Epstein Secrets

with his still-valid passport to go to almost any country in the world, includ- ing Cuba (for which a U.S. passport was not necessary), Bolivia, and Ecuador. Yet he did not apply for visas during this time period. Even as late as June 8, after meetings with Greenwald and Poitras, his name had still not be

on authorized Greenwald’s trip to Hong Kong on the con- dition that he take with him a Guardian staffer in whom she had confidence, the Scottish-born Ewen MacAskill, a sixty-one-year-old veteran journalist who had been the Washington bureau chief for The Guardian. His assignment was to evaluate the bona fides of

ussia and provided her with a multi-entry Russian visa. In June 2012, after the extradition order was upheld, Assange @ jumped bail and fled to the Ecuador embassy in London. For the next @ year, his only visible means of income was a weekly program from the embassy. It was sponsored in 2012 by RT televi

feature- @ length documentary, Citizenfour, which would be commercially @ released in October 2014 and win an Academy Award for her. The next day, Ewen MacAskill, whom Poitras had not wanted Greenwald to bring to the initial meeting, joined Poitras and Green- wald in Snowden’s room. Snowden insisted that MacAs

ation to journalists, as will be recalled, was two part. First, he @ said he had planned to board the next fight to Cuba and from there @ proceed to Ecuador. He said that he was unable to board this flight because his passport had been invalidated by the U.S. government while he was flying to Russia. Seco

he need for a face-to-face meeting with Snowden. Even after he had revealed his true identity to Poitras and Greenwald on June 3, the Guardian editor Ewen MacAskill offered him the option of remaining an unnamed source for the stories. He said, as he later told Vanity Fair, “You should remain anonymous; the stori

me ‘Verax.’” 104 “I can’t help him evade”: Gellman quoted in Burrough, Ellison, and Andrews, “Snowden Saga.” 105 asked Fidel Narvdez: Juan Forero, “Ecuador’s Strange Journey from Embracing Snowden to Turning Him Away,” Washington Post, July 2, 2013. 106 “My only comment”: Lam, “Post Reporter Lana Lam Te

inor subterfuge: Hosenball, “NSA Contractor Hired Snowden Despite Concerns About Resume Discrepancies.” 76 “playing with fire”: Spencer Ackerman and Ewen MacAskill, “Snowden Calls @ for Whistleblower After Claims by New Pentagon Source,” Guardian, May 22, @ 2016. 76 establish a paper trail: Director of Nationa

have been a more certain place to meet Greenwald. If some consideration by Snowden precluded Brazil as a destination, Snowden could have also gone to Ecuador, Bolivia, Cuba, Iceland, or Venezuela, which are also countries that do not have active extradition treaties with the United States. Yet, instead of

need for a face-to-face meeting with Snowden. Even after he had revealed his true identity to Poitras and Greenwald on June 2™ 2013, Guardian editor Ewen MacAskill offered him the option of remaining an unnamed source for the stories. He said, as he later told Vanity Fair. “You should remain anonymous; the stori