Epstein Secrets

nterview with Kucherena was a coup because, until then, he had not discussed Snowden in a television interview. About halfway through the interview, Shevardnadze brought up the highly sensitive subject of the disposition of the NSA docu- ments. If anyone was in a position to know about these documents, it was

tries in the world from, as he put it, “secret pervasive surveillance.” That higher duty transcended any narrower legal definitions of law- breaking. Ben Wizner, a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union who has represented Snowden since October 2013, argues that Snowden’s taking of classified document

sitive for journalists. So I wanted to find out from Kucherena which documents Snowden had taken to Russia. I went about it in a roundabout way. When Shevardnadze asked him about the secret material Snowden might reveal in Russia, Kucher- ena pointedly called her attention to Snowden’s CIA service, suggest- ing

source, including Micah Lee, the Berkeley-based technology operative for the Freedom of the Press Foundation; Jacob Appelbaum, the Tor proselytizer; Ben Wizner, the ACLU lawyer; Barton Gellman; and Glenn Greenwald. “It is not me that can’t keep a secret,” Abraham Lincoln joked. “It’s the people I | | Epst_9

nce Expert Guilty of Espionage,” Chicago Tribune, June 6, 1986. CHAPTER 26 The Handler 261 “As for [Snowden’s] communication”: Kucherena interview, Shevardnadze, “Snowden Believes He Did Everything Right.” 261 learned from a Russian researcher: Vassili Sonkine, interview with author. 261 When I had been inv

Ed Snowden’s Life on Ars Technica.” 117 “an act of civil disobedience”: Mayer, “Snowden Calls Russian-Spy Story ‘Absurd’ in Exclusive Interview.” 117 Ben Wizner, a lawyer: Wizner called his representation of Snowden the “work of a lifetime.” Hill, “How ACLU Lawyer Ben Wizner Became Snowden’s Lawyer.” 118 “We'

efense was what Snowden did with the second set afer his meetings with the journalists in Hong Kong. Did he take these documents with him to Russia? Shevardnadze, who makes it a point to drill her interviewees, pressed Kucherena as to whether Snowden still had these NSA files, or “material” in Russia. The dial

r asked Kucherena in Moscow why Snowden changed his story in direct contradiction of what Kucherena had stated, he said “Wizner.” He was referring to Ben Wizner, a top-drawer ACLU lawyer based in Washington D.C. Wizner had joined the ACLU in August 2001 after graduating NYU law school and clerking for a Feder

sitive for journalists. So I sought to find out from Kucherena which documents Snowden had taken to Russia. I went about it in a roundabout way. When Shevardnadze asked him about the secret material Snowden had might reveal in Russia, Kucherena pointedly called her attention to Snowden’s CIA service, suggesting

mile. “It’s my first novel.” When I asked if he could arrange for me to see Snowden, he said that first I would have to first submit my questions to Ben Wizner, Snowden’s American lawyer. He made it clear to me that the exposure of Snowden to journalists, or at least the vetting of journalists, had been outs