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Oswald's friend reported to the CIA
The CIA debriefings
De Mohrenschildt grew up in Minsk and moved in the same wealthy social and diplomatic circles as the Drexels, the Morgans, the Bouviers, and the Kennedys. After every foreign trip, he sat down with J. Walton Moore, an officer in the CIA's Domestic Contacts Division, which collected information on Americans overseas.
The assignment
The assignment was an ex-Marine living in Fort Worth, just back from the Soviet Union. Oswald had lived in Minsk for years, so of every man in Dallas, only de Mohrenschildt could sit across from him and talk about Lenin Avenue stretching to Victory Square, the river, and the smell of popcorn at the circus. He didn't want to risk his business or his reputation, but Moore told him both would be fine and mentioned a juicy oil contract in Haiti that could land his way.
For about six months, de Mohrenschildt ran Oswald's life. He drove him to job interviews, helped the family find housing, and stepped into arguments when Lee got violent, and Lee listened to him. On paper the friendship made no sense, since de Mohrenschildt dined with senators and oil executives while Oswald worked a factory job and read Marx at lunch. He liked Oswald anyway and told people he felt sorry for him.
Meeting Ruth Paine
On February 22, 1963, he brought the Oswalds to a small party in Dallas, where Marina met Ruth Paine, a separated mother who studied Russian. Marina needed someone to talk to, Ruth wanted someone to practice with, and they traded phone numbers before the night ended. That spring, de Mohrenschildt left for Haiti and never saw Oswald again.
Why did the CIA debrief businessmen after trips?
The CIA ran a domestic contact program that asked American businessmen, academics, and travelers about what they had seen abroad. It worked openly and by invitation, and its field offices sat in major cities around the country. Interviews gave the agency a view of places its own officers could not easily reach, such as the Soviet Union. The program began in the late 1940s and continued for decades.
How did Oswald end up in Minsk?
Oswald, a former Marine, defected to the Soviet Union in October 1959. The Soviets sent him to Minsk, where he worked at a radio and electronics factory. He married Marina, a pharmacist, there in April 1961. He returned to the United States with Marina and their baby daughter in June 1962 and settled in Fort Worth.
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