Epstein Secrets

ee countries that Snowden is known to have had contact with directly during his thirty-three-day stay in Hong Kong was Russia. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, revealed these contacts in a televised press briefing in September 2013. Putin did not provide the date of these contacts, but he pro- vided an intr

ree-day stay in Hong Kong was Russia. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, revealed these contacts in a televised press briefing in September 2013. Putin did not provide the date of these contacts, but he pro- vided an intriguing clue. Snowden was identified to him, according to Putin, not by name but

t a one-on-one summit between President Obama and President Putin. Not only would this summit be a diplomatic coup

y in Hong Kong was Russia. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, revealed these contacts in a televised pre

e was put in contact with Anatoly Grigorievich Kucherena, a silver-haired, fifty-two-year-old lawyer who is known to be a personal friend of Putin’s. Kucherena did tasks for Putin’s party in the Russian parlia- ment, or Duma. He had excellent connections in the Russian secu- rity apparatus because he served

had retained for himself and had not shared with the journalists in Hong Kong. Shevardnadze, who makes it a point to drill her interviewees, pressed Kucherena as to whether Snowden still had these NSA files, or “material,” in Russia. The dialogue went as follows (from the transcript supplied to me by Shevar

sian parlia- ment, or Duma. He had excellent connections in the Russian secu- rity apparatus because he served on the oversight committee of the FSB. Kucherena offered to serve as Snowden’s pro bono lawyer. On July 12, Snowden officially retained him as his legal representative in Moscow. In explaining the r

eatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century."—Vladimir Putin In the first invasion of a European country sinc

t a one-on-one summit between President Obama and President Putin. Not only would this summit be a diplomatic coup

eatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century."—Vladimir Putin In the first invasion of a European countr

ith directly during his 33 day stay in Hong Kong, was Russia. As previously discussed, he had dealings with Russian “diplomatic representatives “, as Putin called them. Putin did not provide the date of these contacts but he provided an intriguing clue. Snowden was identified to him, according to Putin,

h Russia. He was put in contact with Anatoly Grigorievich Kucherena, a silver-haired 53-year old lawyer, who was known as a personal friend of Putin. Kucherena also did task for Putin’s party in the Russian parliament or Duma. Most important for Snowden, Kucherena had excellent connections in the Russian sec

who was known as a personal friend of Putin. Kucherena also did task for Putin’s party in the Russian parliament or Duma. Most important for Snowden, Kucherena had excellent connections in the Russian security apparatus since he served on the oversight committee of the FSB. He also offered to serve as the la

ernet appearance at well-attended events around the world, such as South by Southwest, TED, and other Internet conferences. Snowden was, according to Kucherena, was also furnished with bodyguards. To help earn his keep, he was employed at an unidentified Moscow cyber-security firm. To complete his resettleme

y resulted in accidently compromising Poteyev. When Chap- man returned to Moscow after a spy exchange, she was taken to a well-publicized dinner with Putin. Afterward, she informed her debriefer at the SVR that only Poteyev had been in a position to know the password that an FBI agent had used to try to

| | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019707 CHAPTER 21 The Russians Are Coming The collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century. —VLADIMIR PUTIN I THE FIRST INVASION of a European country since the end of the Cold War, Russian military forces moved into the Crimea and other parts of eastern U

m- ably, this relationship further deepened under President Putin’s regime. Putin asserted in speeches in 2014 that

s a major geopolitical disaster of the century. —VLADIMIR PUTIN I THE FIRST INVASION of a European country

the journalists with the lists of sources that were particularly relevant to the NSA’s surveillance of Russia. His legal represen- tative in Moscow, Kucherena, confirmed that Snowden had taken secret “material” to Russia and had access to NSA documents that @ he had not given to journalists. Those unreveal

,” according to the State Depart- ment’s senior watch officer. 142 had met nearly every day: Miller, “U.S. Officials Scrambled to Nab Snowden.” 142 Putin admitted: Interview, Channel One, http://en-kremlin.ru/events/president /news/19143. 143 “Vladimir Putin had personally approved”: Jennifer Martine

er, “U.S. Officials Scrambled to Nab Snowden.” 142 Putin admitted: Interview, Channel One, http://en-kremlin.ru/events/president /news/19143. 143 “Vladimir Putin had personally approved”: Jennifer Martinez, “Report: Snow- den’s US Passport Revoked,” Hill, June 23, 2013. CHAPTER 15 Did Snowden Act Alone? 146

n-kremlin.ru/events/president /news/19143. 143 “Vladimir Putin had personally approved”: Jennifer Martinez

Curry, “Ex-intelligence Expert Guilty of Espionage,” Chicago Tribune, June 6, 1986. CHAPTER 26 The Handler 261 “As for [Snowden’s] communication”: Kucherena interview, Shevardnadze, “Snowden Believes He Did Everything Right.” 261 learned from a Russian researcher: Vassili Sonkine, interview with author.

r NSA Director: ‘I Would Lose All Respect for Russia if They Haven't Fully Exploited Snowden,” VentureBeat, May 23, 2014. 166 He was put in contact: Kucherena, interview with Der Spiegel, “Snowden’s Law- yer: ‘Russia Will Not Hand Him Over’” Spiegel Online International, Jane 24, 2013. 166 “Officially, he

appreciated. Lugovoy was elected to the Duma in 2008, and also hosted a 24 part television series espionage for which he was personally decorated by Putin. He was also now reputed to be in the inner circle of power in Moscow. So I called him. We arranged to meet in the lobby bar of the National Hotel.

asked other countries for asylum.” Kucherena said that otherwise he could not represent him. Snowden agreed to that condition. Later that afternoon Kucherena accompanied Snowden to area G9 in the transit zone where they emerged from a door marked “authorized personnel only” shortly before 5 PM. The room wa

gn journalist, had ever obtained an interview with Snowden. At this point, Zamir was becoming increasingly doubtful about getting my access to either Kucherena or Snowden. But I had another contact in Moscow. When I had been investigating the 2006 Polonitum poisoning of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko i

to New York was in five days. My fixer, Zamir, had been trying to arrange an appointment for three weeks but he had only received one call back from Kucherena’s assistant, Valentina Vladimirovna Kvirvova. She wanted to know how I knew Oliver Stone. He told her of my part in Stone’s movie Wall Street 2: Mone

his entrapment by suspending his passport while he was in midair after he departed Hong Kong on June 23, thus forcing him into the hands of President Vladimir Putin’s regime. None of this is true. The State Department invalidated Mr. Snowden’s passport while he was still in Hong Kong, not after he left for Moscow

r was it any kind of accident. Vladimir Putin personally authorized this assistance after Mr. Snowden met with Russian officials in Hong Kong, as Mr. Putin admitted in a televised press conference on Sept. 2, 2013. To provide a smokescreen for Mr. Snowden’s escape from Hong Kong, WikiLeaks (an organizat

to allow Mr. Snowden to board the Moscow flight—even though he had neither a valid passport nor a Russian visa, as his newly assigned lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena,said at a press conference in Russia on July 12, 2013. By falsely claiming his passport was invalidated after the plane departed Hong Kong— instead