Robert Scheer SI Podcast SI: Justice & Injustice SI: Reporting Abuse of Power

John Kiriakou: The Whistleblower Who Revealed CIA Torture

Robert Scheer sits down with the former CIA agent and torture whistleblower to discuss the battle for maintaining civil liberties in an age of terror attacks.
Robert Scheer sits down with former CIA agent and torture whistleblower John Kiriakou.
John Kiriakou (L) and Daniel Ellsberg at the Pen Center USA’s 25th Annual Literary Awards

John Kiriakou, who wrote The Reluctant Spy, is the recent recipient of the PEN Center First Amendment Award. He spent almost 15 years in the CIA, first as an analyst and later as a counterterrorism operations officer. Scheer and Kiriakou discuss the battle for maintaining civil liberties even as recent terror attacks have shaken France and the United States. Kiriakou delves into his time at the CIA, describing the capture of Abu Zubeydah, thought to be one of Al-Qaeda’s top officials, and his subsequent interrogation. Kiriakou goes into his decision to disclose to ABC News that the CIA had been torturing suspects through waterboarding and how high up the approval for torture went. He also discusses the espionage charges he later faced that sent him to jail for over two years.

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John Kiriakou in conversation with Robert Scheer

Credits

Guest:
John Kiriakou – Institute for Foreign Policy Studies – @JohnKiriakou

Host:
Robert Scheer

Producers:
Joshua ScheerRebecca Mooney

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