Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

Let us consider the evidence that Oswald had advance knowledge of the Dallas plot to kill Kennedy and tried to stop it. 

We know that someone named "Lee" contacted the FBI about the Chicago plot, and the FBI contacted the Secret Service in Chicago. The SS agent in Chicago who received that call was Jay Lawrence Stocks. That came from Edwin Black via Abraham Bolden. 

Was the "Lee" involved Lee Harvey Oswald? It's possible, and I am open to it, but we don't know for sure. But regardless, that involved the Chicago plot, not the Dallas plot. 

However, "on November 17, 1963, FBI overnight code clerk William S. Walter, in New Orleans received an Airtel alert from FBI headquarters in Washington about 'a threat to assassinate President Kennedy November 22-23' in Dallas 'by a militant revolutionary group.' Instructions in the Teletype included contacting infiltrators in local racist hate groups. The original airtel and all copies disappeared shortly after the assassination." (COPA)  

"Word of the Teletype did not leak out until five years after the assassination. Upon receiving the Teletype (Walter said under oath), 'I immediately contacted the special agent-in-charge who had the category of threats against the President and read him the teletype. He instructed me to call the agents that had responsibility and informants, and as I called them, I noted the time and the names of the agents that I called. That all took place in the early morning hours of the 17th of November.' " (COPA)

Ray and Mary LaFontaine maintained that that airtel was the result of LHO's pre-assassination interview with the FBI. 

And, everyone knows that Oswald stormed into the FBI office in Dallas, mad as a hornet at Agent James Hosty for talking to Marina without his permission. And he left a hand-written note for Hosty, which Hosty admitted destroying after the assassination, by order of his superior, Gordon Shanklin. 

Did the note give warning about the Dallas plot to kill Kennedy? Many assume that it did, but we don't know that. And at this point, we don't have any way of finding out. 

I don't think there is any reason to think that Oswald had explicit knowledge of the Dallas plot. He may have had an inkling about it, but no more than that. Here's why:

1) The plotters would have been scrupulous about keeping him in the dark because he was the patsy, and the less the patsy knows the better. Their hope was that Oswald would die in a shootout with police soon after the assassination. But, they had to know there was no guarantee about that and that he might spend some time in custody. He ended up spending two days in custody, and it might as well have been two years for all he could have said. They had to make sure he did not have concrete knowledge which would incriminate them. Remember that Oswald said out loud, "I'm just a patsy!" Well, if you know you're just a patsy, why would you go on protecting those who set you up? They had to limit the damage that Oswald could do to them after his arrest, and the way to do that was to keep him in the dark. 

2) They didn't need Oswald to shoot Kennedy. They had plenty of other people who were real assassins, who killed before and perhaps many times, who were better marksmen and real snipers. The idea that they would have put a loaded rifle in Oswald's hands and had him shooting in the direction of Jackie and Nellie is ridiculous. The Carcano rifle was not Oswald's, and he never shot it before in his life. He had never in his life done any shooting comparable to the 6th floor shooting. Why would they or anyone think that he was qualified to do this?

3) So, if they didn't need Oswald to kill Kennedy, and they didn't, then why tell him? Hooke is maintaining that at the last minute Oswald balked and walked downstairs, but he could have balked before that and not gone to work that morning. Then how were they going to frame him? 

4) The most important thing is that if Oswald had explicit knowledge of the assassination plot, he would have acted to stop it. Saving JFK would have been the priority- and at any cost. For instance, if Oswald's handwritten note to Hosty entailed revelations about the plot, and Hosty never responded, then wouldn't Oswald have followed up? 

"Hey! Hosty! Did you get my note? Did you read what I wrote?     
I said they are going to kill Kennedy. It's all set up for November 22. They've got a military-style, triangulated ambush planned. Now, what are you doing about it? Why haven't I heard back from you?

For something like this, you don't stop until it's blocked. 

5) Telling Oswald what they were doing would really have been insane. They had to know that he wasn't the killing kind. They had to know that he had nothing against Kennedy. They had to know that he wouldn't go for it. And this wasn't the military where following orders was a given. So, why tell him? They didn't need him for the shooting. They only needed him for the patsying. So, why upset him? And they had to know that if they told him he might take action against them. 

6) Oswald didn't have to be up on the 6th floor in order to frame him. Everyone would expect a 6th floor shooter to flee the scene of the crime and get to someplace that looked innocent and innocuous. So, they didn't need him up there. 

7) Even if they thought that Oswald would not openly betray them and defy them, it was not his element: assassinating. He could easily have just lost it, fallen apart, cracked up, and there was no reason to take that risk. They didn't need him to kill Kennedy. Keeping him centered and balanced and emotionally stable is what they needed.  Would they have risked that? For what? His shooting prowess? He had no shooting prowess. 

8) Oswald, upon first learning of the plot to kill Kennedy on November 22, would have acted relentlessly to save him. He'd have left no stone unturned. If a telex didn't get results, he'd have done something else. If going to the FBI didn't stop it, he'd have gone to the Dallas Police. And if that didn't work, he'd have gone to the press. He'd have gone to George DeMohrenschildt. And how could he not tell his wife?

"Marina, they are going to kill Kennedy. He's in danger, and we are in danger. We have to do something." 

For a thing like this, you don't just do this or that, you do it all. You do everything. You don't stop. 

9) They had to know that if they told Oswald the truth, that he would likely take adverse action. They would not have been able to rely on him to stay quiet- let alone participate in the shooting.

10) On the morning of the 22nd, Oswald asked Junior Jarman why people were gathering on the sidewalk. If he was slated to be up on the 6th floor shooting at Kennedy, he would have known why they were gathering there. This is very powerful evidence that Oswald went to work that morning not knowing what was going to happen that day.  

The bottom line is that there is no evidence that Oswald had any explicit knowledge of the assassination plot. He may have had an inkling but no more than that. And the idea that he was part of the plot and was up on the 6th floor with gun in hand is absolutely insane.