Exhibit 849 ยท Agency dispatch
Countering Criticism of the Warren Report (CIA Dispatch 1035-960, to Chiefs, Certain Stations and Bases)
The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries.
Three-page dispatch with nine attachments (one classified, eight unclassified) sent to chiefs of certain stations and bases. It cites a public opinion poll in which 46 percent of Americans did not think Oswald acted alone, calls the trend a concern to the U.S. government and the Agency, and instructs addressees, where discussion is already active, to raise the matter with 'liaison and friendly elite contacts (especially politicians and editors)' and to 'employ propaganda assets to answer and refute the attacks of the critics.' It says the Agency does not recommend starting discussion where none exists. Released in full under the JFK Records Act in 1998; the NARA record number given by secondary sources is 104-10009-10022. The cover stamp reads 4/1/67; the attached background survey is dated 4 January 1967 (some metadata uses that date). Para. 1-2 cite the poll and call the trend 'a matter of concern to the U.S. government, including our organization.' Para. 3 suggests that addressees describe critics as 'wedded to theories adopted before the evidence was in,' 'politically interested,' 'financially interested,' 'hasty and inaccurate' or 'infatuated with their own theories,' and 'single out Epstein's theory for attack.'
- Source
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Date
- 1 April 1967
- Quoted from
- Dispatch 1035-960, page 1, paragraph 2 (read from page image)
- Grade
- Primary record
- Document
- https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/00352448
- Archived
- https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-00352448
- Accessed
- 2026-11-09
- Cited by
- Findings citing this exhibit
- Note
- Further exact wording. Para. 1-2: 'a matter of concern to the U.S. government, including our organization'; 'Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us.' Para. 3: 'To employ propaganda assets to answer and refute the attacks of the critics. Book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for this purpose,' with a suggestion to describe critics as 'wedded to theories adopted before the evidence was in,' 'politically interested,' 'financially interested,' 'hasty and inaccurate,' or 'infatuated with their own theories,' and to 'single out Epstein's theory for attack.' Para. 4a-g and 5 give talking points and end: 'Where possible, counter speculation by encouraging reference to the Commission's Report itself.'