Mr. Doyle. Why don't you start with—start and tell the members of the Commission about your accident and Lee's going to Russia.
Mrs. Oswald. That is a very long story.
Mr. Doyle. I know. But start it, and if you get tired at all, you advise the Commission, and I am certain that——
Mrs. Oswald. I will have something very important to this Commission that I would like to say, that would take up some time.
Mr. Rankin, I spoke with you, I think it was Thursday, December 6th, and I told you that since it was publicly known I was going to appear before the Warren Commission, that I would like to have protection, as you recall. I did not get protection, sir. And so the next morning I called you, approximately 9 o'clock, in the morning and told you that I didn't have protection, and I was very concerned. And this would have been Friday, the second call, and that I was going to the bank, to my safety deposit vault, and get the necessary papers. And I definitely wanted complete surveillance, because the papers were going to be with me in my home, and the public knew I was going to testify, and I wanted that protection.
Now, you said, you would get in touch with Mr. Sorrels, sir, and have Mr. Sorrel's call me, which he did approximately an hour after my request to you that I did not have protection. Mr. Sorrels called me and said "Mrs. Oswald, I understand that you want to go to the bank and get your important papers out of the bank, and you have requested protection."
I said, "Yes. I thought I had protection last night. I woke up 4 o'clock in the morning with all the lights lit, getting papers together and cleaning the house." Because the telephone started to ring consistently.
I would have never done that if I would have known I didn't have protection. I was leaving myself wide open.
So he said, "Well, is your attorney in town?"
I said, "No, he is not."