Epstein Secrets

arian states.° While Putin called the pact 'immoral" during a 2009 visit to Poland, he defended the agreement during a joint press conference with Angela Merkel in 2015, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He did so in a fashion typical of current Russian propa- ganda methods. He accused the West of try

sHikraine/merkel.listens.aszputin.defends.ussrs.ciart-with.nazi.ap any-388241.html. Tulin Defends Ribbon- trop-Molotov Pact in Press Conference with Merkel; Moscow Times, May 11, 2015, fands.ribbentrop.mnIntny.nart.incresc.rnnfwranra.with-markal.46441 8. Li nas Linkevidius, 'Putin Has Defended the Nazi

vil Society in Russia,' Human Rights Watch, February 24, 2017, Ittps://www.hrw.org/ news/2017/02/24/briefine-shrinkine-spacecivil-society-russia. 10. Tanya Lokshina, 'Russia Civil Society Deemed 'Undesirable,- Open Democracy, May 20, 2015, https://www.hrw.ore/ news/7015/05/20/ressian.rivil.sociev-deemed-undesir

s expose purported U.S. government actions in foreign lands, including the alleged tapping of friendly government officials’ con- versations, such as Angela Merkel’s, these are implicitly conflated with the NSA’s domestic surveillance program, around which a | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.indd 303 @ 9/30/16 8:1

ficial who requested anonymity, inter- view with author. 183 German federal prosecutor: Theodore Schleifer, “Germany Drops Probe into U.S. Spying on Merkel,” CNN Politics, June 13, 2015. 184 “Russian planners might have”: Adam Entous, Julian E. Barnes, and Siobhan Gorman, “U.S. Scurries to Shore Up Spy

toParty: Courtesy Ena and Ines Talakic Anatoly Kucherena: AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko Snowden’s first appearance in Russia: Human Rights Watch, Tanya Lokshina Anna Chapman: AP Photo/Sergei Karpukhin, Pool, File Poitras, Greenwald, and Mills: Kevin Winter/Getty Images | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.indd 3

l Society in Russia,” Human Rights Watch, February 24, 2017, https:/Awww.hrw.org/ news/2017/02/24/briefing-shrinking-space-civil-society-russia. 10. Tanya Lokshina, “Russia Civil Society Deemed ‘Undesirable,” Open Democracy, May 20, 2015, https://www.hrw.org/ news/2015/05/20/russian-civil-society-deemed-undesira

alitarian states. While Putin called the pact “immoral” during a 2009 visit to Poland, he defended the agreement during a joint press conference with Angela Merkel in 2015, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. q He did so in a fashion typical of current Russian propa- ganda methods. He accused the West of t

hetimes.co.uk/tto/ news/world/europe/article3926546.ece. 6. Gabriela Baczynska, “Putin Accused of Soviet Tactics in Drafting New History Book.” 7. “Merkel Listens as Putin Defends USSR's Pact with Nazi Germany,” Kviv Post, May 10, 2015, httos://www.kyivpost.com/article/con- tent/war-against-ukraine/merk