Epstein Secrets

am headed by Richard “Rick” Ledgett, who was then director of the NSA’s Threat Opera- tions Center at the NSA’s headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. Ledgett was the logical choice to head the damage assessment inves- tigation because the center’s regional branch in Hawaii was under his command. Ledgett fl

n camera in his Hong Kong interview in June 2013 that NSA investi- gators would have “a heart attack” when they discovered the extent of the breach. Ledgett, the NSA official who had conducted the damage assess- ment, while not having a heart attack, confirmed that Snowden had taken a massive number of do

feature- @ length documentary, Citizenfour, which would be commercially @ released in October 2014 and win an Academy Award for her. The next day, Ewen MacAskill, whom Poitras had not wanted Greenwald to bring to the initial meeting, joined Poitras and Green- wald in Snowden’s room. Snowden insisted that MacAs

es to Russia.” 41 Physical Phatness: Lindsay Mills’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com /lindsay.mills.90/about. 42. the first known document: Ledgett revealed this in an interview with Vanity Fair. Burrough, Ellison, and Andrews, “Snowden Saga.” 42 “He stole the [NSA] test”: Snowden’s obtaining th

“I, Spy.” “was moving copies of that data”: Burrough, Ellison, and Andrews, “Snowden Saga.” 45 he later pointed out: Bamford, “Edward Snowden.” 45 Ledgett subsequently reported: Burrough, Ellison, and Andrews, “Snowden Saga.” 45 This theft was made: Michael Hayden, interview with author. 46 “Icrossed

inor subterfuge: Hosenball, “NSA Contractor Hired Snowden Despite Concerns About Resume Discrepancies.” 76 “playing with fire”: Spencer Ackerman and Ewen MacAskill, “Snowden Calls @ for Whistleblower After Claims by New Pentagon Source,” Guardian, May 22, @ 2016. 76 establish a paper trail: Director of Nationa

ell was transferring files held at Fort Meade to backup computers in Hawaii. He “was moving copies of that data there for them,” said Deputy Director Ledgett, “which was perfect cover for stealing the [NSA] data” through the fall and winter of 2012. The security mea- sures at the Hawaii base presented no o

on authorized Greenwald’s trip to Hong Kong on the con- dition that he take with him a Guardian staffer in whom she had confidence, the Scottish-born Ewen MacAskill, a sixty-one-year-old veteran journalist who had been the Washington bureau chief for The Guardian. His assignment was to evaluate the bona fides of

position since the top- secret unit was responsible for discovering and countering the threats posed by Chinese, Russian and other adversary nations. Ledgett was also the logical choice to head the damage assessment investigation since the Center’s regional branch in Hawaii was from where highly-sensitive

e authorized Greenwald’s trip to Hong Kong on the condition that he take with him a Guardian staffer in whom she had confidence. He was Scottish-born Ewen MacAskill, a 61-year old veteran journalist who had been the Washington bureau chief for the Guardian. His assignment was to evaluate the mystery source in Hon

ld walk out the door,” Snowden interview, German NDR TV, January 26, 2014. http://www.tagesschau.de/snowden-interview- englisch100.pdf “According to Ledgett, the perpetrator...” Tabassum Zakaria and Warren Strobel, “After 'cataclysmic' Snowden affair, NSA faces winds of change,” Reuters December 13, 2013

need for a face-to-face meeting with Snowden. Even after he had revealed his true identity to Poitras and Greenwald on June 2™ 2013, Guardian editor Ewen MacAskill offered him the option of remaining an unnamed source for the stories. He said, as he later told Vanity Fair. “You should remain anonymous; the stori