Epstein Secrets

the NSA’s deputy director, Richard Ledgett, in 2016, @ the vanishings included a group planning attacks in Europe and the @ United States. Admiral Rogers, the new NSA director, was asked about the dam- age done by Snowden. He was blunt and direct. Asked in February 2015 whether or not the disclosures b

den, Michael V. Playing to the Edge. New York: Penguin, 2016. Jastrow, Joseph. Fact and Fable in Psychology. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1900. Kahn, David. The Codebreakers. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1967. Lucas, Edward. The Snowden Operation. Seattle: Amazon Digital Services, 2015. Morell, Michael

owden.” “Tf I were providing information”: Transcript of interview with Snowden in Moscow, Rusbridger and MacAskill, “I, Spy.” Pelton, for example: Victor Cherkashin, interview with author. “This debriefing could not”: Intelligence source who requested anonymity, interview with author. Mike Rogers, the chairman:

bama did not want the head of the NSA resigning in the midst of the Snowden crisis, he asked him to stay on for another six months. He then appointed Rogers to be his replacement. Meanwhile, it had become undeni- ably clear to the review committee appointed by President Obama in 2013 that the NSA’s own de

ely a deep state. Trust me, I’ve been there. —EDWARD SNOWDEN, Moscow, 2014 Wa WAITING to hear back from Kucherena’s office, I arranged to meet with Victor Cherkashin, who had been one of the most successful KGB spy handlers in the Cold War. Cher- kashin, born in 1932, had served in the KGB’s espionage branch from

chael Rogers had to confront flagging morale that, according to former director Michael Hayden, was near-paralyzing the intelligence service. Admiral Rogers recognized that as a direct result of the Snowden breach “the nation has lost capabilities against adversaries right now who are attempting to active

the CIA’s sophisticated lie detector tests. Both Hanssen and Ames eluded intensive FBI and CIA investigations that lasted over a decade. According to Victor Cherkashin, their KGB case officer, who I interviewed in Moscow in 2015, the KGB was able to hide their existence from investigators for such a long period part

gton Post on June 6", the NSA “saw one after another target go dark,” according to a senior executive involved in that surveillance. In 2014, Admiral Rogers, the new NSA director, was even blunter. Asked whether or not the disclosures by Snowden had reduced the NSA’s ability to pursue terrorist, he answer

have many notable cases...” For the cases of Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames, see Appendix A 16. “The greatest trick the...”—Author’s interview with Victor Cherkashin. The quote from Zhe Usual Suspects was adopted by the movie from Charles Baudelaire’s observation, “La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous per