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HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019666.jpg
1.67 MB
Extraction Summary
8
People
6
Organizations
3
Locations
2
Events
3
Relationships
4
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Book page / evidence exhibit
File Size:
1.67 MB
Summary
This document appears to be page 178 from the book 'How America Lost Its Secrets' (authored by Edward Jay Epstein, which explains the 'Epst' filename). The text details Edward Snowden's legal and media strategy orchestrated by Ben Wizner regarding the release of NSA documents. It highlights contradictions in Snowden's narrative regarding the possession and destruction of classified files, contrasting his claim to journalist Barton Gellman that his drives were blank with his admission to former CIA officer Ray McGovern that he had stored data on external drives.
People (8)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Snowden | Subject of book/whistleblower |
Former NSA contractor discussing the handling of classified documents and media strategy.
|
| Ben Wizner | Legal Advisor/ACLU Lawyer |
Managing Snowden's media narrative, arranging interviews, and negotiating film rights.
|
| Oliver Stone | Filmmaker |
Director of the movie 'Snowden'.
|
| Laura Poitras | Journalist |
Recipient of documents from Snowden in Hong Kong.
|
| Glenn Greenwald | Journalist |
Recipient of documents from Snowden in Hong Kong.
|
| Barton Gellman | Journalist |
Interviewed Snowden in Moscow in December 2013.
|
| James Risen | Journalist |
Had an internet exchange with Snowden in October 2013.
|
| Ray McGovern | Former CIA Officer |
Met Snowden in Moscow six weeks prior to December 2013.
|
Organizations (6)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| NSA |
National Security Agency, source of the documents.
|
|
| FISA Court |
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court, related to classified orders.
|
|
| CIA |
Central Intelligence Agency, former employer of Ray McGovern.
|
|
| Vanity Fair |
Magazine preparing an article on Snowden.
|
|
| Chinese Intelligence |
Intelligence agency Snowden claimed not to have exposed data to.
|
|
| House Oversight Committee |
Implied by the Bates stamp 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019666'.
|
Timeline (2 events)
Late December 2013
Snowden's first face-to-face interview with a journalist in Russia.
Moscow, Russia
November 2013 (approx. 6 weeks before Dec 2013)
Meeting with former CIA officer Ray McGovern and three other whistle-blowers.
Moscow, Russia
Relationships (3)
Wizner asked for the right to veto shots... Wizner helped arrange interviews.
Snowden claimed he gave documents to Poitras in Hong Kong.
Snowden claimed he gave documents to Greenwald in Hong Kong.
Key Quotes (4)
"I went the first six months without giving an interview"Source
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Quote #1
"It wasn't until December 2013 that I gave my first interview to Barton Gellman."Source
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Quote #2
"There's nothing on it.... My hard drive is completely blank."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019666.jpg
Quote #3
"confident he did not expose them to Chinese intelligence in Hong Kong."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019666.jpg
Quote #4
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (2,480 characters)
178 | HOW AMERICA LOST ITS SECRETS
interviews. In the case of Stone's movie Snowden, Wizner asked for
the right to veto any shots featuring Snowden in the film. In it, he
would tell handpicked journalists that he had given all his docu-
ments to Poitras and Greenwald in Hong Kong and took none of
them to Russia. Wizner could then argue that documents such as the
FISA court order were improperly classified secret and that disclos-
ing them served the public good. The government might not be able
to contest his claim without further revealing NSA sources. Under
these circumstances, it might be induced to agree to a plea bargain
for Snowden. Changing the narrative would also help enhance his
public image as a whistle-blower.
the right to veto any shots featuring Snowden in the film. In it, he
would tell handpicked journalists that he had given all his docu-
ments to Poitras and Greenwald in Hong Kong and took none of
them to Russia. Wizner could then argue that documents such as the
FISA court order were improperly classified secret and that disclos-
ing them served the public good. The government might not be able
to contest his claim without further revealing NSA sources. Under
these circumstances, it might be induced to agree to a plea bargain
for Snowden. Changing the narrative would also help enhance his
public image as a whistle-blower.
Snowden's new narrative that he had destroyed all the documents
he had in his possession before coming to Moscow and had no access
to any NSA documents, not even those that he had distributed to
journalists, was reinforced in a series of interviews that Wizner
helped arrange. "I went the first six months without giving an inter-
view," Snowden later said. "It wasn't until December 2013 that I
gave my first interview to Barton Gellman." (Snowden did not count
his Internet exchange with Risen in October as an "interview".)
he had in his possession before coming to Moscow and had no access
to any NSA documents, not even those that he had distributed to
journalists, was reinforced in a series of interviews that Wizner
helped arrange. "I went the first six months without giving an inter-
view," Snowden later said. "It wasn't until December 2013 that I
gave my first interview to Barton Gellman." (Snowden did not count
his Internet exchange with Risen in October as an "interview".)
In late December 2013, Snowden met with Barton Gellman. It was
his first face-to-face meeting with a journalist since he had arrived in
Russia in June. Snowden turned his laptop toward Gellman and, as
if proving his point, said to him, "There's nothing on it.... My hard
drive is completely blank." That his computer had no files stored on
it at that moment of course meant very little. Just six weeks earlier,
Snowden had met with the former CIA officer Ray McGovern, who
had been invited to meet him in Moscow along with three other
American whistle-blowers. At that meeting, he told McGovern that
he had stored all the NSA data he had taken on external hard drives.
Gellman asked about the precise whereabouts of the files, but, as he
reported, Snowden declined to answer that question. He would only
say that he was "confident he did not expose them to Chinese intel-
ligence in Hong Kong." That answer did not nail down the issue,
so Wizner arranged for Vanity Fair, which was preparing an article
on Snowden, to submit questions. In his reply to them, Snowden
wrote that he destroyed all his files in Hong Kong because he didn't
his first face-to-face meeting with a journalist since he had arrived in
Russia in June. Snowden turned his laptop toward Gellman and, as
if proving his point, said to him, "There's nothing on it.... My hard
drive is completely blank." That his computer had no files stored on
it at that moment of course meant very little. Just six weeks earlier,
Snowden had met with the former CIA officer Ray McGovern, who
had been invited to meet him in Moscow along with three other
American whistle-blowers. At that meeting, he told McGovern that
he had stored all the NSA data he had taken on external hard drives.
Gellman asked about the precise whereabouts of the files, but, as he
reported, Snowden declined to answer that question. He would only
say that he was "confident he did not expose them to Chinese intel-
ligence in Hong Kong." That answer did not nail down the issue,
so Wizner arranged for Vanity Fair, which was preparing an article
on Snowden, to submit questions. In his reply to them, Snowden
wrote that he destroyed all his files in Hong Kong because he didn't
Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.z.indd 178 9/30/16 11:09 AM
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