John Kiriakou
John Kiriakou isn't just a former CIA officer; he's a central figure in a global debate about national security, ethics, and the harsh realities of intelligence work. His decision to speak out about classified interrogation techniques launched a firestorm, ultimately leading him down a path few intelligence officers ever tread. This is the story of a man who served his country, then challenged its practices, paying a profound personal price. John Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to publicly confirm the CIA's use of waterboarding, sparking international controversy. His disclosure led to a conviction under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, making him the only CIA officer jailed for exposing the enhanced interrogation program. Kiriakou's case highlights the complex and often contentious balance between national security, government transparency, and whistleblower protection.
AI Summary
John Kiriakou isn't just a former CIA officer; he's a central figure in a global debate about national security, ethics, and the harsh realities of intelligence work. His decision to speak out about classified interrogation techniques launched a firestorm, ultimately leading him down a path few intelligence officers ever tread. This is the story of a man who served his country, then challenged its practices, paying a profound personal price.
- John Kiriakou was the first U.S. government official to publicly confirm the CIA's use of waterboarding, sparking international controversy.
- His disclosure led to a conviction under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, making him the only CIA officer jailed for exposing the enhanced interrogation program.
- Kiriakou's case highlights the complex and often contentious balance between national security, government transparency, and whistleblower protection.
The Whistleblower
John Chris Kiriakou — a name that became synonymous with a global debate about national security, ethics, and the harsh realities of intelligence work. Born in 1964, this former intelligence officer, author, and journalist embarked on a career that would ultimately lead him to challenge the very institution he served.
After years as an intelligence analyst and operations officer for the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, Kiriakou stepped into the spotlight in December 2007. He became the first U.S. government official to publicly confirm that the CIA used waterboarding on al-Qaeda prisoners, a technique he explicitly described as torture.
This disclosure came at a steep personal cost. In 2012, John Kiriakou earned a regrettable distinction: he became the only CIA officer ever convicted for exposing information about the agency's enhanced interrogation program. His guilty plea to passing classified information to a reporter resulted in a 30-month prison sentence.
From Pennsylvania to Covert Operations
Kiriakou's journey began in Sharon, Pennsylvania, born to elementary school educators in 1964. After graduating high school, he attended George Washington University, earning degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and Legislative Affairs — a background that would perfectly align with his future recruitment into the CIA by a former senior agency official.
Inside the Agency
For his first eight years at the CIA, Kiriakou specialized as a Middle East analyst focusing on Iraq, holding a top-secret clearance and learning Arabic. He then transitioned to the Directorate of Operations, becoming a counter-terrorism officer, recruiting agents in places like Athens, Greece, where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt.
The September 11th attacks propelled Kiriakou into a critical role as Chief of Counterterrorist Operations in Pakistan. Here, he led military raids on al-Qaeda safehouses, capturing numerous fighters, including the significant capture of Abu Zubaydah in Faisalabad in March 2002.
After leaving the CIA in 2004, Kiriakou continued in roles related to national security. He worked for Deloitte & Touche, consulted for ABC News on terrorism, and served as a senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, focusing on the Middle East and international terrorism, before venturing into risk analysis consulting.
The Disclosure and Its Fallout
The pivotal moment arrived on December 10, 2007, when Kiriakou spoke to ABC News. He detailed his participation in Abu Zubaydah's capture and, crucially, revealed what CIA associates had told him about the interrogation: a single, brief instance of waterboarding had allegedly extracted cooperation.
Kiriakou's story quickly made him a prominent voice on interrogation techniques. However, subsequent reports in 2009 contradicted his initial account, revealing that Abu Zubaydah had been waterboarded at least 83 times, with little or no useful intelligence gained beyond what was already known. Kiriakou later stated he chose not to blow the whistle internally, believing it would be futile.
The Road to Conviction
Kiriakou's interview sparked a federal investigation. He had exchanged emails with a freelance writer, disclosing the name of a former CIA colleague involved in the detention program. This classified name eventually reached lawyers for Guantanamo detainees, leading to his arrest.
In January 2012, Kiriakou was charged with disclosing classified information and allegedly lying to the CIA's Publications Review Board. Facing up to 45 years in prison, he ultimately agreed to a plea deal in October 2012. He pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, sparing journalists from testifying, while other serious charges were dropped.
On January 25, 2013, Kiriakou was sentenced to 30 months. This made him only the second CIA employee ever jailed under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, triggering widespread concern. Many, including New York Times reporter Scott Shane, argued his prosecution had a "chilling effect" on national security journalism.
From Prison to Public Advocate
Kiriakou served his term at a federal correctional institution, even writing an open "Letter From Loretto" to Edward Snowden, offering support and advice. Upon his release in 2015, he declared he would "do it all over again," maintaining his case was about exposing torture. He then became an outspoken advocate for prison reform.
Post-release, Kiriakou explored avenues for a presidential pardon, engaging lobbyists and even discussing the possibility with Rudy Giuliani. While the endeavor proved expensive and ultimately unsuccessful, it underscored his desire to clear his name and recover his pension.
Kiriakou consistently criticized officials connected to enhanced interrogation techniques, notably in a Washington Post op-ed opposing Gina Haspel's nomination as CIA director. He firmly believes his imprisonment was "worth every day" because his disclosures contributed to Congress enacting a ban on waterboarding and other black site techniques.
As a founding member of "Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity" (VIPS), Kiriakou continues to advocate for ethical intelligence. This group of former intelligence officers challenges official narratives, demonstrating a sustained commitment to transparency and accountability.
A Legacy of Storytelling
Kiriakou has channeled his experiences into a prolific writing career, authoring several books. These include "The Reluctant Spy," chronicling the CIA's post-9/11 response; "The Convenient Terrorist," on Abu Zubaydah; and "Doing Time Like a Spy," a memoir of his prison experience and a critique of the U.S. prison system.
Recognition and Resilience
Despite the immense personal and professional sacrifices, Kiriakou has been recognized for his civic courage. He received the 2012 Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, the 2016 Sam Adams Award, and the prestigious PEN First Amendment Award, honoring his bravery in challenging government secrecy and advocating for human rights.
Article
John Kiriakou
John Chris Kiriakou ( kee-ree-AH-koo; born August 9, 1964) is a Greek-American former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, whistleblower, journalist, and author.
He was an intelligence analyst and operations officer for the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, and a senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was also a consultant for ABC News, a co-host of Political Misfits on Radio Sputnik, and a columnist for Reader Supported News.
Kiriakou was the first US government official to confirm in December 2007 that waterboarding was used to torture al-Qaeda prisoners during interrogations. He was later convicted for exposing the CIA's enhanced interrogation program, having passed classified information to a reporter. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Early life
John Kiriakou
Kiriakou was born on August 9, 1964, the oldest son of elementary school educators in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and raised in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. His grandparents had immigrated from Greece. His younger brother is Emanuel Kiriakou, a musician.
Kiriakou graduated from New Castle High School in 1982 and attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern studies and a master's degree in legislative affairs. Prior to working at the CIA, he worked as a high school teacher, having taught US actor Jared Leto.
CIA career
John Kiriakou
Kiriakou was recruited into the CIA out of graduate school by Jerrold Post, a CIA psychologist who was Kiriakou's professor at George Washington University. He spent the first eight years of his career as a Middle East analyst specializing on Iraq. He learned Arabic and, from 1994 to 1996, was assigned to the US Embassy in Manama, Bahrain, as an economic officer. He returned to Washington, D.C. to work on Iraq until 1998, when he transferred to the CIA's Directorate of Operations. He then became a counter-terrorism operations officer and worked in Athens, Greece, where the CIA targeted 17N and other Greek left-wing terrorist groups. They also targeted Palestinian militants. In Greece, Kiriakou recruited foreign agents to spy for the United States, and was nearly assassinated by leftists. In 2000, Kiriakou returned to CIA headquarters.
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Kiriakou was named Chief of Counterterrorist Operations in Pakistan. In that position, he led a series of military raids on al-Qaeda safehouses, capturing dozens of al-Qaeda fighters. Kiriakou led a raid on the night of March 28, 2002, in Faisalabad, Pakistan, capturing Abu Zubaydah, then thought to be al-Qaeda's third-ranking official. He left the CIA in 2004 to take up a consulting job.
Work after the CIA
John Kiriakou
From 2004 until 2008, Kiriakou worked as a senior manager in the Big Four accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche's, competitive intelligence practice; during that time, he also worked as an adviser for several Hollywood films, such as Brüno. From September 2008 until March 2009, Kiriakou was a terrorism consultant for ABC News.
Following Senator John Kerry's (D-MA) ascension to the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2009, Kiriakou became the committee's senior United States Senate investigator, focusing on the Middle East, international terrorism, piracy, and counter-narcotics issues.
In 2011, he left the committee to become managing partner of Rhodes Global Consulting, an Arlington, Virginia-based political risk analysis firm. From April 2011 to April 2012, he resumed counter-terrorism consulting for ABC News.
Disclosing torture
John Kiriakou
In 2006, senior law enforcement agents with the Criminal Investigation Task Force told MSNBC.com that they began to complain in 2002 inside the US Department of Defense that the interrogation tactics used in Guantanamo Bay by a separate team of military intelligence investigators were unproductive, not likely to produce reliable information, and probably illegal. Unable to get satisfaction from the army commanders running the detainee camp, they took their concerns to David Brant, director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), who alerted Navy General Counsel Alberto J. Mora. On December 6, 2007, The New York Times advised the Bush administration that they had acquired, and planned to publish, information about the destruction of tapes made of Zubaydah's interrogation, believed to show instances of waterboarding and other forms of possible torture.
On December 10, 2007, Kiriakou gave an interview to ABC News in which he described his participation in the capture of Abu Zubaydah, who was accused of having been an aide to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Kiriakou said that he did not witness Zubaydah's interrogation, but had been told by CIA associates that it had taken only a single brief instance of waterboarding to extract answers:
... He was able to withstand the waterboarding for quite some time. And by that I mean probably 30, 35 seconds ... and a short time afterwards, in the next day or so, he told his interrogator that Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate.
Following the interview, Kiriakou's accounts of Abu Zubaydah's waterboarding were widely repeated and paraphrased on social media. In the following months, he became a regular guest expert on news and public affairs shows on the topics of interrogation and counter-terrorism.
In 2009, it was reported that Abu Zubaydah had been waterboarded at least 83 times. The treatment "broke" Abu Zubaydah, as he eventually told his interrogators of al-Qaeda terrorism plots. However, the torture and waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah generated little or no useful additional information to what was already known.
Kiriakou has said that he chose not to blow the whistle on torture through internal channels because he believed he "wouldn't have gotten anywhere" because his superiors and the congressional intelligence committees were already aware of it.
Trial and sentence
John Kiriakou
After the ABC News interview, Kiriakou exchanged emails with a freelance writer. In the emails, Kiriakou disclosed the name of a former CIA colleague who had participated in the detention and interrogation program; the employee was, at the time, still undercover. The freelance writer then shared the name with lawyers representing detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. The name then appeared in a sealed legal filing submitted by the defense attorneys. Although the name was not made public at the time, the disclosure angered federal officials, and the resulting federal investigation led to Kiriakou's arrest. The name that was disclosed appeared on the New York Times website in October 2011.
On January 23, 2012, Kiriakou was charged with disclosing classified information to journalists, including the name of a covert CIA officer and information revealing the role of another CIA employee, Deuce Martinez, in classified activities. In addition, Kiriakou was alleged to have lied to the CIA in order to have his book published. His criminal defense lawyer was Robert Trout. His other lawyer, Jesselyn Radack, told Politico that the government was wrong to deny Kiriakou's whistleblower status.
The specific charges were that in 2008, Kiriakou confirmed the name of a CIA officer—which was already well known to people in the human rights community, according to the Government Accountability Project—to someone who claimed to be writing a book about the agency's rendition practices. In a separate 2008 incident, Kiriakou gave a New York Times journalist the business card of a CIA agent who worked for a "private government contractor known for its involvement in torture." That agent had never been undercover and his contact information and affiliation with the CIA was already publicly available on the Internet. Kiriakou faced up to 45 years in prison and millions of dollars in legal fees for these charges.
On April 5, 2012, Kiriakou was indicted for one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, three counts of violating the Espionage Act, and one count of making false statements for allegedly lying to the Publications Review Board of the CIA. Kiriakou initially pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on bail.
Starting September 12, 2012, the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia conducted a closed Classified Information Procedures Act hearings in Kiriakou's case.
On October 22, 2012, Kiriakou agreed to plead guilty to one count of passing classified information to the media thereby violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act; his plea deal spared journalists from testifying in a trial. All other charges were dropped.
On January 25, 2013, Kiriakou was sentenced to 30 months in prison, making him the second CIA employee to be jailed for revealing classified material of CIA undercover identities in violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. The first was Sharon Scranage, a CIA secretary who was arrested and convicted in 1985. In February 2013 New York Times reporter Scott Shane referenced the Kiriakou case when he told NPR that Obama's prosecutions of journalism-related leaking were having a chilling effect on coverage of national security issues.
In January 2013, Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst and intelligence adviser to Barack Obama, sent the president a letter signed by eighteen other CIA veterans urging that Kiriakou's sentence be commuted.
Imprisonment
John Kiriakou
John Kiriakou talking on prison survival and whistleblowing at the Disruption Network Lab, Berlin, 2017
Kiriakou received a prison "send off" party at the exclusive Hay–Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C., hosted by political peace activists dressed in orange jumpsuits and mock prison costumes.
On February 28, 2013, Kiriakou began serving his term at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution, Loretto, in Loretto, Pennsylvania.
In summer 2013, Kiriakou wrote an open "Letter From Loretto" to the whistleblower Edward Snowden, published by the blog Firedoglake, in which he expressed his support and gave advice. Kiriakou urged Snowden to not, "under any circumstances, cooperate with the FBI."
On February 3, 2015, Kiriakou was released from prison to serve three months of house arrest at his home in Arlington, Virginia. Following his release, Kiriakou said his case was not about leaking information but about exposing torture, continuing, "and I would do it all over again." He has since expressed interest in campaigning for prison reform.
In July 2018, Kiriakou signed a $50,000 agreement with Karen Giorno, a former campaign advisor to Donald Trump, as payment for lobbying for a pardon, with the promise of an additional $50,000 as a bonus if it was granted. Kiriakou said that he also discussed his quest for a pardon with Rudy Giuliani, in 2020. Specifically, an associate of the latter's suggested that they could help, but "it's going to cost $2 million — he's [Giuliani] going to want two million bucks"; Kiriakou laughed, and said that "even if [he] had two million bucks, [he] wouldn't spend it to recover a $700,000 pension."
In a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, Kiriakou criticized Gina Haspel, a CIA officer nominated by Trump to the post of CIA director, writing that "while I went to prison for disclosing the torture program, Haspel is about to get a promotion despite her connection to it." Kiriakou said the time he spent in prison was "worth every day" because revelations about the CIA's use of torture led to Congress's enactment of a specific ban on waterboarding and other techniques used at the black sites.
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
John Kiriakou
Kiriakou in May 2015
Kiriakou is a founding member of the organization Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). In September 2015, Kiriakou and 27 other members of VIPS' steering committee wrote a letter to President Barack Obama challenging a recently published book that claimed to rebut the report of the Senate Intelligence Committee on the CIA's use of torture.
Views
Politics
In college, Kiriakou was the vice president of George Washington University's College Democrats chapter. Kiriakou stated that his support for the Democratic Party began to wane once the party became more conservative under Bill Clinton, and that he left the party after being charged by the Department of Justice under Barack Obama. Kiriakou supported Bernie Sanders during the 2016 Democratic primaries.
Kiriakou stated that abortion rights is "an issue that has always been important to [him]". He has described Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a "right-wing Muslim-hater". Kiriakou described 2024 presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as "an anti-Arab Democrat and an anti-Arab Republican", respectively.
On the National Endowment for Democracy
In January 2022, Kiriakou commented to Declassified UK about their allegations that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a non-profit corporation funded by the United States Congress, had funnelled millions of dollars into British independent media groups since 2016. He said: "In 2011, the US Congress changed the law that forbade the Executive Branch from propagandizing the US people or nationals of the other 'Five Eyes' countries—the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The National Endowment for Democracy, like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, countless Washington-area 'think tanks', and Radio/TV Martí [the US broadcaster that transmits to Cuba], are the vehicles for that propaganda.... And what better way to spread that propaganda than to funnel money to 'friendly' outlets in 'friendly countries'? The CIA's propaganda efforts throughout history have been shameless. But now that they're not legally relegated to just Russia and China, the whole world is a target."
Publications
John Kiriakou
• The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror (Bantam, 2010) discusses the CIA's response to 9/11 and their involvement in the Middle East during the George W. Bush administration. • The Convenient Terrorist: Abu Zubaydah and the Weird Wonderland of America's Secret Wars (Skyhorse, 2017) is an account of the hunt for Abu Zubaydah, his capture, interrogation, torture, and incarceration at Guantanamo. • Doing Time Like a Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison (Rare Bird Books, 2017) is a memoir about Kiriakou's 23-month prison term, which he began serving on February 28, 2013, for passing classified information to the media, thereby violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. The book includes Kiriakou's blog series "Letters From Loretto" in addition to discussion of the US prison system. • The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis (Simon & Schuster, 2020) • How to Disappear and Live Off the Grid: A CIA Insider's Guide (Skyhorse, 2022) • Lying and Lie Detection: A CIA Insider's Guide (Skyhorse, 2022) • Surveillance and Surveillance Detection: A CIA Insider's Guide (Skyhorse, 2022)
Awards
John Kiriakou
The CIA awarded Kiriakou with 10 Exceptional Performance Awards, a Sustained Superior performance Award, the Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award. Kiriakou won the 2012 Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, which is awarded to "national security whistleblowers who stood up for constitutional rights and US values, at great risk to their personal and professional lives". In 2016, he was awarded the Sam Adams Award. Also in 2016, he was given the prestigious PEN First Amendment Award by the PEN Center USA.
Related media works
John Kiriakou
In 2014, Silenced, a documentary featuring Kiriakou by James Spione, was released. The film explored the US Government's response to whistleblowers who disclosed covert violations of constitutional privacy laws and terrorism laws. The film revealed in detail the personal toll on Kiriakou, National Security Agency whistleblower Thomas Andrews Drake and whistleblower attorney Jesselyn Radack, each of whom had questioned practices or reported crimes within the NSA, CIA, military, and other organizations. Silenced was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2016. Having an analogous theme as the Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour, which portrays similar treatment of Edward Snowden. Silenced has been the official selection and recipient of several awards from multiple film festivals even before its release to major cable networks in March 2015.
In early 2026, edited clips from interviews and documentaries featuring Kiriakou went viral on various social media sites, including Instagram, TikTok, and X, where in these edited clips his voice was sped up or slowed down for dramatic or comedic effect.