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

Think about what you would do if you were the FBI Director and you were told that an informant had communicated (somehow) that a "militant revolutionary group" was going to try to assassinate the President on November 22, and it was November 17. 

So, what would you do? Really think about it. I'll tell you what I would do as FBI Director, but I want you to think about it yourself first. So, stop for a minute or so and really think about it.

So, what I would do as FBI Director if I learned such a thing on November 17, 1963 is first: I would tell whomever showed me the communication to do whatever it takes to make contact with that informant again, and I would be determined to speak to him myself. I would be hell-bent on finding him and demanding from him more specific information. 

"What militant revolutionary group are you talking about? And give me some names! What do you think this is? A game show? Tell me specifically what you know; provide every concrete detail you have: names, dates, meetings, etc."

And if they were unable to re-connect with this informant by phone, I would issue the order to get our people on the ground there to round this guy up and bring him in for questioning. Hell, I'd put him on the top of the Most Wanted list, if necessary.  Find that informant, and bring him in! Do it now!

Next, I would inform the White House of the threat, and then I would inform the Secret Service, since they are responsible for protecting the President. And my expectation would be that they would cancel the President's trip, as they did in Chicago.  

And then, I would stay close to the phone and other agency communications and be prepared to travel down there myself to interrogate this informant and size up the whole situation. 

Would I order the probing of all "racial and hate groups" throughout the country? No. What for? Would it really help to start investigating every Neo-Nazi group in Northern Idaho? No! Progress would come only from tracking down that informant and finding out the basis for his warning and all the specific details of what he knows. Starting a nationwide fishing expedition among racial and hate groups would not be the answer.

What it means is that the entire content of the mock-telex that William Walter fabricated years later MAKES NO SENSE. There is no chance that J. Edgar Hoover would have responded like that. 

And considering that it was a fabrication, and realizing that William Walter was a deplorable speller and a borderline illiterate, why wouldn't he get someone to help him write it? Alternatively, why didn't he use a dictionary? Considering the importance of it, considering that he was, in effect, reproducing a piece of forensic evidence, why wasn't he smart enough to realize that, in this case, spelling counted?

What I'm saying here is that there was a lack of good judgment here- on the part of William Walter.  And it casts further suspicion on his character. 

However, William Walter, who was the only person on Earth who ever vouched for the non-existent telex, did say that it originated from Washington D.C. He was certain about that, and he said it was from the Director. Therefore, we are left with NO BASIS to think for even one second that Oswald sent it. 

Was Oswald the informant mentioned in the telex? People can believe that if they want to. It's not theoretically impossible. However, there is not a lick of evidence that he was. And it seems inconceivable to me that Oswald

a) would wait until November 17 to inform the FBI. Why not tell them right away, as soon as he knew?

b) would describe the people who were involved as a "militant revolutionary group". How is that helpful? 

c) would omit the names of specific individuals and other specific information he had concerning the plot. Wouldn't he realize that specifics were necessary? How were they going to make arrests without it? 

So, in truth, I don't think Hoover ever sent such a lousy telex, and I don't think Oswald ever made such a lousy attempt at informing the FBI. Both stink. Both don't add up. 

There is nothing of evidentiary value in this whole William Walter story. There is not one solid thing connected to it. Nothing. And it is very regrettable that Oliver Stone ever included it in his movie.