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“When I accepted the case, I received Snowden’s dossier.” He answered. “I was able to see all his interviews.”

Presumably Snowden’s dossier included his interviews with the FSB, SVR and other Russian security services. If so, it would explain how Kucherena could be so certain that Snowden had brought “material” with him to Russia that he had not provided to journalists in Hong Kong. Before meeting with Kucherena, I had met with Sophie Shevardnadze, the previously-mentioned grand-daughter of Politburo member Edward Shevardnadze and widely-followe3d television journalist. She told me that Kucherena had personally approved the translation of the interview into English. So I asked Kucherena about his 2013 interview with her, which was the last interview he had given about Snowden. It will be recalled that in response to a question about whether Snowden had secret material with him in Russia, Kucherena had said “certainly.” Was this exchange accurate?

“It was accurate,” he answered.

Snowden himself had said in Hong Kong that he had only given journalists some of the state secrets he had stolen and that he deemed others too sensitive for journalists. So I sought to find out from Kucherena which documents Snowden had taken to Russia. I went about it in a roundabout way. When Shevardnadze asked him about the secret material Snowden had might reveal in Russia, Kucherena pointedly called her attention to Snowden’s CIA service, suggesting that he might possess CIA files. I also knew that in his roman a clef novel which Oliver Stone had optioned for $1 million, he had Joshua Frost, the thinly veiled Snowden-based character, steal a vast number of CIA documents that could do great damage to U.S. intelligence. By retaining them, Frost made himself a prime target of the CIA. So I asked “Is Joshua Frost fact or fiction?”
“I can’t tell you that,” he said, “If I said he was Snowden it would violate the attorney client privilege.”
“I understand,” I persisted, “But did Snowden do what Frost did in your book.”
“That is for you to decide,” he answered with a sly smile. “It’s my first novel.”

When I asked if he could arrange for me to see Snowden, he said that first I would have to first submit my questions to Ben Wizner, Snowden’s American lawyer. He made it clear to me that the exposure of Snowden to journalists, or at least the vetting of journalists, had been outsourced to Wizner, “After that the final decision is up to Snowden,” he said. That seemed to conclude the interview but, as I got up to leave, he added, “His legal defense is fairly expensive and Snowden is running out of money.”
I was intrigued by this parting remark. Snowden, as far as I knew, didn’t need a legal defense because he was not charged with a crime in Russia and the United States had no extradition treaty with Russia. But I asked, “Could I make a contribution to his defense fund?”
“It would be greatly appreciated,” he said, “We will supply you with instructions to wire the money to our bank.”
“How much should I send?”
“That’s up to you,” he said, getting up to walk me to the door. “I should add for the record that the contribution will not influence Snowden's decision to see you.”
“I will send the wiring instructions” Valentina said as I left. “I hope you come back to Moscow.”

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