Epstein Secrets

rested, seek bail and fight extradition in court. Tibbo said he planned to mount a powerful legal defense against extradition by using a provision in Hong Kong’s extradition treaty with the United States that protects fugitives from persecution on political grounds. After he told Snowden that it would entail a

s. They had even relayed his request to go to Russia to Putin. His movements were also no secret to sophisticated intelligence services. In an era in Hong Kong ii which cell phones emit their GPS location every 3 seconds and CCTV cameras scan many street intersections, it is not easy to conceal one’s whereabout

the CIA’s sophisticated lie detector tests. Both Hanssen and Ames eluded intensive FBI and CIA investigations that lasted over a decade. According to Victor Cherkashin, their KGB case officer, who I interviewed in Moscow in 2015, the KGB was able to hide their existence from investigators for such a long period part

3 in 2013 made the Chinese intelligence service, willy-nilly, a potential player in whatever game he was involved in. China’s full responsibility for Hong Kong’s national security and foreign affairs includes moni- toring foreign intelligence operatives. Chinese intelligence main- | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_al

ely a deep state. Trust me, I’ve been there. —EDWARD SNOWDEN, Moscow, 2014 Wa WAITING to hear back from Kucherena’s office, I arranged to meet with Victor Cherkashin, who had been one of the most successful KGB spy handlers in the Cold War. Cher- kashin, born in 1932, had served in the KGB’s espionage branch from

d in Hong Kong. Yet, Snowden chose to put his physical safety in the hands of China. One reason why Snowden may not have been overly concerned about Hong Kong’s extradition treaty with the U.S. was that he had never intended to test it by staying in Hong Kong after his media events. Snowden told the editor of

have many notable cases...” For the cases of Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames, see Appendix A 16. “The greatest trick the...”—Author’s interview with Victor Cherkashin. The quote from Zhe Usual Suspects was adopted by the movie from Charles Baudelaire’s observation, “La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous per