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CHAPTER 28 The Espionage Source The government's investigation failed. [It] didn’t know what was taken. —EDWARD SNOWDEN, Moscow, 2014 [' moscow, I had learned that Russian intelligence services use the broad, umbrella term “espionage source” to describe moles, volunteers, and anyone else who delivers another state’s secrets to it. It applies not only to documents but to the secret knowledge that such a source is able to recall and includes both controlled and uncontrolled bearers of secrets. It is also a job description that fit Edward Snowden in June 2013. Unless one is willing to believe that the Putin regime acted out of purely altruistic motives in exfiltrating this American intelligence worker to Moscow, the only plausible explanation for its actions in Hong Kong was that it recognized Snowden’s potential as an espionage source. Snowden’s open disillusionment with the NSA presented the very situation that the Russian intelligence services specialized in exploiting. He had also revealed to reporters in Hong Kong that he had deliberately gained access to the NSA’s sources and methods and that he had taken highly classified documents to Hong Kong. He further disclosed that before leaving the NSA, he | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r.indd 285 ® 9/3016 8:13AM | | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019773