"Patsy!": The Life and Times of Lee Harvey Oswald (40 page)

Then a missive from George was passed to him on the street. His contact, aware of Lee's change of residence, had altered his daily walk-route to pass by the Metropole. They nodded, shook hands, and Lee walked away with a note from George.

Shortly after noon on October 31 Lee caught a taxi, rode to the American Embassy, entered, and told the receptionist that he demanded to speak with the Consul, Richard Snyder.

“Mr. Snyder? There's a man here who needs to talk with you at once on a most pressing matter.” Lee was ushered into an old-fashioned American style office adorned with Oak furniture.

“I am a Marxist,” Lee, standing, announced as he raised a finger in the air, considering the ‘decadence' surrounding him.

“You'll be a lonely man as a Marxist,” Snyder cynically replied, remaining seated. He then explained that the values of Karl Marx, so altruistic, had precious little to do with the harsh realities of life in Khrushchev's current corrupt state.

“Don't try and talk me out of it. I know what I'm doing.”

Officially, as Snyder's office mate John McVickar noted, the Consul continued to attempt to reason with Lee. From time to time their visitor, refusing a seat, grinning maniacally, interrupted with such pat phrases as “I hate America.”

Exhausted, the Counsul rose, came around, shook Lee's hand, wished him well, then led this acerbic young man to the door. As Lee left, Snyder agreed to initiate the arduous process.

“Thank you, Consul. I'll be waiting to hear from you.”

All of this had been carefully scripted by George. McVicar was not in on the scripted if unrehearsed little piece of life as theatre. Snyder had a double identity of his own, he also the top CIA man in Moscow. His position as Consul had been arranged so that while seeming to serve in an acceptable capacity Snyder could secretly oversee all plans to undermine Russian security.

“As I said, Mr. Oswald, this will take time.”

As for Snyder and Lee, each had been instructed to say precisely what they did owing to George's concern the office had been tapped, the KGB listening in. If this were true, what the operatives heard would help convince the Russians that Lee was what he claimed to be. It certainly couldn't hurt.

“The sooner the better. I
hate
America!”

When they shook hands, each passed a note to the other.

*

As for the KGB, they were not convinced the suicide attempt had been for real. Still, there remained the possibility that Oswald was what he claimed to be. So what to do?

For a stop-gap measure, they extended his Visa indefinitely and put Lee up, at governmental expense, at his hotel. During the following two months, KGB agents checked with every possible source, relying heavily on statements from communist agents in California and Japan who had been in contact with Lee. Missives came back commending his passionate speech but some questioned his supposed “wide reading” of communist theory.

Lee would express himself in brief phrases—“All power to the people!”; “Death to capitalism!”—that sounded borrowed, trite, and tired. Lee, clearly a bright enough fellow, would have had more command of the political theories than that if, as he claimed, he truly did study book after book.

“So,” Shelepin asked one after another of his co-workers, “what are we to do in the case of Lee Harvey Oswald?”

Many an hour was spent discussing ‘The Oswald Situation.' As top KGB man, Alexander N. Shelepin would have to make the call. He favored sending Lee home, less owing to any concern Oswald constituted a serious security risk than to maintain his position. If Shelepin were to stamp Oswald's file as a ‘non-threat,' and Lee turned out to be a plant, not only would Shelepin lose his prestigious position but likely end up in Siberia.

On the other hand Yuri Nosenko, specifically assigned to monitor Oswald's file, leaned in the opposite direction. There was so much potential here to acquire information that any possible risk should be considered a minor issue.

As the American waited at Hotel Metropole, the hefty head of KGB and his thin assistant pondered Oswald's file.

“Whatever we decide, our careers might be ruined.”

“True. Then again, our reputations might be enhanced.”

Unknown to them, a similar file had been established in Washington, D.C. at the offices of the FBI. As competition between that venerable information gathering service and the newer, more aggressive CIA intensified, each became ever more interested in its own survival than in its assigned security goals. Each arm of America's source of national protection set out to keep its competitor from knowing what it might actually be up to. The immediate effect? A decrease in the effectiveness of both as to national interests.

Not only had George and his superiors made no attempt to share Lee's status as a spy with J. Edgar Hoover; rather, the CIA attempted to cover up all traces of his mission. The FBI, understandably blindsided, could only consider this defection a serious threat as news reports of Oswald's activities trickled in. At George's request, Snyder had filed an obligatory report to the U.S. naval attaché in Moscow. This man had in turn passed the report on to the Commander of Naval Operations in D.C.

“Lee Harvey Oswald,” this official record stated, “has offered (the) Soviets information he possessed on US radar.”

Later that day, this report reached Hoover. He decided this might offer an opportunity for his Bureau to reassert its authority.

Assigned to study the materials, Col. Thomas Fox, chief of Clandestine Services for the Defense Intelligence Agency, summed it all up: “The possibility that Oswald had been recruited or had prior contact with Soviet intelligence while in Japan would have to be fully explored. A net damage assessment, indicating the possible access (that) Oswald had to classified information” would commence immediately.

Confusing matters further, several FBI agents reported to Hoover that Oswald had been simultaneously spotted in various locations in the U.S. This caused Hoover to wonder if the ex-marine might be here, someone else meanwhile posing as Oswald.

File 301 was established at FBI headquarters, agents sent out to interview fellow marines, old friends and family members. John W. Fain, special agent assigned to speak with Marguerite and Robert, arrived in Fort Worth in late October. Marguerite, upon hearing the agent's polite but concerned questions, threw herself onto the nearest couch and wept. Robert, working a milk route to cover their expenses, showed up a later in his white suit. Balding, Robert appeared considerably less impressive than he had several years earlier in full marine dress garb.

“Yes, sir. Actually, I expected to hear from the FBI much sooner. I'll be glad to cooperate in any manner that I can.”

Calmly, Robert explained things to Fain. The moment Lee's defection hit the airwaves Robert sent a telegram to his brother by way of the American Embassy: “through any possible means, keep your nose clean!” Not only had Lee failed to respond but, as Robert learned through Western Union, when a secretary at the Embassy contacted Lee, asking him to stop by and pick up the message, Lee refused. The FBI man thanked Robert for his cooperation and took his leave.

*

As per George's orders, Lee turned down most interview requests from American reporters in Moscow, each hoping to nail a scoop. A key exception: Priscilla Post Johnson, ostensibly in Moscow to cover the Russian news-front for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Like Embassy boss Snyder she served as a CIA plant. Previous to this assignment, Johnson worked for Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy, he even then readying his presidential bid. Since JFK favored the CIA over the FBI, Johnson—ever loyal to JFK—made herself known to Allen Dulles, who introduced the young woman to George. He had taken care of her arrangements with the newspaper syndicate to place Johnson in this position.

“Hello, Lee Harvey Oswald. Thanks for agreeing to speak with me.” (Be careful what you say: someone may be listening!)

The moment Lee met Priscilla Post Johnson it was love at first sight. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a one-way attraction. She left two hours later, her joint missions accomplished. As a reporter, she came away with a routine story. As a “mole,” Johnson's more significant task had been to slip a message to Lee from George and carry one away as she left.

“Thank you, Mr. Oswald. Perhaps we'll meet again.”

God, I hope so. You are
so
gorgeous ...!

All the while the KGB officials pondered, argued, stalled, agreed, disagreed, decided, re-evaluated. Lee remained free to come and go as he wished. Rima had offered to spend New Year's Eve with him but, convinced the relationship would not lead to the romance Lee longed for, he asked if Rosa might be his date.

They attended the ballet, dined on caviar, retired to his room. He could not guess, much less know, that what he thought to be his own decisions had been orchestrated by the KGB, Rosa one of their top agents.

“Oh, Rosa. I'm so crazy about you. Please—”

“Relax, Lee. Let me get to know your better as a person. Tell me ‘the Lee Harvey Oswald story.' Who are you, what—”

On New Year's Day, however, Rosa could only relate to her superiors what they already knew: This man seemed sincere; an almost ethereal element of innocence surrounded his presence.

Then again, this might mask a brilliant, devious mind.

*

“I've got good news and bad news,” Lee told George in a frantic phone call from Moscow to Miami on January 4, 1960. This took place from the apartment of Priscilla Post Johnson, which she daily scoured for traces of listening devices in her rooms or a wiretap on her private radio-phone.

“Hit me with the good news first.”

“My Visa will be extended for at least a year.”

“Terrific. And the bad?”

“They're sending me to Minsk! That's off in Byelorussia.”

“I know where Minsk is, Lee.”

“That's like one of theirs hoping to mole himself into Washington and learning he'll be sent to Dubuque Iowa instead.”

“Will you calm down? This has to be a Sheletin decision, and I believe I understan how the man arrives at his decisions. You are being allowed to stay on because they assume you probably are what you claim to be. But they aren't certain. By sending you to a far-off city, they're placing you in a virtual test-tube. Agents will be watching from every angle, pretending to be ordinary citizens. They'll report every move you make. In time, Sheletin will make his decision. If they come to disbelieve your ‘legend' they'll oust you. If they buy it, you'll be back in Moscow. Then you'll truly be our key mole there.”

“If I'm sent home ... I won‘t be ‘dumped'?”

“Jesus, Lee. When will you relax and realize you're ‘in'? Now, here's what I want you to do. Go with the flow but insist that you want to be assigned to some sort of radio job when you arrive, based on your marine expertise. This will put you in a position to learn about technology outside of Moscow, which we know precious little about. Everything may work out for the best.”

George read Sheletin correctly; this double-decision did constitute a temporary holding pattern. Lee took heart at the realization that his ongoing status as a secret agent would continue in some form or another. He received the substantial sum of 5,000 rubles, supposedly from the Red Cross, as well as the government's promise that they would pay him an additional subsidy of $700 a month while in Minsk.

A four day train trip brought him there. Lee was greeted as an arriving hero at the station by Mayor Sharapov. He offered a fine rent-free apartment for this American who had dared speak out, condemning his country's imperialism. Two local Red Cross nurses accompanied Lee to the city's leading hotel, more upscale than he had expected.

“Hello, Mr. Oswald. Welcome!”

I never thought Minsk would be so full of pretty girls
.

As Lee checked in, young females crowded around outside, peering in windows, for a peek at the young American they'd heard about. Lee basked in the realization that these teenagers saw him as a sexy celebrity.

Again, he thought:
if they could see me now ...!

The next day, Lee rose early and left room 453 to make a tour of his surroundings. He wandered down Sverdlov Street, peeking into a butcher shop on the pretext of taking a glance at what meats were available. In actuality, he passed a note for George to the pro-U.S. Russian who owned the place. Lee checked out GUM department store, then reported to work as a fitter-trainee at Gorizoni (Horizon). There he would be employed as a “checker,” or metalworker, allowing him access to all the radio equipment and communications technology the firm developed.

He did grasp that the friendly workers who smilingly welcomed him to the Radio Factory were likely assigned by the local KGB chief to befriend him and report back daily.

“Thanks. Nice to meet you. The pleasure's all mine.”

One uneducated oaf, named Viktor, took an immediate dislike to Lee solely because he was an American, Lee's pro-Soviet views be damned. They came close to fighting once, though several of their comrades rushed over and tore the two apart. One, Stepan Vasilyevich, fluent in English, offered to give Lee Russian language lessons so that he might converse in the native tongue.

As Lee guessed, Stepan's generosity was not precisely what it seemed. This late twenties fellow would at day's end report to Igor Ivanovich Guzmin at the plant. He filed summaries with the local KGB. Here, they were further edited before operatives sent them to Moscow. By the time such missives reached Sheletin, they were completely garbled and totally inaccurate.

Still, the desire to know for certain who and what Lee was weighed heavily on all. This explains why he was not assigned work at a less sensitive job than experimental radio. Only by setting him down in a position where Lee might reveal himself via a simple slip could the KGB learn what they needed to know.