Mr. Rankin. I thought there was information that they had people connected with the government who were engaged in trying to understand and be able to use methods of assassination.
Mr. Johnson. No.
Mr. Rankin. You don't think that's true?
Mr. Johnson. Oh, no. That's not true. That's dissident groups, groups like that, not Communist groups.
Mr. Rankin. You don't think that is a part presently of the Soviet Union——
Mr. Johnson. Definitely not.
Mr. Rankin. And you don't think it is any part of the plans of the Communist Party of the United States?
Mr. Johnson. I know that a thousand percent. We have for years made it a point if anybody has such viewpoints they cannot ever be a member of the party. They are expelled et cetera. We specifically speak against any acts of terrorism or individual violence et cetera.
Mr. Rankin. Did you have any contact with Columbia Broadcasting System in regard to news matters relating to Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. Johnson. That's what I was referring to before, that as soon as—yes, on the—I was trying to say the date, on the 23d, the day after the assassination, I called and issued a statement to all the news media in which I made it clear that Lee Harvey Oswald was not associated with us in any way and so forth, and they carried this on the radio or on television, I think one of them did. But it was also carried on the front page of the New York Times and through other papers. That was called in to all the stations, not just to Columbia. There was a seven-sentence statement.