John Kiriakou

John Kiriakou is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, whistleblower, journalist, and author with fourteen years of experience in the intelligence community. Kiriakou served as an intelligence analyst and counterterrorism operations officer for the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, receiving multiple Exceptional Performance Awards, the Sustained Superior Performance Award, the Counterterrorism Service Medal, and the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award during his career. Following the September 11 attacks, Kiriakou was appointed chief of counterterrorist operations in Pakistan, where he led the CIA team that captured Abu Zubaydah, then considered al-Qaeda's third-ranking official. When offered training in the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques, Kiriakou declined, citing ethical and legal concerns.

Kiriakou became a significant figure in national security and intelligence whistleblowing when, in an ABC News interview with Brian Ross, he became the first U.S. government official to publicly confirm that the CIA had waterboarded prisoners and that torture was official U.S. government policy. His disclosure sparked a national debate about interrogation practices and government accountability. The government began investigating Kiriakou after his media appearance, and he was eventually charged under the Espionage Act, becoming the sixth whistleblower indicted under that statute by the Obama administration. He pleaded guilty to a single count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Kiriakou remains the only CIA officer to serve time in connection with the U.S. torture program, despite not participating in torture himself.

Kiriakou is the author of several books, including "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," "Doing Time Like a Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison," and "The Convenient Terrorist: Two Whistleblowers' Stories of Torture, Terror, Secret Wars, and CIA Lies," co-authored with Joseph Hickman. He has also written a series of "CIA Insider's Guides" on topics such as surveillance and lie detection. His "Letters from Loretto" blog series provided insight into life in the federal prison system.

Kiriakou has advocated for transparency, civil liberties, and whistleblower protections. His work has been recognized with honors including the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, the PEN Center USA First Amendment Award, the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence, and the Blueprint International Whistleblowing Prize for Bravery and Integrity in the Public Interest. He appeared in the documentary "Silenced" and in "Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly." Kiriakou has served as a senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a counterterrorism consultant for ABC News, and an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. He speaks at universities, think tanks, and public forums, and hosts the podcast "Deep Focus with John Kiriakou," addressing issues of national security, government accountability, and democratic governance.