(Testimony of Mrs. Marguerite Oswald Resumed)
Mrs. Oswald.
printed the story in the paper with the three letters that he bought from me, three different letters I am talking about now, and printed how many letters I had, including the three letters that the FBI man that Marina's uncle was a colonel. He printed the things in the paper.
So approximately 5 or 6 days later the Secret Service man-and I can find his picture probably--came to my home and returned the three letters and got a receipt from me for the three letters.
Mr. Rankin.
How much did this reporter offer to pay you for the letters and other things?
Mrs. Oswald.
I got $50 for each letter. And I have the receipt.
Mr. Rankin.
I don't understand yet. You offered to sell the letters to him, or let him have use of them for $50 apiece?
Mrs. Oswald.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Rankin.
$150?
Mrs. Oswald.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Rankin.
And then he published them?
Mrs. Oswald.
No. Yes--he published the letters. It was published in the New York Times, the three letters.
Mr. Rankin.
Then they were returned to you.
Mrs. Oswald.
No, he never did take the letters. Mr. Langueth never did take the letters he bought from me out of my hand. As I told you gentlemen, we went to a photostatic place and the letters were copied, and I kept the originals. He paid me $50. That was printed in the story. But the three letters that the Secret Service men had, he printed in the story about Marina's uncle being a colonel in the Russian Army. And that is the letter that the Secret Service man had.
Mr. Rankin.
And you did not get paid for those at all?
Mrs. Oswald.
No--these are different letters. So they returned those letters to me, the Secret Service, and I gave them a receipt for them. But they did not ask my permission to take them, or let me have a receipt when they took them. So I am trying to point out the fact that I got the three letters back, I would think, because the story in the paper said that the Secret Service had these three letters and parts of what they contained. So the three letters were returned to me, and I had to sign a receipt for those three letters.
Am I making that clear now?
May I have some water, please?
Representative Ford.
Are we going to get these letters in the record?
Mrs. Oswald.
Yes, sir. Let me get the letters in the record, then.
Mr. Doyle.
Let me go off the record a minute.
(Discussion off the record.)
Mrs. Oswald.
I am not able to go into the defection now, because I am not through with this part. The defection starts an entirely different story, if you want to know the true facts, and it will take quite a while.
What sticks in my mind is this one particular letter about Marina's uncle. The other two I am not quite sure.
Representative Boggs.
What does it say about her uncle?
Mrs. Oswald.
Well, I have to find the letter, sir.
I want to say this, gentleman. And maybe you are not in agreement with me. But all my life I have known and I have thought that a title does not make a man. It may be presumptuous of me that I am accusing the Secret Service because they are the Secret Service. But there are men in our Government, and the Secret Service, who are undesirable, just like in any other organization--let's face it. We have such men as Bobby Baker, who was a citizen well thought of. Charles Van Doren who was well thought of. Mr. Fred Korth who was under investigation, he was a wonderful citizen. I can go on and on. Yet these men turned out not to be the right type.
I say this because my son was a self-styled Marxist, and a known defector, and that is why his guilt was proven by the Dallas Police. And my son-had he been a Senator or someone in the higher field. maybe they would not have picked him up so fast. Now, that is a fact of our way of life, of human nature. Having a title doesn't mean that you are the man back of the title.
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