President's Commission on the Assassination of - The Warren Commission (Complete Edition)

Mr. Martin. I beg your pardon?

Mr. Redlich. Do you recall whether you had a conversation in mid-January with Robert Oswald concerning the Nixon incident?

Mr. Martin. I don't remember. I was trying to remember that the other day to find out if I had mentioned it to him. And——

Mr. Redlich. Do you recall when Robert Oswald would come to visit your house?

Mr. Martin. On Sundays.

Mr. Redlich. And what would he do on these Sundays?

Mr. Martin. Usually take Marina and the baby to the cemetery.

Mr. Redlich. Do you recall whether on one of those Sundays you had a conversation with him concerning the Nixon incident?

Mr. Martin. I don't remember. I am not sure whether I did tell him or not. It seems to me that I did, but I can't recall the incident at all.

Mr. Redlich. Did Mrs. Oswald, Marina Oswald, ever indicate to you that she had discussed the Nixon incident with anyone else?

Mr. Martin. No.

Mr. Redlich. To be more specific, did she ever indicate to you whether she had discussed the Nixon incident with Robert Oswald?

Mr. Martin. No.

Mr. Redlich. With Mrs. Marguerite Oswald?

Mr. Martin. No.

Mr. Redlich. With any Federal authority?

Mr. Martin. No.

Mr. Redlich. Could you state again what your advice to her was with regard to the revealing of this incident?

Mr. Martin. Well, I told her it would be advisable just not to say anything about it.

Mr. Redlich. To anyone?

Mr. Martin. That is right.

Mr. Redlich. But you related the incident to Mr. Levine.

Mr. Martin. Yes.

Mr. Redlich. When you accompanied Mrs. Oswald to Washington for the hearings before this Commission, did the Nixon incident come up at all during your conversations?

Mr. Martin. Not that I recall.

Mr. Redlich. This incident which you regarded of such importance at the time you didn't discuss with her at all during the time she was appearing before this Commission?

Mr. Martin. I don't remember mentioning it to her.

Mr. Redlich. You didn't ask her whether she had told the Commissioners?

Mr. Martin. I think I asked John Thorne if she had mentioned it.

Mr. Redlich. What did Mr. Thorne say?

Mr. Martin. He said no, not yet. And I dropped it at that.

Mr. Redlich. You and Mr. Thorne didn't have any conversations concerning whether she should mention it?

Mr. Martin. No.

Mr. Redlich. At the conclusion of the testimony did you ask Mrs. Oswald whether she had mentioned it?

Mr. Martin. Not to my knowledge, no.

Mr. Redlich. Did you discuss with Mr. Thorne the question of whether she had mentioned the Nixon incident before this Commission?

Mr. Martin. I think so.

Mr. Redlich. What did Mr. Thorne say?

Mr. Martin. He said no.

Mr. Redlich. Did you and Mr. Thorne discuss whether she should have mentioned that incident before this Commission?

Mr. Martin. No.

Mr. Redlich. Did you think it was an important incident, Mr. Martin?

Mr. Martin. No. I don't know why—the credibility of it didn't sound logical. It didn't seem to me that it actually happened.

Mr. Redlich. Did you speak to any representative of the Houston Post or the Associated Press with regard to this incident in the last several days?

Mr. Martin. Yesterday morning.

Mr. Redlich. Could you tell us the nature of that conversation?

Mr. Martin. He came out and asked me.

Mr. Redlich. Who is "he"?

Mr. Martin. Let's see, his name is Creighton, I believe or the last name began with a "C", he is with the Houston Post, reporter. He came out and asked me what I knew about the Nixon incident and I said I know nothing about it. He said well he had it on good authority that there was a diary that Lee Harvey Oswald had written and it was mentioned in the diary.

Now, I have never heard of a diary involved. There are some 60 pages of manuscript that he is supposed to have written, but I have never heard of a diary.

Then—which I told him.

He asked me if I knew of anyone that he could contact to find more about it. And I said well, if anybody knows about it, it will be the Commission, and I told him that I had just heard about it the day before, and he asked if Marina knew anything about it, and I said I don't know.

Mr. Redlich. You didn't discuss with this reporter whether you believed the incident to be true?

Mr. Martin. No.

Mr. Redlich. At the time you first learned about the incident you thought it was of sufficient importance that you called Mr. Thorne the same day, isn't that right?

Mr. Martin. Yes. We discussed it back and forth and I don't—we couldn't think of how it could happen.

Mr. Leech. Could we go off the record?

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. Dulles. Read this brief report into the record.

Mr. Redlich. I would like to read into the record a story which appears in the Washington Post February 22, 1964—27, 1964, dated Houston, Texas, February 26, Associated Press:

"The Houston Post quoted an associate of Lee Harvey Oswald's widow tonight as saying Oswald planned to kill former Vice President Richard M. Nixon. The Post quoted James Martin, until a few days ago Marina Oswald's business representative, as saying that evidence to this effect had been presented to the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Martin is scheduled to testify before the Commissioners Thursday. Nixon was in Dallas the day before President Kennedy was killed. Oswald was charged with the slaying."

Mr. Martin. Now. I did not tell him—I told him exactly what I told you, that I had no knowledge of it. I had secondhand knowledge only of it. I said if anyone knew about it the Commission would know it.

Mr. Redlich. Did you tell him that this evidence had been presented before the Warren Commission?

Mr. Martin. No, I told him if anybody knew about it, you would know about it.

Senator Cooper. I think you said a minute ago that you only learned about it the day before?

Mr. Martin. That is what I told the newspaper reporter.

Senator Cooper. What is the significance of that? Did you talk to somebody the day before?

Mr. Martin. No, it was just a method of brushing him off.

Senator Cooper. Had you talked to Robert Oswald the day before?

Mr. Martin. No.

Senator Cooper. May I ask this: Now, Mrs. Marina Oswald told you about the Nixon incident?

Mr. Martin. Yes.

Senator Cooper. Had she previously told you about the Walker incident?

Mr. Martin. Yes.

Senator Cooper. General Walker?

Mr. Martin. Yes, after it came out in the newspapers. The first I heard about it was when I read in the newspapers.

Senator Cooper. Then she talked to you about it?

Mr. Martin. I asked her about it.

Senator Cooper. You have read somewhere, have you, that Mrs. Marina Oswald said that Lee Oswald gave her his reason for wanting to shoot at General Walker?

Mr. Martin. The reason she gave me was that Lee Harvey Oswald thought that General Walker was a Fascist.

Senator Cooper. Right.

Mr. Martin. And needed to be killed.

Senator Cooper. Did she tell you any statement that Lee Oswald made giving his reasons that he wanted to kill or shoot Richard Nixon?

Mr. Martin. No.

Senator Cooper. Didn't talk about that at all?

Mr. Martin. No.

Senator Cooper. Did she ever tell you of any other statements that Lee Oswald had made to her about his, any attempts that he made or any intentions that he had to kill any other person?

Mr. Martin. No.

Senator Cooper. You are sure of that?

Mr. Martin. Positive.

Senator Cooper. Did she tell you about any statements that Lee Oswald might have made about President Kennedy?

Mr. Martin. No. Anything that——

Senator Cooper. You must have talked to her a great deal about this assassination of President Kennedy.