 Deposed in the late 1970s by the House Select Committee on Assassinations, Rankin admitted that he regretted that he had taken the CIA's word that Oswald was never a CIA agent. Invited to ask if he had anything further to say, this was after the questioning, Rankin had a question for the lawyers and committee members in the room. Was the HSCA investigating whether the people involved in the CIA cover-up were involved in the assassination as well? He received the same response Arthur Goldberg had.