Representative Ford. Did you make any inquiry as to whether or not that was an accurate statement alleged to have been made by him to an embassy official?
Mr. Fain. Mr. Carter and I asked him, all about those things. Of course, he denied it.
Representative Ford. Did he make any specific denial of that, as you recall?
Mr. Fain. Yes; we asked him if he had been asked about anything concerning his specialty while in the Marine Corps and I think he said no, that he had not.
Representative Ford. What confuses me is, one, that he denied this to you, but then he apparently at some prior time had told the Embassy that he had advised unnamed Soviet officials that as a former Marine radar operator he would make available to them information about his Marine Corps specialty when he became a Soviet citizen.
Mr. Fain. Yes, sir; we were aware of that, that statement. He denied it, and he also denied that he had ever denounced his United States citizenship, and he denied to Mr. Carter and me that he had ever applied for Soviet citizenship specifically.
Mr. Stern. Was it your practice, Mr. Fain, to review the files on a subject before you interviewed him?
Mr. Fain. Yes, sir.
Mr. Stern. Can you recall whether you did that in this case?
Mr. Fain. I certainly did, yes, sir; there were so many details and so many allegations you had to study it long hours to get the thing further in mind.