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1.7 MB
Extraction Summary
10
People
5
Organizations
4
Locations
2
Events
3
Relationships
3
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Book page / evidence exhibit
File Size:
1.7 MB
Summary
This document is page 182 from the book 'How America Lost Its Secrets' by Edward Jay Epstein (indicated by the footer 'Epst' and ISBN), stamped as evidence for the House Oversight Committee. The text analyzes the timeline of the 'Merkel document' (NSA spying on Angela Merkel), arguing that this specific document was not in the cache Snowden gave to journalists in Hong Kong but was likely provided to *Der Spiegel* after Snowden arrived in Moscow. It cites expert James Bamford, who searched the Hong Kong archive and found no mention of Merkel, suggesting Snowden or another party released it from Russia.
People (10)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Edward Snowden | Subject |
Former NSA contractor accused of leaking documents; discussed regarding his movements from Hong Kong to Moscow.
|
| Jacob Appelbaum | Journalist/Activist |
Mentioned regarding the timing of publishing secrets.
|
| Laura Poitras | Journalist/Filmmaker |
Received documents from Snowden; texted Snowden in Moscow asking for explanation regarding Merkel story.
|
| Glenn Greenwald | Journalist |
Received documents from Snowden in Hong Kong.
|
| Lam | Journalist |
Journalist Snowden dealt with in Hong Kong.
|
| Ewen MacAskill | Journalist |
Journalist Snowden dealt with in Hong Kong.
|
| Angela Merkel | German Chancellor |
Target of NSA spying mentioned in the missing document.
|
| James Bamford | Author/NSA Expert |
Researched Snowden for Wired; searched the database for Merkel material and found none.
|
| Barton Gellman | Journalist |
Journalist who received documents from Snowden.
|
| Anatoly Kucherena | Lawyer |
Snowden's Russian lawyer; disclosed Snowden had access to documents not given to journalists.
|
Organizations (5)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| The Guardian |
Newspaper that would have published the scoop if they had it.
|
|
| NSA |
National Security Agency; source of the documents.
|
|
| Wired |
Magazine James Bamford wrote for.
|
|
| Der Spiegel |
German publication that received the Merkel document.
|
|
| House Oversight Committee |
Indicated by the Bates stamp 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT'.
|
Timeline (2 events)
Relationships (3)
Snowden gave documents to Poitras in Hong Kong.
Snowden gave documents to Greenwald in Hong Kong.
Kucherena disclosed information about Snowden's access to documents.
Key Quotes (3)
"According to a source with knowledge of the Snowden investigation, there was no document referencing any spying on Merkel's phone among the fifty-eight thousand documents on the thumb drive that Snowden had given to Poitras and Greenwald in Hong Kong."Source
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Quote #1
"He reported that no document given to journalists in Hong Kong even mentioned Merkel."Source
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Quote #2
"It therefore appeared that the Merkel document was provided to Der Spiegel after Snowden went to Moscow."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019670.jpg
Quote #3
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (2,457 characters)
182 | HOW AMERICA LOST ITS SECRETS
before he left Hong Kong in June 2013. Why would Appelbaum keep
it secret for more than four months? The same pressure to publish
would also apply to the journalists Snowden had dealt with in Hong
Kong. If Snowden had given Poitras, Greenwald, Lam, or MacAskill
the Merkel document, or even told them about it in their interviews
with him in Hong Kong, The Guardian would have certainly rushed
out such a scoop.
it secret for more than four months? The same pressure to publish
would also apply to the journalists Snowden had dealt with in Hong
Kong. If Snowden had given Poitras, Greenwald, Lam, or MacAskill
the Merkel document, or even told them about it in their interviews
with him in Hong Kong, The Guardian would have certainly rushed
out such a scoop.
According to a source with knowledge of the Snowden investiga-
tion, there was no document referencing any spying on Merkel's
phone among the fifty-eight thousand documents on the thumb
drive that Snowden had given to Poitras and Greenwald in Hong
Kong. That absence would explain why Poitras had to send a text to
Snowden in Moscow to ask for an explanation after the story broke.
tion, there was no document referencing any spying on Merkel's
phone among the fifty-eight thousand documents on the thumb
drive that Snowden had given to Poitras and Greenwald in Hong
Kong. That absence would explain why Poitras had to send a text to
Snowden in Moscow to ask for an explanation after the story broke.
Further confirmation of the absence of this document in the
material Snowden provided journalists in Hong Kong comes from
James Bamford, a well-respected expert on the NSA. In the course
of researching his 2014 article on Snowden for Wired, he was given
access to all the documents Snowden gave to Poitras, Greenwald, and
Gellman. Bamford used a sophisticated indexing program to search
through the database specifically for the Merkel material. He did not
find any. He reported that no document given to journalists in Hong
Kong even mentioned Merkel. It therefore appeared that the Merkel
document was provided to Der Spiegel after Snowden went to Mos-
cow. If so, some party had access to NSA documents after Snowden
arrived in Russia and provided the Der Spiegel authors with the
scoop. In that context, it might not have been a pure coincidence that
Kucherena disclosed that Snowden had access to documents that he
had not given to journalists in Hong Kong shortly before just such a
document was published in Germany.
material Snowden provided journalists in Hong Kong comes from
James Bamford, a well-respected expert on the NSA. In the course
of researching his 2014 article on Snowden for Wired, he was given
access to all the documents Snowden gave to Poitras, Greenwald, and
Gellman. Bamford used a sophisticated indexing program to search
through the database specifically for the Merkel material. He did not
find any. He reported that no document given to journalists in Hong
Kong even mentioned Merkel. It therefore appeared that the Merkel
document was provided to Der Spiegel after Snowden went to Mos-
cow. If so, some party had access to NSA documents after Snowden
arrived in Russia and provided the Der Spiegel authors with the
scoop. In that context, it might not have been a pure coincidence that
Kucherena disclosed that Snowden had access to documents that he
had not given to journalists in Hong Kong shortly before just such a
document was published in Germany.
Bamford explored the possibility that there might be another per-
son in the NSA who was stealing documents. He wrote to Poitras
and asked her whether the Merkel document could have come from
another person in the NSA. She declined, via a letter from her lawyer,
to answer that question. But because she had not been the author of
the Der Spiegel article, and had not been given the document, there
is no reason to believe that she would know its provenance.
son in the NSA who was stealing documents. He wrote to Poitras
and asked her whether the Merkel document could have come from
another person in the NSA. She declined, via a letter from her lawyer,
to answer that question. But because she had not been the author of
the Der Spiegel article, and had not been given the document, there
is no reason to believe that she would know its provenance.
Documents continued to emerge years after Snowden arrived in
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