James Hosty and KGB Agent Kostikov

[Michael Clark]

18 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said:

👏

That took some work Mike.

Thanks Jim, but Paul makes it easy. This thread ( like any other thread where anyone has the time or energy to cleanup after him,) is loaded with examples of these. 

These are just from a page or two from this thread. There’s a bunch more sitting, waiting.

[Pamela Brown]

On 8/7/2019 at 8:13 AM, David Andrews said:

Not a direct answer to Paul's post, nor a direct question to him:

If Oswald, or an "Oswald," actually met with Kostikov, and performed the antics of brandishing a pistol, etc., as Kostikov and his witnesses later said on film that he did -- were these histrionics an attempt to stop the American plot, or at least get Oswald/"Oswald" removed from it?

Was this the equivalent of Richard Case Nagell shooting a hole in a bank wall in El Paso?

Yet this Oswald-pistol legend brings up other issues:

Would Oswald/"Oswald" be incautious enough to smuggle a pistol into Mexico?

And, if he wanted out, why not let himself get caught with the pistol at the US border?

A possible conclusion was that Oswald/"Oswald" was ordered to play those histrionics with the pistol in front of Kostikov.  But why?

Perhaps the objective of this false Oswald was to create a motive for the patsy of the assassination of JFK.  

I don't know if this is a connection, but when Agent Hosty confronted Lee with his having been to Mexico City he became outraged and refused to talk further, so I do think Lee was there, but may have realized he had been set up and that someone was following and/or impersonating him. 

Edited August 9, 2019 by Pamela Brown

[Paul Trejo]

On 8/8/2019 at 9:44 PM, Pamela Brown said:

Perhaps the objective of this false Oswald was to create a motive for the patsy of the assassination of JFK.  

I don't know if this is a connection, but when Agent Hosty confronted Lee with his having been to Mexico City he became outraged and refused to talk further, so I do think Lee was there, but may have realized he had been set up and that someone was following and/or impersonating him. 

Hi Pam,

Over the years of this thread, I've done further reading and research.   Chris Newton changed my approach quite a bit when he found for everybody that 10/18/1963 FBI memo that James Hosty (Assignment Oswald, 1996) claimed that he saw just a few days after it was published.   Here it is:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=61074&search=Kostikov_and+Cable+and+orleans#relPageId=3&tab=page

So -- I had to take back my claim that the FBI memo never existed.    I'm not embarrassed, and I thanked Chris Newton back then, and I thank him today, too.  It was a great find.

Since the JFK Records Act fulfillment, furthermore, we've seen the supporting CIA documents of 10/8/1963 and 10/10/1963 that were the likely source of that FBI memo of 10/18/1963.    Here they are:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=56489#relPageId=2&tab=page

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=111688#relPageId=2&tab=page

Yet I must revive Bill Simpich's State Secret (2014) again.  That 10/18/1963 document called LHO, "Lee Henry Oswald".   Bill Simpich gave us a solid explanation for that middle name -- and he called it a CIA Mole Hunt.

Furthermore, the CIA document of 10/8/1963 described LHO as "Apparent age, 35, athletic build, circa 6 feet…balding top."  Well, LHO was 23 years old, he had plenty of hair, he wasn't circa 6 feet, nor did he have an athletic build (he was 132 pounds at the time).  However, we all remember the picture of that large Russian dude in LHO's 201 file at the CIA, the one who matched that description.  Again, Bill Simpich gave us a solid explanation for the picture of the large Russian dude in LHO's 201 file -- and he called it a CIA Mole Hunt.

My claims are now more modest -- but I also rely more on Bill Simpich as well as the material record.

For some reason, Dallas FBI James Hosty in 1996 wrote a JFK CT book (Assignment Oswald), claiming that the Communists killed JFK, in an unholy conspiracy between KGB agent Valeriy Kostikov and Lee Harvey Oswald.  (He added that the FBI, CIA and State Department all conspired to prevent him from seeing this fact.)

It is no accident, I now claim, that James Hosty's CT would closely match General Walker's CT of the JFK assassination -- a Communist plot.   I'm now trying to decide -- was James Hosty working directly for General Walker and Robert Allen Surrey -- or did Walker and Surrey just run circles around Hosty, to hopelessly confuse him?

Getting back to Bill Simpich and his Mole Hunt -- I am riveted on this Telephone Impersonation of LHO at the Cuban Consulate on 10/1/1963, calling the Soviet Embassy.  It was not LHO.   I take that as established.  The CIA started a Mole Hunt.  I take that as established.  The Mole Hunt included many alterations of LHO's 201 file, including: a new middle name "Henry," for LHO, and a new photograph of some large Russian dude instead of 23 year old LHO.   I take all that as established.

Then -- on 10/8/1963, the CIA published a memo calling LHO, "Lee Henry Oswald."   What's that about?

Then -- on 10/10/1963, the CIA published a memo describing LHO as age 35, circa 6 feet, athletic build, balding top.  What's that about?

This is relevant to any discussion of James Hosty, IMHO, because Hosty continually referred to these and similar documents as his motivation for his Communists-did-it CT.

Comments?

All best,
--Paul

Edited August 25, 2019 by Paul Trejo
typos

[Pamela Brown]

Thank you, Paul.

[Paul Trejo]

23 hours ago, Pamela Brown said:

Thank you, Paul.

Hi Pamela,

I have two specific questions for you -- a scholar who has interviewed James Hosty personally. 

1.  What is your opinion about Dallas Police Lieutenant Jack Revill, who claimed in WC testimony, and in a 11/22/1963 memo to his boss, Captain Gannaway, that James Hosty told him personally on 11/22/1963 that the FBI knew that LHO was a danger to JFK, but held this back from Revill and others pledged to protect JFK?

2.  What is your opinion about James Hosty's conspiracy theory about Soviet Embassy consul Kostikov and Lee Oswald in a plot to kill JFK?

All best,
--Paul

Edited September 10, 2019 by Paul Trejo

[Michael Clark]

12 minutes ago, Paul Trejo said:

 

Dallas Police Lieutenant Jack Revill, ..... in a 11/22/1963 memo to his boss, Captain Gannaway, that James Hosty told him personally on 11/22/1963 that the FBI knew that LHO was a danger to JFK,

All best,
--Paul

Paul, Would you share a link to that document?

[Steve Thomas]

5 hours ago, Michael Clark said:

Paul, Would you share a link to that document?

Michael,

 

If you go this web site and scroll all the way to the bottom, you can read this memo. It's the third document listed:

http://www.prayer-man.com/fbi-ss/james-hosty/#lightbox[group]/8/

That memo caused no end of problems between the FBI and the Dallas Police Department for years to come.

 

Steve Thomas

[Michael Clark]

3 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

Michael,

 

If you go this web site and scroll all the way to the bottom, you can read this memo. It's the third document listed:

http://www.prayer-man.com/fbi-ss/james-hosty/#lightbox[group]/8/

That memo caused no end of problems between the FBI and the Dallas Police Department for years to come.

 

Steve Thomas

Steve, thanks for directing me to the document.

http://www.prayer-man.com/fbi-ss/james-hosty/#lightbox[group]/6/

At first consideration, I would be inclined to think that the “problems between the FBI and the Dallas Police Department for years to come” would revolve around the veracity of the statement itself; ie. that Revill made-up the story, and that Hosty never said this. Would I guess correctly if I wagered that Hosty denied making the statement? I can dig-in, and may do so but I am curious as to the accuracy of my first impression. We are seeing the DPD blaming the FBI for dropping the ball.

It seems like something that CIA asset and Mayor, Earle Cabell,  brother of Deputy Director of the CIA, Charles Cabell, could have easily set-up the FBI to take the fall for, by seeing to it that the FBI had contact with LHO, prior to the assassination and then making up this story about Hotsy’s statement.

Of, course this view is arrived at, 56 years later by someone who sees the plausibility of Hosty finding, believing and then admitting to the DPD that LHO was believed to be a threat at 2:30 PM on 11-22-63, as improbable.

 

Michael

[Steve Thomas]

3 hours ago, Michael Clark said:

We are seeing the DPD blaming the FBI for dropping the ball.

Michael,

 

This what Jack Revill said to the WC on May 13, 1964:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/revill2.htm

 

Representative FORD. Your first contact with Mr. Hosty was in the basement there?
Mr. REVILL. Yes, sir.
Representative FORD. What did he say there?
Mr. REVILL. He come running up to me, and he said, "Jack, a Communist killed President Kennedy." I said, "What? What are you talking about?'' He said, "Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy," and at that I said, "Who is Lee Harvey Oswald?" And then he told me about him having him in their security files, and then that, "We had information that he was capable of this." By "we" I assumed he meant the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mr. RANKIN. And the particular words about Oswald being capable of being an assassin those were told you by Agent Hosty in the elevator?
Mr. REVILL. No, sir; either just outside the elevator and as we got on. He never mentioned this again because I guess I lost my temper at him for withholding this type of information.
Mr. RANKIN. I see. Did you do anything about losing your temper, did you say anything?
Mr. REVILL. No; Jim Hosty and I are friends, and this has hurt me that I have involved Hosty into this thing, because he is a good agent, he is one of the agents there that we can work with; that has been most cooperative in the past, and I worked with him just like he is one of us.

 

Mr. RANKIN. Now, did you say anything to him about it?
Mr. REVILL Yes, sir.
Mr. RANKIN. What?
Mr. REVILL. I asked him why he had not told us this, and the best, my recollection is that he said he couldn't. Now, what he meant by that I don't know. Because in the past our relations had been such that this type of information, it surprised me they had not, if they had such information he had not brought it or hadn't made it available to us.

 

Mr. RANKIN. Now, will you tell us how you happened to make this report, Exhibit 709?

 

(CE 709 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1134#relPageId=521&tab=page is also infamous because it shows the address of LHO as being 605 Elsbeth St. at a time – 3:00 PM on the afternoon of 11/22 - when the DPD was only supposed to have known about 2515 W. 5^th St. in Irving based on his TSBD employment records, and N.Beckley because “some officer” told Fritz about it out in the hall. Hosty knew about LHO’s Elsbeth St. address, but he hadn’t made it up to Fritz’s office yet. By 2:40 PM, Detectives had been dispatched to both Irving and N. Beckley, so how did Revill know about Elsbeth?)

Mr. REVILL. Why I made the report?
Mr. RANKIN. How did it happen that you made it?
Mr. REVILL After Mr. Hosty had related these circumstances to me, and after taking him to the third floor, I reported this incident to my captain, Captain Gannaway.
Mr. RANKIN. When was this?
Mr. REVILL Within minutes after I left Mr. Hosty at the homicide and robbery bureau.
Mr. RANKIN. What did you say to him?
Mr. REVILL. I told him what had happened, what had transpired.
Mr. RANKIN. Just describe what you said to him.
Mr. REVILL. About meeting Mr. Hosty in the basement?
Mr. RANKIN. Just tell us what you said.
Mr. REVILL. About Mr. Hosty, following Mr. Hosty in the basement, that he came up to me, and stated that a Communist had killed the President, and that a Lee Harvey Oswald, they had him in their security files, and that they knew he was in Dallas, and that he was capable, that they had information he was capable of this. To this----

Mr. RANKIN. Did he say anything to you about it?
Mr. REVILL. Yes, sir; he did. He told me to put this on paper.
Mr. RANKIN. That is all he said?
Mr. REVILL. Yes, sir; and to which I told him that I hated to do that because of Mr. Hosty, that he might have been stating a personal opinion. He said, "You put it on paper and give it to me and I will take it to Chief Curry," and this I did. Within 30 minutes to an hour after the thing happened.

 

This is what Revill told the HSCA in 1978:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/jfkinfo2/jfk4/hscarevl.htm

 

Mr. DODD. I would like to pursue just one other line of questioning, if I could.
You testified before the Warren Commission, is that correct?
Mr. REVILL. Yes, sir.
Mr. DODD. And you stated there that .you .knew James Hosty?
Mr. REVILL. I knew him well.
Mr. DODD. Could you tell this committee, without going through an elaborate questioning process, in your own words, tell us of your encounter with James Hosty on November 22, 1963, where it occurred, and what James Hosty told you when you ran into him, approximately the time you ran into him?
Mr. REVILL. Of course, this will be based on memory. Basically, what occurred on that date, after searching the School Book Depository, finding the weapon and other evidence, I departed the Depository and returned to the Police and Courts Building accompanied by three detectives who worked in the intelligence unit. As I entered the ramp off of Main Street into the Police and Courts Building---
Mr. DODD. This is the same ramp? Mr. REVILL. The same ramp.
I was followed, or either I followed James Hosty, a member of the FBI. We both parked our cars----
Mr. DODD. You weren't following him specifically, he just happened to be coming into the building?
Mr. REVILL. He just happened to be coming into the building. We both parked our cars. He approached me, and again from memory, he commented to the effect that Lee Harvey Oswald, a Communist, had killed President Kennedy.
Mr. DODD. What time of day was this? If I told you that in your testimony in 1964 you had said it was approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, would you argue?
Mr. REVILL. I wouldn't argue. It was at a time after Oswald had been taken into custody at the Texas Theater but before his arrival at the Police and Courts Building.
Mr. DODD. Were you aware of the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested?
Mr. REVILL. No, sir, not at that time.
Mr. DODD. Were you aware that Mr. Hosty knew that Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested at that time?
Mr. REVILL. No, I assumed he did based on his statements to me.
Mr. DODD. You said, and I will quote, you said in 1964, I will quote your response to Mr. Rankin, just so you can refresh your memory and you can correct it if you would like, this is your testimony: "And. Mr. Hosty ran over to me and he says, Jack, as I recall these words, a Communist killed President Kennedy.
"I said, What?
"He said, Lee Oswald killed President Kennedy.
"I said, Who is Lee Oswald?
"He said, He is in our Communist file. We knew he was here in Dallas.
"At that time Hosty and I started walking off, and Detective Bryan as well as I recall, sort of stayed back and so forth."
Then he also states to you that at that time, according to your testimony in 1964, that they knew, that he knew, Jim Hosty knew, that Lee Oswald was capable of killing the President. You became upset at that?
Mr. REVILL. Yes, sir.
Mr. DODD. Is that a fair---
Mr. REVILL. That is a fair"-

 

Mr. DODD. You said you wrote up a report?
Mr. REVILL. Yes, sir.
Mr. DODD. Pertaining to the Hosty conversation?
Mr. REVILL. Yes, sir.
Mr. DODD. You signed it that afternoon according to your testimony in 1964 and you state then, you said, "yes sir, at the time I was hoping it would never come up."
Mr. REVILL. This is true.
Mr. DODD. Would you tell this committee why you hoped it would never come up?
Mr. REVILL. Because Jim Hosty was a friend of mine and I knew that Hoover would crucify him.

Mr. DODD. Crucify him for what?
Mr. REVILL For making that statement. Whether or not it was true or not, Hosty made the statement to me and I relayed the information to my captain at the time, Pat Ganaway, shortly after our conversation, and he instructed me to reduce it to writing.
At that time I told him if I do, Jim Hosty will be crucified or penalized by the Bureau, and to that he said, "I don't care, you put it on paper." I put it on paper.

 

Steve Thomas

[Michael Clark]

8 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

Michael,

 

This what Jack Revill said to the WC on May 13, 1964:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/revill2.htm

 

Representative FORD. Your first contact with Mr. Hosty .......

 

 

.....and to that he said, "I don't care, you put it on paper." I put it on paper.

 

Steve Thomas

Awesome Steve. Thanks for filling that out. And it looks like Paul Trejo actually had it correct.

........

 

Warren Commission testimony of James Hosty:

Mr. STERN. Were you told why you were ordered to return to the office? 
Mr. HOSTY. When I got back they told me they wanted me to start reviewing our flies to see if I could develop any information, any leads at all on the possible assassin, to help out administratively in the office. 
Mr. STERN. Did the case of Oswald come to your mind at that time? 
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir. 
Mr. STERN. As a possible---- 
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir; it was approximately 1:30 that we got the report that a police officer had been killed in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, and that the police were surrounding a movie theatre where the suspect was allegedly located.
Shortly after 2 o'clock, we received information that this man had been captured and taken to the Dallas Police Department. One of our agents called from the Dallas Police Department and identified this man as Lee Harvey Oswald. I immediately recognized the name. 
Mr. STERN. What was your reaction? 
Mr. HOSTY. Shock, complete surprise. 
Mr. STERN. Because? 
Mr. HOSTY. I had no reason prior to this time to believe that he was capable or Potentially an assassin of the President of the United States. 
Mr. STERN. What happened next? 

………

Mr. STERN. Were you told anything more about that? 
Mr. HOSTY. No; I mean this is the point I was given this information. I then went and got a car and drove to the Dallas Police Department, pulled my car into the basement garage of the Dallas Police Department, parked my car. 
Mr. STERN. What were conditions like? 
Mr. HOSTY. Very chaotic. The press was swarming all over the Police station. There were television cameras. being brought into the building. Many people were running, coming and going. The place was a beehive of activity.
I parked the car, got out, and started in the door of the basement, at which time I observed a Dallas police car, an unmarked car, drive in, in which there were four detectives. The man sitting on the right-hand side of the front seat next to the driver was a man I recognized as Lieutenant Revill. He signaled me that he wanted to talk to me, at which time he jumped out of the car at the head of the ramp and came over towards me. The rest of the detectives in the ear continued down the ramp to be parked.
We then proceeded in, Lieutenant Revill and I proceeded into the police department and started up the stairs. Lieutenant Revill advised me that--I might add he was in a very excited state--he advised me that he had a hot lead, that he had just determined that the only employee from the Texas School Book Depository who could not be accounted for was a man named Lee.
Now this conversation took place at approximately 3 p.m., about an hour after Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested by the Dallas Police Department. I told Lieutenant Revill that Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested about an hour ago, that he was an employee of the Texas School Book Depository, and that he was the man who had defected to Russia and had returned to the United States in 1962.
Now either Lieutenant Revill--I don't recall if he made a statement doubting that Oswald was the one who assassinated the President, or whether it was just a look of doubt on his face, but there was doubt came into Lieutenant Revill's--at this time I stated to him that Lee Oswald was the main suspect in this case.
Now this conversation took place running up the stairs from the basement to the third floor. At this time the level of noise was very high. As I said, there were many press representatives, TV representatives, curious bystanders, police officers, everybody running all over the place.
It was not too much unlike Grand Central Station at rush hour, maybe like the Yankee Stadium during the world series games, quite noisy. We got to the head of the stairs and I left Lieutenant Revill and went into Captain Fritz' office. 
Mr. STERN. Was anyone else with you and Lieutenant Revill as you came up the stairs, as you recall? 
Mr. HOSTY. As I say, the place was swarming with people. Just the two of us were going up the stairs together. My conversation was with Lieutenant Revill only. 
Mr. STERN. I now show you a document marked for identification Commission 831, a letter dated April 27, 1964, from Director Hoover to Mr. Rankin, the General Counsel of this Commission, having attached a one-page copy of a newspaper article and an affidavit. Do you recognize this letter? 
Mr. HOSTY. Yes, sir; I do. 
Mr. STERN. Where have you seen it? 
Mr. HOSTY. I have seen the file copy of this letter in the FBI flies. 
Mr. STERN. Do you recognize the newspaper article which is the first attachment to this letter? 
Mr. HOSTY. Yes, sir. It appeared in the Dallas Morning News on April 24, 1964, I believe. 
Mr. STERN. And the attachment after this is? 
Mr. HOSTY. My affidavit. 
Mr. STERN. Your affidavit of five pages? 
Mr. HOSTY. Of five pages, bearing my signature. 
Mr. STERN. Now tell us what the reason for your making this affidavit was. 
Mr. HOSTY. It was to refute the story that appeared in the Dallas Morning News on April 24, 1964, to set the record straight as to what actually did take place in my conversation with Lieutenant Revill. 
Mr. STERN. What did that story state? 
Mr. HOSTY. It stated in substance, alleged that I was aware that Lee Harvey Oswald was capable of assassinating the President of the United States, but did not dream he would do it. 
Mr. STERN. Did you say that? 
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir. I want to state for the record at this time that I unequivocally deny ever having made the statement to Lieutenant Revill or to anyone else that, "We knew Lee Harvey Oswald was capable of assassinating the President of the United States, we didn't dream he would do it."
I also want to state at this time that I made no statement to Lieutenant Revill or to any other individual at any time that I or anyone else in the FBI knew that Lee Harvey Oswald was capable of assassinating the President of the United States or possessed any potential for violence.
Prior to the assassination of the President of the United States, I had no information indicating violence on the part of Lee Harvey Oswald. I wish the record to so read.....

[Steve Thomas]

9 hours ago, Michael Clark said:

Shortly after 2 o'clock, we received information that this man had been captured and taken to the Dallas Police Department. One of our agents called from the Dallas Police Department and identified this man as Lee Harvey Oswald. I immediately recognized the name. he part of Lee Harvey Oswald. I wish the record to so read.....

Michael,

 

I had written, "(CE 709 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1134#relPageId=521&tab=page is also infamous because it shows the address of LHO as being 605 Elsbeth St. at a time – 3:00 PM on the afternoon of 11/22 - when the DPD was only supposed to have known about 2515 W. 5^th St. in Irving based on his TSBD employment records, and N.Beckley because “some officer” told Fritz about it out in the hall. Hosty knew about LHO’s Elsbeth St. address, but he hadn’t made it up to Fritz’s office yet. By 2:40 PM, Detectives had been dispatched to both Irving and N. Beckley, so how did Revill know about Elsbeth?)

 

And you posted the above, from Hosty.

I had forgotten about Bookhout.

Hosty had known about the Elsbeth St. address as far back as March of 1963.

If Bookhout called Hosty shortly after 2:00 PM, Hosty could easily have told him about Elsbeth, and Bookhout could have told Revill.

(Although, at that point, I'm not sure why Hosty would not have told him about Neely, and LHO;s move to New Orleans, etc.) Why would Revill still have used Elsbeth as Oswald's address? My guess is that he was using George Bouhe as his source of information. Bouhe still had Elsbeth as Oswald's last known address of record.

 

Steve Thomas

[Pamela Brown]

On 9/9/2019 at 8:30 PM, Paul Trejo said:

Hi Pamela,

I have two specific questions for you -- a scholar who has interviewed James Hosty personally. 

1.  What is your opinion about Dallas Police Lieutenant Jack Revill, who claimed in WC testimony, and in a 11/22/1963 memo to his boss, Captain Gannaway, that James Hosty told him personally on 11/22/1963 that the FBI knew that LHO was a danger to JFK, but held this back from Revill and others pledged to protect JFK?

2.  What is your opinion about James Hosty's conspiracy theory about Soviet Embassy consul Kostikov and Lee Oswald in a plot to kill JFK?

All best,
--Paul

I think Mr. Hosty did say something about talking to Jack Revill, but if I recall correctly he said that he felt Revill had amplified whatever he had said.  I do know that Hosty knew LHO was in MC, however, and if he told him that, that alone might have set off some alarms with Revill.  

I don't think Hosty spoke to me about that conspiracy theory.  

[Paul Trejo]

On 9/12/2019 at 8:52 PM, Pamela Brown said:

I think Mr. Hosty did say something about talking to Jack Revill, but if I recall correctly he said that he felt Revill had amplified whatever he had said.  I do know that Hosty knew LHO was in MC, however, and if he told him that, that alone might have set off some alarms with Revill.  

I don't think Hosty spoke to me about that conspiracy theory.  

That's interesting, Pamela.    Have you read Assignment Oswald (1996) by James Hosty?    Do you agree that this conspiracy theory by James Hosty appears in the book from the first chapter to the last chapter?

Edited September 16, 2019 by Paul Trejo

[Paul Trejo]

On 9/10/2019 at 6:18 PM, Michael Clark said:

<snip>

Mr. STERN. Do you recognize the newspaper article which is the first attachment to this letter? 
Mr. HOSTY. Yes, sir. It appeared in the Dallas Morning News on April 24, 1964, I believe. 
Mr. STERN. And the attachment after this is? 
Mr. HOSTY. My affidavit. 
Mr. STERN. Your affidavit of five pages? 
Mr. HOSTY. Of five pages, bearing my signature. 
Mr. STERN. Now tell us what the reason for your making this affidavit was. 
Mr. HOSTY. It was to refute the story that appeared in the Dallas Morning News on April 24, 1964, to set the record straight as to what actually did take place in my conversation with Lieutenant Revill. 
Mr. STERN. What did that story state? 
Mr. HOSTY. It stated in substance, alleged that I was aware that Lee Harvey Oswald was capable of assassinating the President of the United States, but did not dream he would do it. 
Mr. STERN. Did you say that? 
Mr. HOSTY. No, sir. I want to state for the record at this time that I unequivocally deny ever having made the statement to Lieutenant Revill or to anyone else that, "We knew Lee Harvey Oswald was capable of assassinating the President of the United States, we didn't dream he would do it."  I also want to state at this time that I made no statement to Lieutenant Revill or to any other individual at any time that I or anyone else in the FBI knew that Lee Harvey Oswald was capable of assassinating the President of the United States or possessed any potential for violence. Prior to the assassination of the President of the United States, I had no information indicating violence on the part of Lee Harvey Oswald. I wish the record to so read.....

Thanks, Michael, for verifying my claim here.    I will make a further claim.

James Hosty would "unequivocally deny ever having made the statement to Lieutenant Revill or to anyone else that, 'We knew Lee Harvey Oswald was capable of assassinating the President of the United States, we didn't dream he would do it.' "

In that denial, Hosty merely denied stating those exact words.    I believe Hosty there, because newspaper journalists sometimes make stuff up when they don't have the exact wording.

Besides, Dallas Police Lieutenant Jack Revill never said at any time, in writing or in WC testimony, that James Hosty ever said those exact words.   Actually, let's look at the letter that Jack Revill wrote to his boss, less than four hours after the JFK Assassination.   This letter is CE 709.

November 22, 1963
Captain W.P. Gannaway
Special Service Bureau

Subject: Lee Harvey Oswald
605 Elsbeth Street

Sir:

On November 22, 1963, at approximately 2:50 PM, the undersigned officer met Special Agent James Hosty of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the basement of the City Hall.

At that time Special Agent Hosty related to this officer that the Subject was a member of the Communist Party, and that he was residing in Dallas.

The Subject was arrested for the murder of Officer J.D. Tippit and is a prime suspect in the assassination of President Kennedy.

The information regarding the Subject’s affiliation with the Communist Party is the first information this officer has received from the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding same.

Agent Hosty further stated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was aware of the Subject and that they had information that this Subject was capable of committing the assassination of President Kennedy.

Respectfully submitted,
Jack Revill, Lieutenant
Criminal Intelligence Section
 

Now, there are two obvious problems with this memo -- and both were brought up by J. Lee Rankin, grilling Revill on the hot seat.   

First, the address of Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) is an old address, not current as of November 22, 1963, when this memo was written.   Revill explained that while writing this memo, he received word from various Dallas Police that LHO was at that moment in custody in that building, and that this was the latest address that they had for LHO.

Also, Hosty had only said that LHO was a "Communist," and not that LHO was a "member of the Communist Party," as Revill wrote.   That was an error that any non-expert could make.

Now, the WC attorneys and members frequently asked J. Edgar Hoover and Alan Belmont (as well as James Hosty) why the FBI had failed to warn the Washington DC Secret Service about LHO before JFK's trip to Dallas. 

Their answer was unanimous -- they had no information that LHO was dangerous. 

Yet when they were also asked why the FBI saw fit to track LHO throughout most of 1963 they unanimously said that they thought LHO was dangerous!

Edited September 16, 2019 by Paul Trejo
typos

[Pamela Brown]

21 hours ago, Paul Trejo said:

That's interesting, Pamela.    Have you read Assignment Oswald (1996) by James Hosty?    Do you agree that this conspiracy theory by James Hosty appears in the book from the first chapter to the last chapter?

I have the book. I don't agree about your pushing that theory.  Your opinion though.  You're entitled.