy: "On the night of
August 19, 1960, I deserted the U.S. Army. I am 24 years old. I was born
and raised in the U.S.A. I am not married. I didn't belong to any
political party and didn't have any other reasons to be discontented
with my life in the West. All my hopes as a simple American who wants
peace were destroyed by the spy flights of the U-2 and RB-47 planes, and
the breakdown of the Paris conference for heads of states...I hope to
receive this political asylum in the USSR, to continue my education and
to live and work among the Soviet people." On July 1, 1960, the Soviets
had shot down an Air Force RB-47 reconnaissance plane which was on a
ferret flight along the Soviet border, a mission designed to activate
and pinpoint Soviet radar. [Ross & Wise The Espionage Establishment
p251] OSWALD denied that he was a communist prior to his defection,
which allegedly was based on similar objections to capitalism.
4. Although Bruce Frederick Davis physically defected, he did not
officially denounce his American citizenship, and the documents provided
to him by the Soviets categorized him as a stateless person. OSWALD was
issued a stateless-person passport. Bruce Frederick Davis settled in
Kiev as a student at the Kiev Institute of National Economy, where he
was provided a free dormitory room and a subsidy of 900 old rubles per
month. OSWALD received a government subsidy of 700 old rubles per month.
UNAUTHORIZED TRAVEL
Bruce Frederick Davis made many unauthorized trips while he was studying
in the Soviet Union. The CIA reported: "After his repatriation in 1963,
Davis told U.S. authorities that he made a total of seven unauthorized
trips from Kiev during the 1961 to 1963 period...Davis was apprehended
on two of his seven trips, and was returned to Kiev each time under
escort. On both occasions he was merely reprimanded by the Deputy Chief
of the Institute at which he was studying." On May 1, 1961, he flew to
Moscow and spent three days there, where "he met an American tourist, a
former salesman for an electronics firm in Los Angeles, approximately 27
years old, who stated that he had been in Rumania. He was separated from
his wife, by whom he had two children, because of a love affair with a
girl in Rumania. Bruce Frederick Davis later wrote a letter to him and
sent it off to Rumania. The unidentified tourist answered by stating
that correspondence between them might be dangerous to those in the
U.S.A., and therefore was not to be continued." The meaning of this was
unclear. In July 1961 Bruce Frederick Davis made an unauthorized trip to
Johnkoi, Crimea, where he had seen some Badger bombers arriving and
departing from an unseen military airfield. Bruce Frederick Davis was
apprehended for traveling without a permit, and sent back to Kiev. In
September 1962 he appeared at the American Embassy, Moscow, to request
an American passport. He was apprehended on the second day and sent back
to Kiev under guard. He phoned the Embassy and stated he would not be
completing the application, as he had been arrested for participation in
a brawl in Kiev. He returned to the Embassy in October 1962, and was
issued a passport and an entry visa into West Germany. Bruce Frederick
Davis allowed the passport and visa to expire, allegedly due to a new
Soviet girlfriend he met.
Bruce Frederick Davis visited the Embassy on another unauthorized trip
in January 1963. He delivered papers to the Embassy from another unhappy
defector and from Soviet citizen Vitalya Kalinochenko. These papers
contained Kalinochenko's autobiography, the reasons he was dissatisfied
with the Communists, and a request to be contacted regarding his
experiences with the Soviet Navy and the rockets used by the Soviet
Navy. On July 19, 1963, Bruce Frederick Davis went to the U.S. Embassy,
Moscow, and, "with the help of a Mr. Fain, U.S. Embassy official" his
re-defection plans were completed. Fain was listed in Who's Who in the
CIA: "Fain, Thomas Alexander. Born: March 22, 1922; Language: Russian.
1943 to 1945 First Lieutenant in G-2 of U.S. Army; from 1949 in
Department of State, work for CIA (Economic espionage); 1962
Intelligence School in Oberammergau; OpA: Belgrade, Oberammergau, Moscow
(2nd Secretary), Washington." The decision that Bruce Frederick Davis
had not expatriated himself was made by Counsel Samuel G. Wise: "Samuel
Wise may well be Samuel Griffin Wise Jr. #74574, SD & SSD, who
apparently was once (deleted). The State Department reviewed Wise's file
on June 2, 1954; and as of September 1962 a Samuel G. Wise was Second
Secretary of the American Embassy in Moscow. At that time Wise advised
in a cable to the State Department that it appeared that Bruce Fredrick
Davis, #352267 who defected from the United States Army in Germany on
August 18, 1960, had not expatriated himself. Davis' case is very
similar to that of OSWALD, and he, like OSWALD, lived in the Soviet
Union for two years after his defection and prior to making application
for return to the United States. Wise was an applicant for CIA
employment in early 1953 and was security approved Subject to polygraph
on August 11, 1953. He did not enter on duty and in September 1953 the
office which had been interested in him was 'no longer interested.' On
November 13, 1953, Wise was (deleted)." [CIA Office of Security
Marguerite D. Stevens 1.29.64]
BRUCE FREDRICK DAVIS' POLYGRAPH TEST
Bruce Frederick Davis was returned to military control in July 1963 and
was debriefed by Army Intelligence. He told Army Intelligence that he
believed in "the theory of Marxism and Leninism. He feels that the
system would work in a highly industrialized nation, such as the United
States, because in the USSR, which is a backward nation, the system does
not work properly. Bruce Frederick Davis does not believe in the present
method of application of the system in the USSR. Bruce Frederick Davis
refused to admit he was a communist, but he did admit that he was
sympathetic towards communism. During the interview, he, at every
opportunity, defended the Soviet way of life, praised their economic
struggle, and voiced admiration for the Soviet communist personality."
Bruce Frederick Davis was polygraphed by Army Intelligence with such
questions as, "Were you required to sign a statement of obligation to
work for Eastern intelligence upon your return to the U.S.?" Bruce
Frederick Davis answered, "No," and the polygraph showed no sign of
deception. Bruce Frederick Davis was then asked a similar question,
which was withheld by Army Intelligence. His answer to this question was
also withheld, but we are told he displayed reactions indicative of
deception. The debriefing report continued: "A reaction indicative of
deception was recorded in his answer to Question 2, Test III," which
was, "Isn't it true you were forced to leave Russia?" Bruce Frederick
Davis answered, "No." When confronted with his reaction, "He denied
being forced in any way to leave Russia, or that he was asked by anyone
to leave. He denied that he left for any reason except of his own desire
and he left by the method he had previously revealed, that of contacting
the U.S. Embassy, Moscow, and being given a visa." The report continued:
"Bruce Frederick Davis failed to answer Question 7, Test III." This
question was: "Do you believe in communist theory?" "No answer." He was
asked why he did not answer the question. "He replied that he refused to
answer under the provisions afforded him in Article 31, UCMJ, because
his answer might tend to incriminate him."
The FBI: "Following his return to United States control he was sentenced
on October 1, 1963 to a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay
and allowances, hard labor for one year, and reduced to the enlisted
grade of Private E-1. He is currently serving this sentence at the
Federal Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas." [highly deleted memo D.J.
Brennan to Sullivan 12.7.63] In the early 1960's, the CIA and the State
Department conducted an interagency exchange of information on
defectors. The CIA reported to the State Department that there were five
defectors who were ascertained KGB agents: Dutkanicz, Martin, Mitchell,
Sloboda and Bruce Frederick Davis. [CIA 1634-1088 p11] This researcher
has no further information on Bruce Frederick Davis other than a highly
deleted FBI report from Phoenix, Arizona, dated November 13, 1964. [FBI
105-92510-35 pgs. B, 1-4, 6-8; FBI 105-92510 NR Serial dated 7.28.69]
ANALYSIS
When Bruce Frederick Davis was not on the polygraph, he expressed his
belief in communist doctrine. When he was connected to the polygraph,
however, he refused to discuss his beliefs. Would the polygraph have
indicated deception? Bruce Frederick Davis fit OSWALD'S profile. He was
possibly an Army "dangle." A recently released CIA document described
him as "a source."
ROBERT EDWARD WEBSTER
Robert Edward Webster, (born October 23, 1928, Tiffin, Ohio), was a
plastics technician for the Rand Development Corporation who made
several trips to the Soviet Union to prepare for the 1959 U.S.
Exhibition in Moscow. He defected to the USSR in October 1959.
THE RAND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
The Rand Development Corporation was a CIA proprietary. On October 9,
1959, the CIA surmised that "As was pointed out last June and earlier,
it might well have been of value to have obtained from ATIC, or the
coordinator for the fair, a list of persons who Rand was sending to the
USSR in order to avoid inadvertent contacts with such people as Robert
Edward Webster and Ted Korycki as Guide 223 or Lincoln Leads
respectively. This might be something to note for any future operation.
Of the others mentioned [in a newspaper article about Webster's
defection] H.J. Rand was (deleted)." In 1975 the CIA reported: "A check
of Agency records has not revealed that Webster has ever been used in
any capacity by this Agency or ever been given any type of clearance.
Consideration was being given in late May 1959 and early June 1959 for a
debriefing of Webster in regard to his proposed travel to the USSR.
However, Webster was not contacted prior to his departure for the USSR.
On his return to the United States in 1962 Subject was debriefed by
Agency Officers to obtain Soviet Realities data." [NARA
1993.08.14.09:37:45:870028]
DOCTOR H. J. RAND
The President of the Rand Development Corporation was Doctor H. J. Rand.
H.J. Rand's father was Vice-Chairman of Sperry-Rand. [63-Civ-2753-USDC
SDNY; Fortune 11.63 p135] The telephone number for the Rand Development
Corporation in New York City was answered at a division of
Martin-Marietta. Martin-Marietta was a major stockholder in Sperry-Rand.
H.J. Rand undertook private negotiations with the USSR for the purchase
of technical devices and information, on behalf of the CIA's Office of
Scientific Intelligence. During the late 1950's, CIA Agent Christopher
Bird was the representative of the Rand Development Corporation in
Washington, D.C. The Executive Vice President for Research and
Development of the Rand Development Corporation, George Bookbinder, was
a former OSS man who worked under Frank Wisner in Bucharest in 1944.
[NYT 6.15.59; Smith OSS Univ. of Calif. Press London 1977 p397;
Bookbinder DOB 7.7.14 died 11.79] In 1967 the Chairman of Rand
Development was J. Elroy McCaw. In 1990 Forbes Magazine named him one of
the richest 400 men in America. In 1970 Bookbinder and H.J. Rand had a
falling out. Bookbinder sued Rand Development. [USDC SDNY 71 Civil 5631]
On October 23, 1964, Birch O'Neal suggested that Yuri Nosenko (AEDONER,
"Sammy") be questioned about George Bookbinder, H.J. Rand and Brigadier
General W. Randolf Lovelace's connection to Galina Ivanovna Rednikina, a
Russian language secretary.
Sammy Misc Ex 355
October 23, 1964
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, SR/CI/K (Deleted). Attention Miss (Deleted).
SUBJECT: Requirement for AEDONER
1. It is requested that AEDONER be shown the attached items which refer
to the following individuals and be requested to provide all information
he may have concerning the persons and events referred to in all the items:
Galina Ivanova Rednikina, an interpreter at the Sovietskaya Hotel in
Moscow who has acted as a Russian language secretary for,
George H. Bookbinder, an official of the Rand Development Corporation of
Cleveland, Ohio, and
Henry James Rand, head of the Rand Development Corporation, and
Brigadier General W. Randolph Lovelace, Flight Surgeon and head of
aero-space medical program of NASA, who visited the USSR in 1958 with
Bookbinder and Rand.
2. For your information, only Rand, Bookbinder and Lovelace have had
frequent contact with Soviet officials both in the United States and the
USSR, including Mikhail Ilich Bruk, formerly with the Soviet Ministry of
Health, who was identified by AEDONER as an agent of the KGB.
3. You will also note that Rand was the employer of Robert E. Webster,
who defected to the Soviet Union in 1959 and renounced his U.S. citizenship.
4. This matter will also be of interest to Mrs. (Deleted) of SR/CI.
Birch O'Neal Chief, CI/SIG
Attachments: Bio Sheet and Photo of Redivkina (Photo to be returned to
CI/SIG); Original clipping and copy from New York Times dated November
15, 1959, with photo of Bookbinder (Original photo of Bookbinder to be
returned to CI/SIG); Copies of clipping referring to Rand and Webster;
Copy of clipping referring to Lovelace.
Distribution: SR, OS/SRS, CI/SIG
THE RAND CORPORATION
The Rand Development Corporation was often confused with CIA-linked
think tank known as the Rand Corporation - the Rand Development
Corporation was called the Rand Corporation in at least one State
Department document. The Rand Corporation was organized in 1946 by
General Henry "Hap" Arnold to perpetuate the partnership of military men
and university scientists that had been established during the war. Rand
was initially administered by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation. The
Sperry-Rand Corporation provided part of the initial funding for the
Rand Corporation although Rand stands for research and development.
In 1968 the CIA ties of the Rand Development Corporation were exposed
because of an Department of Interior expense inquiry into an
antipollution contract between the Rand Development Corporation and that
Agency. Donald L. Hambric of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Administration mentioned the contract to Department of the Interior
officials. He wrote: "Rand also has a small classified contract with the
CIA and any auditor working at Rand should have at least a secret
clearance." [NYT 4.25.55, 4.16.67, 3.7.68, Sel. Repat. Cases Inv. U.S.
Def. to USSR c/c 11.6.64; 71-Civ-5631 USDC-SDNY p3; Balt. News. American
1.31.75; NYT 3.7.68]
TONY ULASEWICZ AND RAND DEVELOPMENT
Tony Ulasewicz, a member of NIXON's White House/Special Operations Group
wrote: "When I first met Chotiner, the first thing he did was to hand me
a file on the Rand Development Corporation and its officers...Chotiner's
file on the Rand Development Corporation disclosed that during the 1968
presidential campaign Rand was named as a defendant in a lawsuit started
by some angry Minnesota businessmen. The charge was that the Small
Business Administration and the Government Services Administration were
guilty of fraud and conspiracy in the way a government contract for some
postal vehicles was awarded to a wholly-owned the Rand Development
Corporation subsidiary, the Universal Fiberglass Corporation. The
Universal Fiberglass Corporation, the lawsuit charged, was born for the
sole purpose [of obtaining this contract]. "Despite apparent lack of
qualifications, a crony of Senator Hubert Humphrey awarded the contact
to the Universal Fiberglass Corporation. The Universal Fiberglass
Corporation defaulted and disappeared under Rand Development's
umbrella." Murray Chotiner was trying to bring this situation to the
attention of the media. [Ulasewicz, Pres. Priv. Eye, 1990]
ROBERT EDWARD WEBSTER'S DEFECTION
While in Moscow for seven weeks, beginning May 1959, Robert Edward
Webster dated Vera Ivchenko, the hostess employed at the tourist
restaurant of the Hotel Ukraine. In this capacity, Vera Ivchenko
contacted many foreign correspondents, including those who accompanied
Vice President NIXON to the USSR. According to the information given to
the HSCA by the CIA, Vera Ivchenko was suspected of being a KGB agent.
When the HSCA wrote about Robert Edward Webster, it never mentioned Vera
Ivchenko's name: it referred to her as Robert Edward Webster's
girlfriend. Robert Edward Webster conveyed to Ivchenko that he wished to
divorce his wife in the United States and return to the Soviet Union to
marry her. Robert Edward Webster first revealed his desire to defect on
July 11, 1959. He approached two Soviet officials in charge of
arrangements for the U.S. Exhibition, and requested information
concerning the procedures for a U.S. citizen to remain in the USSR.
Robert Edward Webster was given a telephone number to call, and a
meeting was set up in the private room of a restaurant. Robert Edward
Webster was instructed to write a letter to the Supreme Soviet
requesting to remain as a citizen. He was given a form to fill out which
he would submit to Mr. Popof. With Popof, Robert Edward Webster filled
out a questionnaire furnishing his background and expressing his wish to
remain in Russia to "better himself in the plastics industry." When
Popof would not accept this, Robert Edward Webster said: "I want to stay
in the Soviet Union because all the businesses in America are
government-controlled." He refused to publicly denounce the United
States, but stated that he "wished to cooperate in every way with the
Soviet Union." In late July or early August, he attended a meeting in a
private restaurant room at the Metropole Hotel. Robert Edward Webster
told two Soviet chemists he could help them make the Rand spray gun
which he demonstrated at the U.S. Exhibition. Robert Edward Webster also
attempted to design a fiberglass resin depositor, but due to the lack of
parts and equipment, the machine did not work.
Robert Edward Webster told the FBI that he was never questioned by the
KGB: "The only time I was questioned concerning American defense matters
occurred when some Moscow engineers asked me what government work was
handled in the Rand Development Corporation. I denied any knowledge of
this, because I had none." Robert Edward Webster informed the HSCA that
the KGB never contacted him, that there was no reason for them to do so
as the government officials who aided him in his defection had his
entire story. He said he had never been questioned relative to
intelligence matters. On September 9, 1959, he was told that he had been
accepted as a Soviet citizen. He disappeared the next day. Although he
asked to work in Moscow, the Soviets informed him he would be sent to
Leningrad. The following day, the Soviet officials registered Robert
Edward Webster at the Bucharest Hotel, and instructed him not to leave.
He was given 1000 old rubles, and asked to write a note to a Rand
Development employee requesting that money be left for him at the hotel,
since he was going on a tour of Russia. The KGB threw a short party for
Robert Edward Webster on September 11, 1959. He was then flown to
Leningrad with an interpreter, where an Intourist representative met
him. He applied for work at the Leningrad Scientific Institute of
Polymerized Plastics, and lived in a hotel with Ivchenko. On October 17,
1959, Robert Edward Webster was in Moscow. He attended a meeting at the
OVIR Central Office with the original Soviet representative with whom he
had contact; an unknown Soviet; Doctor H.J. Rand; George H. Bookbinder;
and Richard E. Snyder. At this meeting, Robert Edward Webster said he
was free to speak; he told Richard E. Snyder that when he applied for
Soviet citizenship, he was granted a Soviet passport on September 21,
1959. He never exhibited the passport to Richard E. Snyder, because it
had not yet been issued to him. When Robert Edward Webster later decided
to re-defect, he told Richard E. Snyder he had no Soviet documentation
at the OVIR meeting but was still in possession of the American passport
which he never sent to Richard E. Snyder as requested. He did, however,
fill out a State Department form, "Affidavit for Expatriated Person," in
which he renounced his American citizenship. Vera Ivchenko joined him
the following day for a month-long vacation. [also see DOS ltr. Snyder
to Boster 10.28.59; Davis to Snyder 12.10.59] On return to Leningrad,
the couple began work at the plastics institute, where Vera Ivchenko was
employed as an assistant and translator. They resided in a new apartment
building.
On October 8, 1959, an Memorandum for the Record was generated by
(deleted) "Regarding: Attempts to Locate Webster; receipt of (above)
Emb. Cable. - AIIC Cleveland asked whether Webster was carrying out
clandestine task for CIA which hadn't been coordinated with them. Was
assured that this was not case & to best of our knowledge Webster had
not been briefed by & was unknown to either DDP or OO Offices. Check
made with (deleted); had encountered Webster on a few social occasions;
he will consult with Messrs. (deleted) to produce a more complete
picture of Webster."
On October 20, 1959, this Memorandum for the Record was generated by
Bruce L. Solie, Office of Security / Security Research Staff regarding
Robert Edward Webster: "(Deleted) advised (deleted) called Roman
regarding Agency interest in Webster. - Office of Security files - no
clearance; was an OO/C interest in Webster in late May 1959, but Webster
wasn't contacted by OO/C prior to trips to USSR. CI/OA files - no record."
On October 21, 1959, this document was sent by (deleted) to Chief,
Domestic Contacts Division, attention Support Branch "Regarding: Webster
case at recent Machine Searching Conference on October 20, 1959. Our
organization has no interest in matter."
On October 22, 1959, an Office Memo (Deleted) to Chief, Contact
Division, Attention Support (Deleted) re: Webster was generated
"Questions asked by Major Robert Lochera (?) of OSI: a) Is this office
doing anything re: Webster's defection? b) If not, do they contemplate
doing anything? c) What would this office have done if Webster left
normally? (Deleted) called next day w/response they knew only what was
in newspapers regarding Webster; (not very cooperative)."
"A CIA Office Memorandum dated October 23, 1959, was sent to Chief
Contact Bureau (Deleted)concerned: "information on Vera Ivchenko,
Webster's girlfriend."
"October 26, 1959. Memo (Deleted) to Director, FBI, regarding Agency
interest in Webster. Webster never used by Agency; was considered for
debriefing May 1959 to June 1959, however, he wasn't contacted prior to
departure for USSR. Agency does have (deleted) [interest in Rand
Development]. In view of Webster's employment with Rand Development
Corporation, please forward any information obtained in the
investigation of Webster."
On October 28, 1959 a report on Robert Edward Webster stated: "Webster
was given security clearance on June 5, 1959, but never had access to
military information."
"October 30, 1959. Office Memo (Deleted) regarding Kent (of WRU)
conversation with H.J. Rand regarding Webster."
These document came from a handwritten summary of all the CIA documents
in Webster's file prepared by the HSCA on March 15, 1978. Several pages
of entries marked Volume III (Cont.) & Vol. IV have been deleted.
ANALYSIS
Some people in the CIA thought Robert Edward Webster was an operation
due to his connection with the Rand Development Company. This researcher
thought Robert Edward Webster was an operation until documents
declassified in 1995 revealed that before coming to Rand Development,
Robert Edward Webster had worked for six corporations that had nothing
to do with the intelligence community. Just before Robert Edward Webster
left for the Soviet Union The New York Times took a family photograph.
It on October 20, 1959, and showed Robert Edward Webster, a Quaker, with
wife Martha, his seven-year-old son Michael, and daughter six-year-old
Anne reading a magazine entitled USSR. Robert Edward Webster deserted
his wife of eight years and his two children in Ohio with no apparent
warning except for a call to the Russian secretary in the Rand
Development Company's Moscow office; he requested the secretary notify
his family he was not returning. If Robert Edward Webster was an agent,
his method of establishing a cover was extraordinary. The KGB would have
found it difficult to believe that a CIA spy would leave his wife and
children in the United States, then have a child with a Russian woman.
Robert Edward Webster was destroying his family. Was someone carrying
out the dictates of the Doolittle Report and "hitherto acceptable norms
of human conduct no longer applied" or was Robert Edward Webster crazy?
Logic dictated that the KGB would have been interested in the Rand
Development Corporation, simply because its name evoked the Rand
Corporation. Webster was probably questioned by the KGB.
WEBSTER LOOSES HIS CITIZENSHIP
Robert Edward Webster was granted a Soviet internal passport after
writing a summary of his life, listing his relatives and where they
worked, submitting photographs of himself, and undergoing a medical
examination. In December or January 1960, he turned over his American
passport and obtained a Soviet passport at the OVIR office in Leningrad.
Robert Edward Webster had lawfully renounced his citizenship; the State
Department issued a Certificate of Loss of Citizenship.
MARINA OSWALD AND ROBERT WEBSTER?
This entry was found in a CIA Name List With Traces on Marina Oswald's
address book: "Prizentsev, Lev Kondrat'yevskiy Prosepepekt 7, Apt. 63 or
Kondrat'yevskiy Prosepepekt 63 Apt 7, Leningrad." In a December 17, 1963
FBI interview, Marina Oswald said she met Lev Prizentsev at a rest home
near Leningrad [October 1960?] and that 'he had an amorous interest in
Irina Volkova [q.v.] who, unfortunately was already married.' Traces: 1.
No traces on Prizentsev. 2. Robert E. Webster claimed to have resided in
a three-room apartment at Kondrat'yevskiy Prosepepekt 63 Apt. 18,
Leningrad." Did Robert Edward Webster know Marina Oswald? Robert Edward
Webster told the FBI he had no contact with LEE OSWALD, although he had
heard of him. [David Slawson WC Notes #340] In 1993 Lev Prizentsev said
he did not know that Robert Edward Webster lived in his building.
[Interview with W.S. Malone 5.12.93] ANGLETON sent a memorandum to J.
Edgar Hoover about this on May 11, 1964. Marina Oswald told this
researcher in 1994: "There may have been a connection or there was none
at all. I tell you what it is. When I was going to pharmacy school I was
there with Ellie Sobreta whose address is in my book. It just happened
to be in a good neighborhood, and if Robert Edward Webster was living
there, neither of us knew. She doesn't know it up to this day. So people
started making connections where is none. I did not know Webster. She
simply was my friend and I visit her and he lived in her building."
WEBSTER REDEFECTS
After six months had passed, Robert Edward Webster began to take the
steps necessary to re-defect. In early December 1959 he wrote to the
U.S. Embassy; he claimed he had received no reply to this letter. In
January 1960 he received a letter from his father informing him that his
mother had a nervous breakdown and he was needed in the United States. A
daughter, Svetlana Robertovna Webster, was born to the couple in August
1960. In late April 1961 Popof arranged for him and Ivchenko to visit
Moscow on Mayday. In Moscow, due to his American clothing, he entered
the American Embassy unchallenged. He informed Consul John McVickar that
he wished to return to the United States. John McVickar requested two
notarized statements from Robert Edward Webster's father saying he would
be responsible for his son after Robert Edward Webster's return, and
told him to apply for a Soviet exit visa. When he returned to Leningrad,
Ivchenko helped him prepare the application for the exit visa. She gave
her consent, which was required.
Still, high government officials, suspected Robert Edward Webster was on
a CIA mission. On April 15, 1961, the Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency, Allen Dulles, sent a letter to McGeorge Bundy, the
National Security advisor to President John F. Kennedy's, which stated
the CIA had no operational relationship with Robert Edward Webster.
{Rockefeller Commission handwritten notes.] In June 1961, Robert Edward
Webster was apprised that his request for an exit visa had been denied;
he would have to wait one year before he could reapply.
On November 8, 1961, a CIA Official Routing Slip indicated that
documents on Webster had been sent to CI/SIG Mr. O'Neal, Mrs. Egerter,
Evans, Grady, RID Files. Remarks: CD/OO Case 29.267 From S. Stetson
CD/OO Support Branch.
Soviet officials from Moscow visited Robert Edward Webster, inquired why
he was unhappy, and suggested he send for his American family. In
February 1962 he was granted an exit visa. In March 1962 the American
Embassy gave him instructions on obtaining an American entrance visa.
Robert Edward Webster quit his job, and his father sent him a plane
ticket for his passage home. He surrendered his internal Soviet passport
for his exit visa in May. Robert Edward Webster arrived in the United
States as an alien under the Russian quota, on May 20, 1962. He did not
attempt to get Ivchenko or his daughter out of the Soviet Union. [DOS
For. Ser. Disp. 10.25.59 - Edward Freers; WCE960 p3; FBI 105-82555-NR
2.7.64; HSCA V12 p448-450]
WEBSTER'S DEBRIEFING
Shortly after his return to the United States, Robert Edward Webster's
wife divorced him. She married W.G. Belding of Zelienople, Pennsylvania.
Eugene S. Rittenburg, Cleveland Resident Agent, reported this to
Headquarters. Robert Edward Webster was debriefed in Ohio by CIA and Air
Force representatives. The CIA reported: "(Deleted) and (Deleted) talked
alone with Webster in the INS offices for about one hour. During this
time, no attempt was made to secure any FPI, rather it was a general
'get acquainted' type session. Webster was very well-dressed, but
extremely nervous. His nervousness was not caused by our presence, as
Mr. O'Brian had previously told us that he was having difficultly
getting Webster's fingerprints as he was perspiring so profusely - even
through his fingertips." [CIA Pitts F.O. 6.28.62] Robert Edward Webster
was brought to CIA Headquarters where he was debriefed for two weeks.
The debriefing reports included a chronology of his life, the CIA's
assessment of him, information regarding life in the Soviet Union,
Robert Edward Webster's work there, biographical data on persons he met
there, and other information which was classified. [CIA SR/6-62-274,
11.1.62, Kay Grady] Ann Egerter, Birch O'Neal, (FNU) Grady and (FNU)
Evans received copies of the debriefing.
Robert Edward Webster told the CIA that his father was a ceramics
engineer who was still in college when he was born. "The family lived in
Columbus until the father graduated from college and then moved to South
Milwaukee...Subject describes these years as being lean and describes
the family as being 'poor.'He recalls that in Milwaukee he developed a
fear of being in water. In Louisville he was caught trying to steal
apples from a neighborhood store. He states he was sent home by the
store owner but not punished. In Louisville, when the Subject was six or
seven years old his mother reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown. It
was described to him that his mother passed out and was hospitalized in
a Louisville City Hospital. He states that his father indicated that he
never knew the reason why his mother became ill. He recalls visiting his
mother in the hospital and viewing her through a screen wire door. This
scene became quite vivid for him again in January 1960 in Moscow when he
received a letter from his father in which the father stated that his
mother had suffered a complete mental breakdown and was in the hospital
again...He isn't sure how long his mother was in the hospital...At the
same time while studying at night he took a day job in a manufacturing
plant. On weekends he went home to his parents by bus and during one
such trip he met his future wife. She was also studying away from home
in a beauticians school and going home on weekends. After a short
courtship he proposed, she accepted and they eloped. His wife was under
age and kept her true age from the authorities when applying for a
marriage license. Their plan was to keep their marriage secret until
after his wife had finished beauticians school. However, the news
somehow got back to his wife's parents and the secret was out. His
mother-in-law was quite upset over the marriage. His parents, however,
accepted in calmly and without fanfare and the subject notes that they
could do little else since they also eloped when they were married. His
wife finished beauticians school and he dropped out of Carnegie Tech and
began the job of supporting them. He changed jobs and his wife began
part-time work as a beautician. But they found the going difficult and
after a few months he found a job in a plastics factory in his home
town. His wife, who is a diabetic and has been since childhood, became
pregnant. Because of her diabetes she required special medical care
during her pregnancy. One year and one month after their marriage their
first child, a son, was delivered by cesarean section. Subject became
active in civic and church affairs, was promoted to foreman capacity in
the plastics plant and he began attending a local small college in the
evening studying chemistry. (Paragraph Deleted) His wife required
constant medical attention as well as insulin and special diet. On two
occasions early in their marriage she went into insulin coma and was
seriously ill. Their expenses were greater than his income and he found
himself getting deeper in debt. Feeling he could better himself he began
looking for a new job and found a better paying one in a nearby town. He
again was given a supervisory position in this plastics plant but this
time he was supervising all female workers. (Paragraph Deleted). The
plastics plant where he was working was purchased by another firm and
though he was advised that he would not loose his job, in anticipation
of being fired he quite his job...he continued to look for other work
and through business contacts was approached by the Rand Development
Company of Cleveland and was offered a better paying job with them. He
accepted an moved to Cleveland. Soon he was assigned to a traveling job
in which he was to demonstrate a new piece of plastics manufacturing
equipment. He began to travel frequently and each trip began to keep him
away from home for longer periods of time. His wife became increasingly
upset because of his prolonged absences...On one trip in 1958 in Chicago
after getting an exhibit set up and eating and drinking in excess he had
his first episode of passing out. He describes being under a great deal
of tension he knew he was going into shock. Realizing what was going on
he told people what to do for him and after lying down for a while, he
soon recovered. A similar episode occurred in Moscow in May 1959 where
he was preparing the plastics equipment for the exhibition. In 1959 his
company asked him to go to Moscow to set up an exhibit...On the second
trip he was gone much longer than originally planned for and he soon
began receiving letters from his wife in which she gave him a 'fit about
his long absences. He notes that once in the States he was away for some
time and on returning home he found that his wife had taken the children
and had left town. He located them at his in-laws and when he asked his
wife to return she questioned whether he really wanted his family or
not. He convinced her that he did and she returned.
"During his second stay in Moscow he met a Russian girl, Vera. He first
met her in restaurant where she worked as a translator and soon
thereafter began dating her. He found himself comparing her with his
wife and soon began telling Vera all his family troubles. He describes
Vera as married but separated from her husband. She was pictured as
petite, womanly and passionate. In the next breath he spontaneously
denied intimate relationships with her until after the Soviets had
officially informed him he could stay in the Soviet Union (Deleted). The
Subject feels that somehow, somewhere during his second prolonged seven
to eight week visit in Moscow, Vera subtly suggested that he stay in
Russia. But at the same time she 'pooh-poohed the idea that he could or
would stay.' During this visit he made up his mind to attempt to stay in
Russia and so informed Vera. 'I must have been way off base and I wonder
if I had a nervous breakdown.' But staying in Russia offered him a
chance to get as far away as possible from his troubles at home and the
plastics industry in Russia was in its infancy and he felt he could make
his mark there.
"Sometime in mid-summer 1959 he returned to the U.S. and was home for
ten days. This period with his wife is described as being a honeymoon
but in spite of this he continued with his plan to return to the Soviet
Union and request permission to remain there. He packed some winter
clothes, books and jazz records to take with him.
"On returning to the USSR sometime in July 1959 he approached a male
translator at the exhibit and inquired as to necessary procedure to
obtain permission to become a permanent resident of the USSR. He
received some vague answers and then was asked to identify the person
who was interested in such a step. He then indicated he was the
interested party and there began shortly thereafter a series of
clandestine meetings with various Soviet officials. At each meeting he
states he drank heavily and was generally 'loaded' by the time the
meeting was over."
Technical information supplied by Robert Edward Webster was included in
a Joint Report of the Foreign Technical Division, Air Force Systems
Command, and the CIA. On February 20, 1970, the Domestic Contacts
Division/Operational Support Staff contacted CI/Liaison Jane Roman
regarding Robert Edward Webster. [NARA 1993.08.02.20:01:25: 870033]
Robert Edward Webster
Sstetson/ bm HH-20822
DCS/Operational Support Staff 2268
900 Key Building February 20, 1970
DO/DCSL
CI Liaison (Illegible)
Mrs. Roman For your information
2 C 42 Hq. (Illegible)
ROBERT EDWARD WEBSTER: A VEGETABLE
Frontline located Robert Edward Webster in 1993. He was in Oaks Nursing
Home, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and was allegedly unable to converse.
[CIA 535-227A, 522-228; CIA Name List with Traces Vladimir Makarov,
Robert Aleksanddrovich Ivanov also Vanda Kuznetsova] Robert Edward
Webster's nurse, Susan Gilbert, told me: "He suffers from no mental
illness. His family doesn't want him to talk and his legal guardian
doesn't want him to talk. He's a shell of the man he once was. Medical
ethics prevent me from telling you more. He doesn't want to talk to you
or see you."
OSWALD'S DOMESTIC CONTACTS DIVISION DEBRIEFING
The HSCA conducted a review of defector files to determine whether
defectors were routinely debriefed upon their return to the United
States. The HSCA began with the CIA's full list of 380 defectors. From
this list, the HSCA compiled a list of persons who were U.S. born
citizens who defected, or attempted to defect, to the Soviet Union
between 1958 and 1963, and who returned to the U.S. within the same
period. In addition, the Committee included individuals from the October
25, 1960, State Department letter regarding defectors sent to the CIA.
The Committee requested files on 29 individuals and the CIA provided
files on 28 individuals on whom it maintained records. These 201 files
were reviewed as well as any existing Domestic Contacts Division files.
The review revealed that, in the cases of six of the individuals, there
was no indication they had ever returned to the United States. As for
the other 22 defectors, the file review showed there was no record of
CIA contact with 17, although 4 of these files contained reports by
sources who had advised the Agency of their contact with the
re-defectors, so they had been indirectly contacted. The circumstances
of the CIA's contact with the other five defectors differed:
Irving Amron (born December 4, 1917) - His file reflected that he had
been living in the USSR since 1933 and returned to the United States in
1962. He was debriefed by a CIA officer after applying for employment in
response to a newspaper advertisement. Amron had been in the Soviet
Union too long to have been included in the study.
Bruce F. Davis - His file contained a CIA debriefing report.
Harold Citrynell - His file reflected he was unwittingly debriefed by a
CIA officer, upon the departure of the official from the Soviet Union,
in the American Embassy, Copenhagen. Also interviewed by Domestic
Contacts Division.
Robert Edward Webster - Extensive debriefing at CIA Headquarters.
Libero Ricciardelli - CIA debriefing by Boston Domestic Contacts Division.
Out of 22 defectors, nine had been debriefed by the CIA either directly
or indirectly, almost half. The HSCA: "Based on this file review, it
appeared to the committee that the CIA did not contact returning
defectors in 1962 as a matter of standard operating procedure. It
becomes clear from the review of these defector files that CIA
debriefing of defectors was a random occurrence. Nonetheless, in the
instances when the Agency did choose to debrief returning American
defectors...the persons who were debriefed were similar to OSWALD in
that they defected and returned within the same general time period and
each spent his time in the Soviet Union in areas of interest to the CIA."
If the CIA had debriefed Robert Edward Webster and Bruce Frederick
Davis, the defectors whose circumstances most closely resembled
OSWALD'S, why not OSWALD? Was he debriefed by a component other than
Domestic Contacts Division? The Committee: "The CIA has denied ever
having any contact with OSWALD and its records are consistent with this
position. Because the Agency has a Domestic Contacts Division that
routinely attempts to solicit information on a non-clandestine basis
from Americans traveling abroad, the absence of any record indicating
that OSWALD, a returning defector who had worked in a Minsk radio
factory, had been debriefed has been considered...not to be indicative
that OSWALD had been contacted through other than routine Domestic
Contacts Division channels."
REDWOOD
The Committee discovered conflicting information when it "interviewed
the former chief of an Agency component responsible for research related
to clandestine operations within the Soviet Union," who, on November 25,
1963, wrote the following memo:
Chief, (Deleted)
Chief, (Deleted)
Chief of Station, (Deleted).
(Deleted) OSWALD
For Information
For the record we forward herewith a memorandum by (Deleted) Staff
Employee in which he gives his recollections of (Deleted) interest in
Subject following Subject's return to the United States from the USSR.
(Deleted).
SUBJECT: OSWALD
TO: Deleted.
(1) It makes very little difference now but REDWOOD [the CARS - another
version] had at one time an OI (Overseas Intelligence) interest in
OSWALD. As soon as I heard OSWALD'S name, I recalled that as Chief of
the 6 Branch I had discussed, sometime in the summer of 1962, with the
then Chief and Deputy Chief of the 6 Research Section the laying on of
interviews through the Domestic Contacts Division or other suitable
channels. At the moment I don't recall if this was discussed while
OSWALD and his family were on route to this country or if it was after
their arrival. (2) I remember that OSWALD'S unusual behavior in the USSR
had struck me from the moment I had read the first (deleted), and I told
my subordinates something amounting to 'Don't push to hard to get the
information we need, because this individual looks odd.' We were
particularly interested in the information that OSWALD might provide on
the Minsk Radio factory in which he was employed, and of course we
sought the usual biographic information that might help develop foreign
personality dossiers.
(3) I was phasing into my (deleted) cover assignment, and out of
(deleted) at the time. Thus, I would have left the country shortly after
OSWALD'S arrival. I do not know what action developed thereafter. Addendum
(4) As an afterthought, I recall also at the time I was becoming
increasingly interested in watching a pattern we had discovered in the
course of our biographical and research work in 6: the number of Soviet
women marrying foreigners, being permitted to leave the USSR, then
eventually divorcing their spouses and settling down abroad without
returning 'home.' The (deleted) case was among the first of these, and
we eventually turned up something like two dozen similar cases. We
established links between some of these women and the KGB. (Deleted)
became interested in the developing trend we had come across. It was
partly to learn if OSWALD'S wife would actually accompany him to our
country, partly out of interest in OSWALD'S own experiences in the USSR,
that we showed operational intelligence interest in the HARVEY story.
(Deleted.)" [CIA 435-173A; CIA DO-02647-p3 of 3]
Edward Petty: "REDWOOD was not an operation, it was a type of activity.
It was the examination for exploitation of people who had come out of
the Soviet Union. REDSKIN was more a penetration type activity. Looking
for operational opportunities with people who were going in."
The author of this document told the HSCA that, to his knowledge,
contact was never made with OSWALD. Moreover, if a debriefing had
occurred, the officer stated he would have been informed. This officer
was wrong. OSWALD photographed the plant and procured a floor plan; this
was corroborated by a CIA employee, who, in 1962, had worked in the
Soviet Branch, Foreign Documents Division, Directorate of Intelligence.
He "Advised the HSCA he specifically recalled collecting intelligence
regarding the Minsk radio plant. This individual claimed, that during
the summer of 1962, he reviewed a contact report from CIA Field Office
representatives who had interviewed a former Marine who had worked at
the Minsk radio plant following his defection to the USSR. This
defector, whom the employee believed may have been OSWALD, had been
living with his family in Minsk. The employee advised the HSCA that the
contact report had been filed in a volume on the Minsk radio plant that
should be retrievable from the Industrial Registry Branch, then a
component of the Central Reference Office. Accordingly, the committee
requested that the CIA provide both the contact report and the volume of
materials concerning the Minsk radio plant. A review by the committee of
the documents in the volumes of the Minsk radio plant, however, failed
to locate any such contact report." Frontline researcher John Newman
reported: "A memo from CI/SIG has surfaced in these files with
handwriting on it which gives the name of a Domestic Contacts Division
employee - a name which appears to be one 'Andy' Anderson - as a CIA
contact for OSWALD. This document confirms the recollections of other CS
employees that Andy Anderson did in fact debrief OSWALD. Don Deneselya,
who worked in the Russian Branch, Foreign Documents Division, Office of
Contacts read Anderson's debrief in 1962." [Testimony to Rep. Conyers
11.17.93] John Newman stated that the former deputy chief of the
Domestic Contacts Division Division said that the CIA did debrief Oswald.
OSWALD'S ADDRESS BOOK
Scott Malone reported that when OSWALD was questioned about his address
book he pointed to a number and said it belonged to a CIA agent who
debriefed him. OSWALD had the telephone number of McGehee Investments
(RI 8 7604) in the Texas Bank Building in his address book. The words
"Rand 4 U at Jobco" appeared before this number. This firm was not
listed by Dunn and Bradstreet. There was no indication it existed other
than a listing in the 1963 Dallas Criss-Cross Directory. Earl Goltz
reported that President John F. Kennedy's Under Secretary Of State,
Dallas resident George McGhee (born March 10, 1912), was mentioned in a
letter written by OSWALD associate George DeMohrenschildt in 1961, in
which he suggested the Soviets might be interested in the film of his
Central American walking trip. George McGehee had an office in the
Republic National Bank Building. McGehee was in Washington and Germany
during the period OSWALD was in Dallas.
