Epstein Secrets

ournal. Snowden was certainly aware that he would soon be the object of a manhunt that could involve those with whom he was acquainted. He instructed Poitras to mask their e-mail communications in cyber- space “so we don’t have a clue or record of your true name in your file communication chain.” Such prec

eedoms. Within hours of the release of that video on the Guardian website, Snowden was known throughout the world as a courageous whistle-blower. In Laura Poitras’s remarks in accepting her Academy Award for Citizenfour on February 22, 2015, she said that Snowden acted as a whistle-blower not only to “expose a th

ntractors servicing the NSA. Such “career management,” as it is called by the CIA, could explain why Snowden had switched jobs in March 2013 to Booz Allen Hamilton, which, unlike his previous employer, Dell, allowed | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.z.indd 160 @ 9/29/16 5:51 Pa | | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019648 The Q

h as putting their cell phones in refrigerators, remain visible to a sophisticated intelligence service such as the SVR. All the defensive tactics of Laura Poitras, including PGP encryption, Tor software, and air-gapped computers (computers that have never been connected to the Internet), did not keep secrets ab

rets about her sources entirely to herself. Snowden, at a time when he was stealing NSA secrets in February 2013, went to great lengths to impress on Poitras the need for operational security about his contacts with her, but that injunction did not prevent her from telling at least five people about her so

- sonal data of their independent contractors working at the NSA. The hackers’ group Anonymous took credit for the successful 2011 attack on the Booz Allen Hamilton servers. It also cracked the algo- rithms used to protect employees. It next injected so-called Trojan @ horse viruses and other malicious codes int

vidently did not want to expose himself to prosecution or defect from the NSA. That was Snowden’s role. By accepting the sole blame in the video that Poitras made about him in Hong Kong, Snowden shielded anyone else from suspicion, which was, as he told Poitras, his purpose. Whoever helped him may still be

“Mini Documentary Reveals Full Extent of ‘Stellarwind’ Domestic Spy Program,” Infowars, Aug. 28, 2012. 62 Poitras had other impressive credentials: “Laura Poitras: Secret No Longer,” New School News, Aug. 14, 2013. 63 “I didn’t. You chose yourself”: Snowden’s e-mails to Poitras were extracted from her film Cit

Major Com- puter Breach, Officials Say,” Washington Post, Aug. 6, 2014. 214 successful 2011 attack: Andy Greenberg, “Anonymous Hackers Breach Booz Allen Hamilton,” Forbes, July 11, 2011. 215 acomputer system called e-QIP: Joe Davidson, “Federal Background Check Sys- tem Shut Down Because of ‘Vulnerability, ”

illance Under Obama.” Along with it was the FISA warrant to Verizon. The PRISM story broke hours later in the Washington Post. Written by Gellman and Poitras, it claimed that the NSA and FBI were tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S, Internet companies which were knowingly particip

ding such well known activists as Runa Sandvik (who he supplied his true name and address via email), Micah Lee, Jacob Appelbaum, Parker Higgins, and Laura Poitras. “It is not statistically improbable that members of this circle were being watched by a hostile service,” a former NSA counterintelligence officer t

fficiently protect the personal data of their off-premise employees working at the NSA. Consider, for example, the successful 2011 attack on the Booz Allen Hamilton servers. The previously-mentioned hackers' group “Anonymous” took credit for it. It not only breached the security of Booz Allen servers but cracked

ining. His motive was not money, as it was a lower- paying position. At the time, he made this choice he had already set up an encrypted channel with Laura Poitras for the purpose of sending her secret material. But he did not have to change jobs to send her secrets. So what was his purpose in making this fatefu

hed, before switching jobs Snowden had already taken most of the documents pertaining to the NSA’s domestic operations that he could have supplied to Poitras and Greenwald for whistle-blowing purposes. Indeed, while still at Dell, it will be recalled, he had he had told Poitras he had a copy of Presidentia

jor computer breach, officials say,” Washington Post, August 6, 2014 “Successful 2011 attack on...”-- Andy Greenberg, “Anonymous Hackers Breach Booz Allen Hamilton,” Forbes, July 11, 2011 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_020419 268 13. “A computer system called E-QIP...”-- Joe Davidson, “ Federal background check system shut