Epstein Secrets

David Ignatius June 10 -- There was some head-scratching in Washington last week at the presentation of the Medal of Freedom to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The previous foreign recipients included Pope John Paul II, who championed the freedom of Eastern Europe; Nelson Mandela, who triumphed over apart

championed the freedom of Eastern Europe; Nelson Mandela, who triumphed over apartheid in South Africa; and Helmut Kohl, who reunited Germany. Did Merkel, for all her good qualities, really fit in that group? "Why roll out the red carpet and present this honor to someone who has been a reluctant part

mander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and soon-to-be CIA director. Everyone knows his position likens to Gates'. But just maybe, Obama and Petraeus have agreed that the general will say his piece in full only in the privacy of the Oval Office. If he would talk publicly only of options, that wou

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

gence workers found guilty of passing classified information to journalists is the extraordinary case of the ex- CIA director General David Petraeus. Petraeus had given classified information from his personal notebooks to his mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell. Although none of this information appea

ve...”—Author’s interview with Source B 30. “German federal prosecutor concluded. ..”-- Theodore Schleifer, “Germany drops probe into U.S. spying on Merkel,” CNN Politics, June 13, 2015 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_020412 261 31. “ NSA lost sight of. ..”-- Adam Entous, Julian E. Barnes and Siobhan Gorman, “U.S. S

nce workers found guilty of passing classified information to journalist is the extraordinary case of ex-CIA director General David Petraeus. General Petraeus had given classified information from his personal notebooks to his mistress and biographer, Paula Broadwell. Although none of this information appea