Mr. Coleman. Do you know what category——
Mr. Chayes. I think you ought to inquire from Miss Knight about that.
Mr. Coleman. I also take it you wouldn't know what goes in categories O and P, O being "orange card, includes recent master list" and P being "project Carry."
Mr. Chayes. I don't personally know at all.
(Discussion off the record.)
Representative Ford. Let me ask you this, Mr. Chayes. Were Oswald's various applications and various approvals ever handled as a special case as far as you know?
Mr. Chayes. The only applications that were handled as a special case were the ones made in Russia for the return of his passport in the first instance, and then the renewal of his passport. Those were handled as a special case, both in the Embassy and in the Department.
Although I don't think very high ranking officers passed on them in the sense of Assistant Secretaries or something like that, nonetheless they where handled at very responsible levels in the Department. The political desk was consulted as well as the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, and a very deliberate and special decision was made.
The subsequent application, the June 1963 application, was handled as a matter of routine.
Representative Ford. The application in the Embassy for renewal or reissuance, was that handled more expeditiously or less expeditiously than other defector or attempted defector cases?