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

ncerning the NSA hacking of the cell phone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. The story was published on October 23 on the Der Spiegel website. Appelbaum was the co- author of the story. Even though Snowden had by now been in Rus- sia for four months, he was cited in the story, along with unnamed “othe

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

trick, Privacy for Me and Not for Thee, pt. 6. 52 “the state is all-powerful”: Fitzpatrick, introduction to ibid. 53 “Meet the Most Dangerous Man”: Appelbaum, interview with Rolling Stone, “Meet the Most Dangerous Man in Cyberspace: The American Behind WikiLeaks,” Rolling Stone, Dec. 2, 2010. 53 In Berlin

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

len documents, Wikileaks became a media sensation and Assange, the runner-up for Zime’s Man-of-the Year for 2010, became a leading figure, along with Appelbaum, in the global hacktavist underground. In November 2010, however, he also ran into a legal problem. A judge in Stockholm, Sweden ordered his detentio

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

ing Stone interview with Jacob Appelbaum, “Meet the Most Dangerous Man in Cyberspace: The American Behind Wikileaks, Rolling Stone, December 2,2010 “Appelbaum acted to defeat-...”—George Packer, The Holder of Secrets, The New Yorker, October 20, 2014 “She identified herself in Forbes...’”—Runa A Sandvik, F