The Question of When | 165

The Question of When | 165 under horrific conditions for over a year while awaiting his trial and was facing a long prison sentence. There was no reason for Snowden to expect a better outcome for himself if he returned to the United States or was arrested anywhere else that had an extradition treaty with the United States. As the Russian officials in Hong Kong would have informed him, Russia had no extradition treaty with the United States. It was also one of the few places in the world that he could reach from Hong Kong without flying through airspace in which he might be intercepted by a U.S. ally. Snowden was told he could take the direct Aeroflot flight to Moscow without a valid passport or visa. That Snowden’s alternative to going to Russia was going to prison gave the Russians considerable leverage in Hong Kong. The Rus- sian “diplomats” could have used this leverage to extract a quid pro quo. The price of admission might have meant putting himself in the hands of Russian intelligence and telling it all he knew. The Moscow Scenario The final possibility is that Snowden did not come under Russian control until after he arrived in Moscow. After assessing the nega- tive attitude that Snowden expressed toward government authority on the video that was released by The Guardian, the Russian “diplo- mats” in Hong Kong might have concluded that Snowden could bolt if too much pressure was exerted on him there. The Russians could afford to be patient. They knew that Interpol and the United States would be pursuing Snowden throughout the world and that he had no valid travel documents and that his credit cards had been frozen. They would likely know that Sarah Harrison had arranged his flight to Moscow on June 23. So they had no urgent need to apply pressure on him before his plane landed in Russia. After the Russians took him in a “special operation” from the plane at the airport, he was informed by Russian authorities that he would not be allowed to go to Cuba, Venezuela, Iceland, Ecuador, or any other country without the permission of Russian officials, which would not be immediately forthcoming. He was now at the | | Epst_9780451494566_2p_all_r1.z.indd 165 ® 9/29/16 5:51 Pa | | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019653