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According to Oltmans, De Mohrenschildt would vacillate between claiming his conspiracy tale was a hoax and asserting it was true. In addition to De Mohrenschildt's instability, doubts are thrown on his story by a review of Warren Commission testimony that shows De Mohrenschildt last saw Oswald six months before the assassination. "It is absolutely out of the question that De Mohrenschildt had anything to do with Kennedy's death," fumes Chicago Attorney Albert Jenner, who interviewed De Mohrenschildt for the Warren Commission. Adds Jenner of the House Assassination Committee's entire performance: "Utterly disgusting."
The committee members who heard Oltmans' testimony took a wait-and-see attitude. "I think he is telling the truth as he perceives it," said D.C. Delegate Walter Fauntroy. Oltmans himself cited an obviously disturbing aspect of his charges. Asked a tough question during a television interview, he replied, "Well, I'm quoting Mr. De Mohrenschildt, so that makes it very easy"—De Mohrenschildt being in no position to amend the record.
Oltmans' testimony was only the climax in a hectic week during which the House Select Committee on Assassinations barely escaped its own death by sacrificing its controversial counsel, Richard Sprague. The outspoken ex-district attorney from Philadelphia had angered too many Congressmen with his demands for a $ 13 million budget and a staff of 175 for the two-year investigation (TIME, Jan. 10).
Too Raw. With Sprague out of the way, the House was willing to vote 230 to 181 to continue the investigations on a reduced annual budget of $2.8 million. But Sprague's departure left the committee staff demoralized and committee members full of praise for their former counsel. Gushed Illinois Republican John Anderson: "He laid himself on the altar of sacrifice."
To date, no firm fruits of Sprague's early work have reached the public. Nevertheless, a rush of rumor, innuendo and unconfirmed leads has blared from the committee. The latest concerns a letter the FBI is investigating said to have been written by Oswald to a "Mr. Hunt" asking about "my position." It is dated 14 days before the Kennedy assassination. The committee's operation has outraged many Congressmen. Snarled Michigan's John Dingell: "They tell us they have persuasive evidence! What they have is a lot of crap!"
Even Richard Sprague hit a cautious note before resigning: "The only things that [the staff] can say of significance are things that are too raw and uncorroborated for us to be stating publicly."