President of his country, he appointed you as head of this group. But through certain falsehoods that have been said about me to other people, the John Birch Society, I am as good as guilty as the accused assassin of President Kennedy.
How can you remedy that, Mr. Warren? Do any of you men have any ways of remedying that?
Mr. Bill Decker said be a man and speak up. I am making a statement now that I may not live the next hour when I walk out of this room.
Now it is the most fantastic story you have ever heard in a lifetime. I did something out of the goodness of my heart. Unfortunately, Chief Earl Warren, had you been around 5 or 6 months ago, and I know your hands were tied, you couldn't do it, and immediately the President would have gotten ahold of my true story, or whatever would have been said about me, a certain organization wouldn't have so completely formed now, so powerfully, to use me because I am of the Jewish extraction, Jewish faith, to commit the most dastardly crime that has ever been committed.
Can you understand now in visualizing what happened, what powers, what momentum has been carried on to create this feeling of mass feeling against my people, against certain people that were against them prior to their power?
That goes over your head, doesn't it?
Chief Justice WARREN. Well, I don't quite get the full significance of it, Mr. Ruby. I know what you feel about the John Birch Society.

Mr. Ruby.

Very powerful.
Chief Justice WARREN. I think it is powerful, yes I do. Of course, I don't have all the information that you feel you have on that subject.

Mr. Ruby.

Unfortunately, you don't have, because it is too late. And I wish that our beloved President, Lyndon Johnson, would have delved deeper into the situation, hear me, not to accept just circumstantial facts about my guilt or innocence, and would have questioned to find out the truth about me before he relinquished certain powers to these certain people.
Chief Justice WARREN. Well, I am afraid I don't know what power you believe he relinquished to them. I think that it is difficult to understand what you have to say.

Mr. Ruby.

I want to say this to you. The Jewish people are being exterminated at this moment. Consequently, a whole new form of government is going to take over our country, and I know I won't live to see you another time. Do I sound sort of screwy--in telling you these things?
Chief Justice WARREN. No; I think that is what you believe, or you wouldn't tell it under your oath.

Mr. Ruby.

But it is a very serious situation. I guess it is too late to stop it, isn't it?
All right, I want to ask you this. All you men have been chosen by the President for this committee, is that correct?
Chief Justice WARREN. Representative Ford and I are the only members of the Commission that are here.
Mr. Rankin of the Commission is employed as our chief counsel.
Mr. Rankin employed Mr. Specter and Mr. Ball as members of the staff.
You know who the other gentlemen here are.
You know that Mr. Moore is a member of the Secret Service, and he has been a liaison officer with our staff since the Commission was formed.

Representative Ford.

Are there any questions that ought to be asked to help clarify the situation that you described?

Mr. Ruby.

There is only one thing. If you don't take me back to Washington tonight to give me a chance to prove to the President that I am not guilty, then you will see the most tragic thing that will ever happen.
And if you don't have the power to take me back, I won't be around to be able to prove my innocence or guilt.
Now up to this moment, I have been talking with you for how long?
Chief Justice WARREN. I would say for the better part of 3 hours.

Mr. Ruby.

All right, wouldn't it be ridiculous for me to speak sensibly all this time and give you this climactic talk that I have?
Maybe something can be saved, something can be done.
What have you got to answer to that, Chief Justice Warren?

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