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how much they knew and how early they knew it.

The new allegations sparked a review, with Dotcom told he faced the possibility of deportation. Officials sought details from Dotcom's Malcolm Pacific representative David Cooper, and the wait for a decision was unnecessarily long. A letter dispelling the threat of deportation was written in March 2011 — the same month the NZ Police say they were first briefed by the FBI on its operation. But Immigration NZ told Dotcom only on 6 April 2011 he would not be deported and he could stay.

In Dotcom's mind, the decision meant he became an easily obtainable sacrificial goat. "I made the worst possible choice here," he says. "The US found somebody who was eager to please and make it happen for them. Any other jurisdiction where they didn't have that government advantage, they would have lost."

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