Epstein Secrets

the time. Snowden had little concern about misleading journalists when it suited his purpose. For example, he told Alan Rusbridger of The Guardian, Brian Williams of NBC News, James Bamford of Wired, Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation, Barton Gellman, and Jane Mayer of The New Yorker that the U.S. government i

is not known to take no for an answer in issues involving espionage. Even if Snowden refused to furnish his key encryption, accord- ing to a former National Security Council staffer, the Russian cyber service in 2013 had the means, the time, and the incentive to break the encryption. It is unlikely it would have had to go

019795 308 | Notes to pages 8-23 8 appointment with Robert Tibbo: Tibbo, interviews with author. 11-12 “angel descending”: Snowden, interview with Brian Williams, NBC, May 28, 2014. CHAPTER 1 Tinker 15 “It’s like the boiling frog”: Bamford, “Edward Snowden.” 15 Lon Snowden, like his father: The best reporti

ties”: Chris Strohm and Gopal Ratnam, “NSA Leader Seeks Openness on Secret Surveillance Orders,” Bloomberg News, June 13, 2013. Also, staff member of National Security Council who requested anonymity, interview with author. CHAPTER 18 The Unheeded Warning 185 “The NSA—the world’s”: Morell, Great War of Our Time, 287. 185

ired magazine, Alan Rusbridger, the editor of the Guardian and Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor of The Nation. He also gave a televised interview to Brian Williams of NBC News in which he explained that since he had no access to the NSA documents in Russia, he could not provide access to the Russians even if the

arrier for the FSB. Snowden may have had confidence in the power of his encryption protocols but, HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_020290 139 according to a former National Security Council staffer, the Russian cyber service in 2013 had the means, the time and the incentive to break the encryption. It is unlikely they would have gone to