In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed the National Security Agency’s covert spying programs and showed how it watched its citizens through tech companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

He stole corroborating documentation from the NSA only to make it public knowledge. His well-intentioned actions split the public into two schools of thought: One saw him as a patriot and the other as a traitor.

Some three-odd years later, Edward Jay Epstein, a proponent of the second school, wrote a book called How America Lost Its Secrets, accusing Snowden of being a spy for China, Russia, or both.

Click here if you’re interested in our take on Epstein’s findings. Alternatively, keep reading our critique of the op-ed disguised as a work of non-fiction.

The Accomplice Theory

Epstein believed that Snowden didn’t have enough sway in the NSA to gain access to top-secret files. He proposed several theories related to someone inside the NSA who might have helped him with the following:

• Get hired at the agency’s data center.
• Discover global spy programs.
• Discover security traps at the data center.

Epstein’s accomplice theory goes as far as positing there might have been a spy in the NSA before Snowden started working there as a contractor.

Unfortunately for Epstein, the FBI explored this theory right after Snowden’s bombshell revelations and came up empty. There was no such accomplice within the agency; it was all Snowden.

The Speculation

We urge you to read How America Lost Its Secretsif only to see the number of times Epstein betrays the weakness of his arguments with speculative phrases like “could have,” “should have,” and “might have.”

Even when Epstein hasn’t used these phrases, he has portrayed assertions as facts and quoted people who are either senile or lying. If the fictional “level 3 sensitive compartmented information” is any indication, most of the book flows in this worrying direction.

Snowden in Hong Kong

The problem with Edward Epstein’s findings is that they are seldom corroborated with evidence. This is evident in his claim that Snowden arrived in Hong Kong on May 20 and checked into the Mira on June 1. Epstein doesn’t know what he did during the 11 undocumented days, but he is aware—who knows how—that he sent Glenn Greenwald 20 top-secret NSA documents on May 25.

He also “believes”Snowden may have been staying with his Chinese handlers during this time. As you might have guessed, there is no evidence of these claims. It’s Epstein’s word, which he cunningly wants the reader to believe is based on what the hotel staff told him. It’s not. The staff only said that Snowden checked in on June 1 with his real name and credit card.

Epstein’s Findings About the JFK Assassination

Epstein’s 2017 book is the latest in a series of books and articles riddled with conjecture, speculation, and misinformation. Kennedys and Kingcares because much of what he writes is related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Help us debunk such literature as soon as it’s published and pave the way for the truth behind the JFK assassination. You can do this through donations or multimedia contributions.

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