The Warren Commission met several times in executive session. The transcripts of these sessions were made public over the years and are now available in complete unedited form. The early transcripts include discussions of "problems" facing the Commission, including the allegation that Lee Oswald was a paid FBI informant.

The September 18 document is in the form of minutes rather than a transcript. At this meeting Senator Russell voiced his doubts about the report to be issued, and tried to get a dissenting opinion included. He relayed his frustrations in a phone call to President Lyndon Johnson that evening, a tape of which is now public. The minutes give no indication of the conflict at this meeting, other than a vague and cryptic sentence on the 3rd page.