Mr. Chayes. In my opinion, they could not. They could not have refused a passport based on the information in the Oswald file.
Representative Ford. If that is true, how could you have a lookout card now that would have resulted, that would result in a passport being refused?
Mr. Chayes. I don't think we could. What the lookout card would do would be to refer you to the file. You would look into the file. You might then want some further investigation as to this fellow.
You might, having seen that you were dealing with this kind of a person, want to examine him more fully on his travel plans and so on and so on. That further investigation might turn up some information which would warrant a determination under one of these subsections. But if it turned up nothing but what was in the file, you would have to issue the passport, in my judgment.
Mr. Dulles. That is, lookout cards might well be put in in borderline cases, but when you came to consider the case on all the facts, you would decide in favor of issuance of the passport rather than refusal?
Mr. Chayes. Yes; that is the same thing with the expatriation card which should have been made out for Oswald in 1960. It should have been made out because there was a possibility that he had expatriated himself. But then when he came to apply for the passport, all the lookout card would do is say, "Investigate this carefully and determine this issue."
And as you say, when you got all the facts as in the expatriation situation, you might determine that he had not expatriated himself.
Representative Ford. At least in this case if there had been a lookout card, there would have been a delay.
Mr. Chayes. Yes.
Representative Ford. That is the very least that would have happened.