Epstein Secrets

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

ed to the FBI. The new duties also increased the NSA’s need to create new bureaucratic mechanisms to monitor its compli- ance with FISA court orders. Rajesh De, the NSA’s general counsel at the time of the Snowden breach, described the NSA as becoming by 2013 “one of the most regulated enterprises in the wor

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

of the Internet. The new duties also increased the NSA’s need to create new bureaucratic mechanism to monitor its compliance with FISA court orders, Rajesh De, the NSA’s General Counsel at the time of the Snowden breach, described the NSA as becoming by 2013 “one of the most regulated enterprises in the wor

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

ltke, “Hunting for Hackers, N.S.A. Secretly Expands Internet Spying at U.S. Border,” New York Times, June 4, 2015 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_020417 266 13. , Rajesh De, the NSA’s ...”—Rajesh De, “Former NSA Lawyer on ‘Harm’ of Edward Snowden’s Revelations,” Bloomberg, July 27, 2015. https://bol.bna.com/former-nsa-la