John Kiriakou

Legendary card · No. 1567

John Chris Kiriakou ( kee-ree-AH-koo; born August 9, 1964) is an American former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, author, podcaster and whistleblower. In 2007, Kiriakou exposed the CIA's use of waterboarding at black sites as part of the broader enhanced interrogation techniques employed during the war on terror. Kiriakou was federally indicted for violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, receiving a sentence of 30 months in prison after entering a plea deal. After his two-year imprisonment ended in 2015, Kiriakou received multiple awards recognizing his whistleblowing, including PEN's First Amendment Award and the Sam Adams Award. Kiriakou joined the CIA's Counterterrorism Center in 1990 as an intelligence analyst. He became the chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan following the September 11 terrorist attacks and led the capture of Abu Zubaydah, who was then believed to be a high-ranking al-Qaeda member. In 2004, Kiriakou left the CIA, to join the private...

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