VISIT TO THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN MEXICO CITY
In October 1963, the Passport Office of the State Department received a report from the Central Intelligence Agency that Oswald had visited the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City.[A15-290] The report said nothing about Oswald’s having visited the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City, a fact which was not known until after the assassination. Upon receipt of the information the passport file on Lee Harvey Oswald was reviewed by the Passport Office.[A15-291] The CIA communication and the passport file were read by an attorney and a supervisory attorney in that office who found no basis for revoking Oswald’s passport or for notifying the FBI or CIA that Oswald had been issued a new passport in June 1963.[A15-292] The Department has informed the Commission that, “since the report indicated no grounds for determining Oswald was ineligible for a passport, a determination was made that no action by the passport office was required.”[A15-293] Travel to Russia was not proscribed in 1963. Moreover, the Soviet Union was one of the countries Oswald had listed on his passport application. Hence, the Commission agrees that Oswald’s taking steps to enter the Soviet Union in 1963 was not a sufficient reason to revoke his passport.
Later, on November 14, 1963, the FBI sent the Department a report on Oswald’s arrest in New Orleans, La. during August in connection with a fistfight in which he became engaged when passing out pamphlets entitled “Hands Off Cuba.” No action was taken on the basis of the Bureau’s report.[A15-294] The Commission agrees that this incident was not grounds for revoking Oswald’s passport.