John Kiriakou

John Kiriakou is the former CIA officer who blew the lid off CIA waterboarding in 2007, and paid for it with a federal conviction and 30 months in prison.

By Alexandre Le Hégarat · datastats · Updated June 15, 2026

John Kiriakou was born on 9 August 1964 and served as a CIA counterterrorism officer from 1990 to 2004. He is best known for a pivotal role in the 2002 capture of al-Qaeda figure Abu Zubaydah, and for what he said about what happened to detainees afterward.

In December 2007, Kiriakou sat down with ABC News and became the first former U.S. official to publicly confirm on the record that the CIA had waterboarded detainees. That interview made him a household name in national security circles and put him squarely in the crosshairs of federal prosecutors.

In October 2012, he pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, specifically, disclosing the identity of a covert CIA officer to a journalist. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison. The original Espionage Act charges were dropped as part of the plea deal. He is not an Espionage Act convict, that distinction matters legally and politically.

Kiriakou and his supporters frame his prosecution as retaliation for his whistleblowing on CIA torture; the Department of Justice framed it as a straightforward, dangerous leak that put an officer’s life at risk. Both framings remain actively contested.

After his release, Kiriakou reinvented himself as a commentator, author, and podcaster, most notably hosting John Kiriakou’s Dead Drop. His profile surged again in late 2025 and early 2026 after he appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience and edited clips of his interviews went viral on social media, drawing a new generation of listeners to his accounts of life inside the CIA.

People also ask

Kiriakou's current place of residence has not been publicly confirmed in reliable sources, and given his background in intelligence, that's unlikely to change. He has previously been associated with the Washington, D.C. area, which is consistent with his career history, but no specific current address is publicly documented.

John Kiriakou is American. He was born in the United States and served as an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, a position that requires U.S. citizenship.

John Kiriakou was born on 9 August 1964, making him 60 years old as of mid-2025. He turns 61 in August 2025.

John Kiriakou's height has not been reported in any reliable public source. No verified figure is available, and guessing one would be fabricating a fact.

No verified or widely reported net worth figure exists for John Kiriakou. He has worked as a CIA officer, federal prisoner, author, and podcaster, not a career arc that typically produces a publicly trackable fortune. Any specific dollar figure circulating online should be treated as unconfirmed speculation.

The identities of Kiriakou's former spouse or spouses have not been confirmed in the verified facts available here. Naming private individuals without reliable sourcing would risk both accuracy and their privacy. What is publicly known is that he has been married more than once, but the specifics are not confirmed in reliable public sources reviewed here.

Reliable public sources confirm that Kiriakou has been married, but the names and full details of his marriages are not documented in the verified facts available here. Stating specifics without reliable sourcing would risk introducing unconfirmed claims about private individuals.

Kiriakou was arrested by federal authorities, specifically, the FBI acting on behalf of federal prosecutors. His case was handled by the U.S. Department of Justice; he was charged in connection with disclosing a covert CIA officer's identity to a journalist.

The name of Kiriakou's first wife is not confirmed in reliable public sources available here. Naming a private individual without solid sourcing isn't something we'll do, if this detail is important to you, court records or his own published memoir would be the place to verify it.

Yes. Kiriakou was arrested and charged by federal prosecutors. He pleaded guilty in October 2012 to one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. The original Espionage Act charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

This claim is not supported by any verified or widely reported source. No credible reporting connects John Kiriakou to Jared Leto in a teacher-student relationship. Until reliably sourced, this should be treated as an unconfirmed rumor, possibly a case of social media confusion or mistaken identity.

No credible public record supports the claim that Kiriakou worked as a high school teacher. His documented career was in U.S. government and intelligence work, he joined the CIA in 1990. This appears to be an unverified claim circulating online, possibly linked to the Jared Leto rumor.

The dates of any divorces in Kiriakou's personal life are not confirmed in reliable public sources reviewed here. This is a private matter, and without solid documentation, we won't speculate on timing.

Kiriakou was arrested for leaking classified information, specifically, he disclosed the identity of a covert CIA officer to a journalist, violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. He pleaded guilty to that single count in October 2012 and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He and his supporters argue the prosecution was retaliation for his 2007 public confirmation that the CIA used waterboarding; the DOJ maintained the leak endangered a real officer.

The circumstances of any separation in Kiriakou's personal life are not documented in reliable public sources available here. Stating a reason without solid sourcing would mean putting unconfirmed claims about private individuals on the record, we won't do that.

No reliable public reporting documents the reasons for any divorce in Kiriakou's personal life. The specifics of his private relationships are simply not part of the verified public record, and we won't invent or repeat unconfirmed accounts.

There is no widely reported, verified account of John Kiriakou undergoing notable weight loss or the method behind it. If a change in appearance has been noticed in recent videos, it has not been publicly explained in reliable sources reviewed here, so any specific explanation would be speculation.

Kiriakou is famous for two things: being the first former U.S. official to publicly confirm on the record that the CIA waterboarded detainees, which he did in a December 2007 ABC News interview, and subsequently being prosecuted and imprisoned for disclosing a covert officer's identity. He remains a polarizing figure, a whistleblower hero to civil libertarians and a convicted leaker to the intelligence establishment. His profile surged again after a 2025 Joe Rogan appearance and viral social media clips in early 2026.

Kiriakou was convicted, via guilty plea, of a federal felony under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, a conviction that carries lasting legal and civil consequences. He and his advocates argue the prosecution was politically motivated retaliation for exposing CIA torture, and that a pardon would correct what they see as an injustice. A pardon would not erase the conviction's record but would formally restore civil rights affected by the felony. The DOJ's original position was that the disclosure was a genuine national security crime, not whistleblowing.

Kiriakou pleaded guilty in October 2012 to one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, specifically, disclosing the identity of a covert CIA officer to a journalist. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Crucially, the original Espionage Act charges were dropped as part of the plea deal; he is not an Espionage Act convict, a distinction that is both legally precise and politically significant.