Mr. Hosty. At the very most 20–25 minutes.
Mr. Stern. Were you alone with Mrs. Paine throughout this period?
Mr. Hosty. No; towards the conclusion of the interview, Marina Oswald, who had apparently been napping, entered the living room.
Mr. Stern. Had you ever met Mrs. Oswald before?
Mr. Hosty. Never before, no. As I had learned previously, and as Mrs. Paine had told me, she did not speak any English, so Mrs. Paine then told her in the Russian language who I was. I was an agent with the FBI.
I could tell from her eyes and her expression that she became quite alarmed, quite upset. I had had previous experience with people who come from Communist-controlled countries that they get excited when they see the police. They must think that we are like the Gestapo or something like that.
She became quite alarmed, and, like I say, I knew that she just had a baby the week before. So I didn't want to leave her in that state, so rather than just walking out and leaving her and not saying anything to her, I told Mrs. Paine to relate to her in the Russian language that I was not there for the purpose of harming her, harassing her, and that it wasn't the job of the FBI to harm people. It was our job to protect people.
Mrs. Paine relayed this information.
I assume she relayed it correctly. I don't speak Russian.
Representative Ford. What was the reaction, if any, on the part of Marina following that comment by Mrs. Paine?