Epstein Secrets

lso be targeted in enemy ter- ritories. Although repairing the damage might take many “decades,” according to Michael McConnell, the vice-chairman of Booz Allen, the new director had to get on with that task. McConnell, a for- | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.indd 207 @ 9/30/16 8:13AM | | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_01

ntruthful about his degree in computer sciences, he not only had a SCI secu- rity clearance but was willing to take a cut in pay. In keeping with the Booz Allen business plan, such a recruit provided another cog in its profit machine. Not only had the NSA outsourced much of its computer opera- | | Epst_9780

intelligence coups through the eyes, and mind-set, of their KGB handler might provide some historical context for the Snowden defection. So I invited Cherkashin to lunch at Gusto, a quiet Italian restaurant, located near the Chekhov Theater in Moscow. Cherkashin, a tall thin man with silver hair, showed up p

ontext for the Snowden defection. So I invited Cherkashin to lunch at Gusto, a quiet Italian restaurant, located near the Chekhov Theater in Moscow. Cherkashin, a tall thin man with silver hair, showed up promptly at 1:00 p.m., wearing an elegant gray suit and dark tie. He walked with a spry step. Because he

have access to the Level 3 documents stored in these compartments. Nor, as was discussed earlier, was he given access to them when he transferred to Booz Allen because he had not completed the requisite training. Snowden had also, it will be recalled, relinquished his privileges as a system administrator wh

interest in exposing the NSA’s secrets, this person could supply him with the necessary guidance, steering a still unsuspecting Snowden first to the Booz Allen position and afterwards to his associates in Hong Kong. By taking sole credit for the coup in the video that he made with Poitras and Greenwald in Ho

then cited the signature line from the movie Zhe Usual Suspects “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.” Cherkashin thinly smiled and said “CIA denial [of moles] certainly helped.” HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_020275 124 In view of such past successes of the Russian intellig

mous spy delivered 27 computer discs containing hundreds of secret documents revealing the sources and methods of American intelligence. According to Cherkashin, it was the largest haul of top secrets documents ever obtained by the KGB (although it was only a small fraction of the number of top secret NSA, De

the Level 3 breach was switching jobs on March 15th 2013. Snowden chose to leave his job as a system administrator at Dell SecureWorks to take job at Booz Allen as an analyst-in-training. 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 en

se” in Hawaii with his girl friend. Yet he chose to move to Booz Allen he also greatly increased the risk of exposure because the auditing system at Booz Allen could trace back unauthorized copying (though not in real time.) Presumably he knew, as he later told Greenwald and Poitras, that stealing documents

201 “Tt was the information in his head that we wanted.” Cherkashin said that as KGB rarely got access to any NSA officer, it was worth the risk. So he was given $5,000 in cash and a plane ticket to Vienna, where he w

the NSA would have received its full attention after he contacted Russian officials in Hong Kong. While the tactics of the SVR may have changed since Cherkashin retired, its objectives remained the same. And the NSA remained its principal target. Nor is there any reason to doubt that it still measures success

ndia?” Also, Shilpa Phadnis, “Edward Snowden Sharpened His Hacking Skills in Delhi,” Times of India, Dec. 4, 2013. 33 “It is a dead-end job”: Former Booz Allen official who requested anonymity, interview with author. 33 shaded by a sakura: The description of Snowden’s life in Maryland comes entirely from Li

cknowledges: Bamford, “Edward Snowden.” 154 “absence of evidence”: Carl Sagan, Cosmos (New York: Random House, 1980), 49. 154 “The greatest trick”: Cherkashin, interview with author. The quotation from The Usual Suspects was adopted by the movie from Charles Baudelaire’s observation “La plus belle des rus

th author. Cuarter 25 Through the Looking Glass 254 “There's definitely a deep state”: Vanden Heuvel and Cohen, “Snowden Speaks.” 255 according to Cherkashin: Cherkashin, interview with author. 258 Pelton had left the NSA: George E. Curry, “Ex-intelligence Expert Guilty of Espionage,” Chicago Tribune, Jun

nterest in exposing the NSA’s secrets, this person could sup- ply him with the necessary guidance, steering a still-unsuspecting Snowden first to the Booz Allen position and afterward to his associ- ates in Hong Kong. By taking sole credit for the coup in the video that he made with Poitras and Greenwald in H

then cited the signature line from the movie The Usual Suspects, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist,” Cherkashin thinly smiled and said, “CIA denial [of moles] certainly helped.” In view of such past successes of the Russian intelligence services, it cannot be