CIA Whistleblower: They Can See All Your Messages!
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Billions of dollars are spent spying on Americans by NSA, CIA, and FBI. CIA can remotely control a car's computer system to crash it or drive it off a bridge, control smart TVs to turn speakers into microphones even when off, and broadcast back to CIA.
Can they do that with devices? Absolutely.
Vault 7 documents: CIA software engineer downloaded tens of thousands of documents classified above top secret and leaked to WikiLeaks. Every country has these capabilities.
John Kiriakou spent 15 years in CIA, prioritizing ethics. Blew whistle on CIA's torture program because superiors claimed it worked, but it was illegal, immoral, unethical, and untrue. Would go to prison again.
CIA experimented on American citizens and spread diseases in American cities.
This is the stuff of movies. It is.
Real adversary of the West: Not specified in chunk. Concerns about Trump, Venezuela, Greenland. Jeffrey Epstein: Was a spy working for Israelis.
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World knows Kiriakou's name for blowing whistle on CIA torture program in nationally televised ABC News interview and recent YouTube algorithm boost. Went to prison, would do it again.
BBC interviewer noted no remorse; Kiriakou confirmed he would repeat it.
Accomplished CIA spy for 15 years. First half in analysis, then switched to counterterrorism operations. Chief of CIA counterterrorism in Pakistan post-9/11.
CIA mission: Recruit spies to steal secrets and analyze them for policymakers.
Post-9/11: Infiltrate al-Qaeda by recruiting members to reveal next attack plans (expected to dwarf 9/11 per Osama bin Laden), disrupt, kill/capture leadership.
CIA recruits spies, steals secrets, analyzes for policy.
Analysis: Wrote for president, VP, secretaries of state/defense, national security adviser. Publications include President's Daily Brief (PDB). Covered Iraq from before it was known.
Iraq-Kuwait anecdote: Iraq invaded Kuwait. 25-26yo Kiriakou briefed Oval Office: President George H.W. Bush, VP, NSA, CIA Director, boss, him. Iraqi troops crossed at 2AM, royal family fled to Saudi Arabia, new governor co-founder of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. VP: "Jesus Christ." President dismissed them.
My friends would never believe this.
Operations: Recruit spies (asset acquisition cycle: spot, assess, develop, recruit). Counterterrorism extras: spy training, ingratiate.
Tip: Mid-level al-Qaeda met daily 10AM coffee shop. Kiriakou used flawless Arabic, bushy beard, Arabic newspaper.
Arabic example: Nice to meet you. Alhamdulillah.
Week 1: Eye contact. Week 2: Nods. Week 3: Greeting "May peace be upon you" / "And upon you peace." Invited alone to sit, built rapport on loneliness, family in Cairo (never met son), Tora Bora bombing "hideous."
Dinner: Revealed American CIA identity. Wanted specific info he had access to. Deal: Help go home (passport, first-class ticket, cash). Reason he agreed: "You're the first person who ever asked me about my family."
9yo: Wanted to be spy. College: Only applied to George Washington University (2 blocks from White House, Middle East studies). Master's in legislative affairs, foreign policy.
Psychology of Leadership class by Dr. Gerald Post (CIA undercover): Shadow boss at United Food and Commercial Workers Union, profile as sociopath with psychopathic/violent tendencies (cited psych texts, got A).
Post recruited: Called "Bob," sent to Rosslyn, VA interview. Tests at GW Medical School (200 people). Blew doors off tests.
Told wife despite rules; polygraph admitted it. Cover stories strained marriage (e.g., midnight code phrases like "The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plane" / "Marzy Oats and Dozy Oats and Little Lambs Ivy" for yacht club meet; garbage dumpster op mistaken for affair). Ended in divorce.
Interviews: Office of Near Eastern Operations/Analysis, Leadership Analysis. Started Iraq analysis desk.
Training: Varies by role. Analysis: CIA writing style for PDB (routine, priority, immediate, flash, critic levels; e.g., 9/11 critic).
Iraq-Kuwait prediction: Called defense attaché in Baghdad, confirmed invasion imminent; PDB to president 7AM next day.
CIA hires people with sociopathic tendencies (not full sociopaths, who fail polygraphs, uncontrollable). Useful for illegal actions like breaking into embassies.
Most big-company CEOs sociopaths: Claw to top without remorse.
Kiriakou: Operates in legal/moral/ethical gray areas.
Interest in Lessons from Spy Recruitment
Curious about CIA teachings on human nature for recruiting strangers, sometimes against their country; transferable to business/life.
Discussion on what motivates people to spy, transferable to leadership and sales. CIA term for the "hook" is vulnerability. Internal CIA studies: 95% of spies recruited for money – simple cash for secrets. Remaining 5%: love/family, ideology, revenge, excitement (e.g., adrenaline rush from James Bond-like thrill).
"95% of the people who agree to become spies for us do it for the money."
Host challenges: Human motivation 95% money-driven? Guest affirms yes. Host contrasts with business hiring (e.g., people leaving OpenAI for startups despite higher pay/equity; early Google employees leaving high-pay conglomerates for less pay but excitement/scrappiness). Money often proxy for family/ideology/excitement/revenge.
Transferable Skills to Business
Guest works with Ivy Cyber (privacy software, data scrambling). Angel investors echo excitement over money.
CIA offers literally anything imaginable (even illegal, but not drugs/child prostitutes). Examples:
- Green card: "If the information is good enough, not a problem."
- Eliminate tax bill: "Give me the plans to that Russian tank. We'll make it happen."
For Americans: No, CIA can't operate domestically by law (offices for debriefing C-suite officers traveling to denied areas like North Korea – 99.99% comply as patriots).
CIA Training: Lying and Lie Detection
Trained liars (explains 80%+ divorce rate, highest in US government).
"Hi, my name is Dave Phillips. Um I work for an import export company."
Art of lying: Innate ability + keeping lies straight.
Headquarters tasked targeting Middle East foreign officer. Surveilled, "accidentally" met at coffee shop (fabricated shared neighborhood/habits). Determined he was gay via vibe. HQ instructed pretend gay. Fake dates (show + sushi, dinner at his place). Invited to guest's place (removed wife photos, wife left). He tried to kiss; guest backed off ("not into hairy guys"), stayed friends. Officer confided: Gay, passed over for promotion. Guest advised hiding it culturally ("your culture is backwards... inshallah, the right woman is coming"). Officer later became ambassador.
New ops officer targets ugliest woman in foreign intel service ("stone gargoyle with giant mole and hair"). Private Saturday lunch (rule-breaking). Boss joked "take one for the team" (sleep with her), then clarified: Develop normally, no sex. Sex with assets not allowed (penalty box if caught, though happens).
Sextortion
Rarely effective. Story: Ayatollah setup with prostitute (cameras), showed nude photos – he wanted prints ("give me that one, an 8x10... wallet size"). Russians/Israelis use it; most services avoid – needs mutual trust, not coercion.
CIA: "Best and brightest?" No – average people, miss major events since 1947 (Berlin Wall rise/fall, Soviet Union fall, Suez crisis, Iran hostage crisis, 9/11). Good at daily presidential updates, minor terrorist recruits.
Pre-9/11: Illegal to spy on Americans. Now: Billions spent (NSA/CIA/FBI/contractors). Nothing secret. Metadata for sale (no warrant needed). Overcriminalized: Harvey Silverglate's Three Felonies a Day – average American commits 3 felonies daily unwittingly. Target via metadata/politics → ruin life.
Guest's Prosecution
Spoke out on CIA torture (Guantanamo Bay, secret prisons). John Brennan to Eric Holder: Charge espionage (death penalty possible). Holder: No espionage. Brennan: Charge anyway. Arrested, 5 felonies (3 espionage). Bankrupted ($2M fees), plea to lesser charge (23 months jail).
Elliot Spitzer: "Don't nod when you can motion. Don't speak when you can nod, and don't ever put anything in a text message."
CIA Day 1: Nothing you'd be ashamed of on Washington Post front page.
Digital insecurity: Not just US – British, French, Germans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Russians, Chinese, Israelis, Iranians intercept/hack.
Hacking Capabilities (Vault 7)
WikiLeaks Vault 7 (2017, disgruntled CIA engineer leaked tens of thousands top-secret pages):
- Hack systems (e.g., Iranian Ministry of Interior, leave Cyrillic clues blaming Russians).
- Smart TVs: Off but microphone active, broadcasts room audio.
- Devices: Old tech, still possible now.
- Cars: Remote control → crash/kill (off bridge/tree).
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Russians excel; Americans/other countries don't. Sleeper agent: Recruited from birth, trained as another nationality (e.g., Russian kid to fake American town: English accent, US TV/movies/food/education/sports like Philadelphia Eagles/San Francisco 49ers).
Fake ID: 1964 death records (infant deaths) → SSN → US passport. Live normal life 20+ years (e.g., travel agent), then activated (kill target, steal defense docs).
Examples:
- Neighborhood elementary teacher traded to Russians for 2 Americans.
- Guest's podcast: East German sleeper raised American, sent to NY, job in restaurant supply.
He got a job at a restaurant supply company, got married, and had a daughter. He told the speaker, "As soon as I looked at her face the day she was born, I realized this life wasn't for me anymore." The East Germans sent him a radio activation message, but he didn't respond. On the subway, a man grabbed the strap next to him and whispered, "If you don't report back, I have to kill you." He ran to the FBI field office in New York, declared himself an East German sleeper agent, and became a prolific FBI source.
Background
- Taken as a young person, sent to Russia to become American with a phony identity.
- After training, arrived in US at age 20-22, operated for 25 years.
- Quit after daughter's birth: "Wow, this is what life is for, not being a sleeper."
Do average listeners interact with espionage agents right now? Probably not, as foreign intelligence officers are spread across America. Yes if working at a defense contractor anywhere in US—likely encountering Russian, Chinese, or Israeli espionage.
- Up to 10,000 foreign spies in Washington DC.
Personal Anecdote: Belgian Diplomat
Speaker's first wife taught ballet to 4-6 year olds; one student's father was a Belgian diplomat. They chatted casually about kids. Later, walking into work, speaker joked, "Oh, come on, Peter," and diplomat replied, "You know, I thought you were a spy." Speaker: "I actually didn't think you were a spy." It was a liaison meeting; they chuckled, and speaker said, "Listen, don't tell anybody."
Estimate of spies in US (foreign, domestic, undercover CIA employees, including Americans): 50-60,000 total.
- CIA employee numbers classified; undercover even more so.
- Guesstimate lumps all CIA and foreign intelligence officers.
Napkin Math on Encounters
- US population: 330 million.
- 50,000 spies = 1 in 6,600 people.
- Average people meet 3-10,000 per year.
- Statistically, meet one undercover spy per year.
- At defense firms (Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing): even money odds of encountering foreign intel officer.
Post-9/11 budgets: unlimited. Could give away as much money as needed.
- Approach with terrorist tip wanting $10 million: "Done."
- Most given: $10 million.
Abu Zubaydah Capture
- Believed al-Qaeda #3 (not actually, but very bad).
- Speaker led raids capturing him in Faisalabad, Pakistan, March 2002.
- State Department $10 million reward given to Pakistani intelligence service (ISI) for great analysis, not an individual.
- Others in war on terror got more: one individual $25 million within 24 hours for high-ranking foreign terrorist (undisclosed).
Source Relocation
- Tell source: can't live here anymore; pick a country.
- Approach that country: "Do us a solid—he came through, won't burden economy (has $25 million)."
- Recipient wanted to stay in region, not US.
- Spies' understanding of human nature, motivations, psychology.
- Fragility of perceived reality: things not as secure as believed; many secrets.
- Conspiracy theorists often right more than expected.
CIA History and Conspiracy Theories
Former CIA director coined "conspiracy theory" to discredit critics.
CIA did crazy experiments 1952-1975:
- MK Ultra.
- Released virus in San Francisco on foggy day to test spread: 11 people to ER with rare infection.
- LSD experiments: convinced Russians using it for mind control (Chinese disinformation from 1951; Russians had none, Chinese did).
- Started dosing own employees: several suicides (one jumped from hotel window) to test control, planted memories.
- Shifted to strangers: rented San Francisco safe house, hired prostitutes to lure "Johns" (clients), dosed with LSD (Operation Midnight Climax).
- Watched via one-way mirrors, recorded behavior.
- Goal: break and rebuild minds; erase personalities.
- 1973: CIA director ordered mass destruction of MK Ultra files despite Church Committee order not to (testified that day, then ordered destruction). Held in contempt of Congress, fined $150.
- 15% documents survived accidentally (sanitized version).
CIA probably involved in current Iran protests. Israelis heavily involved:
12-Day War Operations
- Recruited Afghan refugees (2+ million in Iran, starving illegals).
- Paid $200/month for generals'/scientists' addresses, cell numbers.
- Geolocated cells, fired missiles: killed top 12 Iranian generals, nearly all nuclear scientists.
- Iranians banned senior officials' cell phones, but not bodyguards' → Israelis targeted bodyguards, killed everyone.
Speaker: Never killed anyone (proudly told children). Half-exception:
1993 Janitor Incident
- Morning meeting: General Powell called, asked who ran Iraq ops for Bush Sr. assassination plot (post-Kuwait visit).
- Basra station (Iraqi intel) headed by Sabra Abduliz Adori in Baghdad; gave exact address.
- 8 hours later: 47 cruise missiles on Iraqi intel HQ (night in Baghdad) → killed janitor.
- Speaker felt guilty; boss: you didn't know what he'd do.
US Assassinations
- Still happen via CIA.
- Obama era: John Brennan (deputy NSA counterterrorism) started Tuesday morning kill list meetings at White House (Brennan, NSC attorney, CIA general counsel, CTC rep).
- Listed people to kill that week; teams executed globally.
- Targets: ground-level terrorists posing clear and present danger to US/citizens/installations (vague; take teams' word).
Israelis (no rules, kill anybody).
Pager Operation (3 Years Ago)
- Hezbollah used pagers (avoid cell intercepts).
- Israelis bought Hungarian pager company; Hezbollah ordered from it.
- Inserted explosives; routed: Hungary → Taiwan → Thailand → Syria → Lebanon.
- Activated simultaneously: decapitated Hezbollah leadership.
- Bombed survivors' apartments.
- Will blow up city blocks (kill 1,000) to get target; defy International Court.
Interactions with Israelis
- First briefing as junior analyst (6 weeks in): to Mossad/Shin Bet; no Top Secret, meet off-site (they spy, bug gifts).
- Briefed on Saddam Hussein's psychological state.
- Shin Bet: "You are Jewish" (recruit attempt); speaker: "Don't you dare. I am not recruitable."
- Israelis do this to everyone.
Counterintelligence Briefing
- Day 1: CIA security director warned.
- Avoid steakhouse on Route 123 (nearest to CIA): full of KGB waiting for CIA officers.
- Israeli embassy: 2 officers; FBI ID'd 187 undeclared Israeli intel officers in US (mostly defense contractors stealing secrets).
- US gives Israelis 95% defense secrets (e.g., F-35); they steal remaining 5%.
Yes, strongly believe Israeli spy.
Access Agent
- Recruit for access to elites (Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Prince Andrew), not them directly.
- Give money, island/house, young girls for kompromat.
- Epstein's island: hidden cameras everywhere (including bathrooms) for blackmail.
- Only Israelis/Russians use extortion.
Money Laundering
- Governments launder via real estate, fine art, racehorses.
- Explains 2006 sweetheart deal: convicted child sex crimes → 6 months house arrest (vs. 5-year mandatory minimum).
- Prosecutor Alex Acosta (later Trump Labor Sec.): ordered by AG (ultimately president).
- Most clients Democrats; possibly working on Clinton, or doubled against Israelis/US government.
John Kiriakou bets everything that Jeffrey Epstein was an Israeli spy, feeling very confident. He debated Alan Dershowitz on the Piers Morgan show with Scott Horton claiming Epstein was an Israeli spy, opposed by Dershowitz (Epstein's attorney) and General Danny Ayalon (former head of Mossad). Ayalon was evasive and fun during the debate.
Dershowitz: "That is outrageous. If he had been a spy, he would have told me because I was his attorney and I could have gone to the White House and I could have gotten him a better sentence."
Kiriakou responded:
"Wait a minute. You could have gone to the White House to say, 'Go easy on Jeffrey Epstein because he's an Israeli spy collecting information from American politicians. If I were the president, I would have hung him from a tree.'"
Piers Morgan asked Ayalon if Epstein was a spy; Ayalon laughed and said, "Who knows?"
Real Adversary of the West
Kiriakou identifies China as the real adversary, not Russia.
Chinese excel at patience, planning 25 years ahead unlike the US with its four-year election cycles. They steal technology via numerous Chinese PhD students in hard sciences at major US universities, who are highly intelligent and often want to stay to spy.
"Every single day... I'm 1,000% sure... we frequently arrest them and then trade them for Americans who are in Chinese prisons. Masquerading as students. PhD candidates always in the hard sciences. Always."
China's Goals
- Immediate: Reunification with Taiwan (even Taiwanese acknowledge partial status; US policy recognizes Taiwan as part of China).
- Long-term: See the US fall.
China builds influence via infrastructure (highways, airports, hospitals, electrical grids) funded by trade surplus, owning Africa effectively. They avoid US-style interventions.
US sent Delta Force to snatch President Maduro in Venezuela last week; he faces international narcotics trafficking charges in New York. This reinvokes Monroe Doctrine (from 1823, US sphere in Western Hemisphere).
US is sole superpower: 12 aircraft carriers (soon 14), more long-distance bombers/fighters than China; Russia bogged down in Ukraine.
This action concedes spheres of influence:
- US: Western Hemisphere
- China: Taiwan
- Russia: Ukraine
Shifts from unipolar to multipolar world (3+ superpowers), which Kiriakou sees as safer.
Maduro snatch "turned international diplomacy on its head."
If China invades Taiwan tomorrow, US would do nothing militarily but protect Australia, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand (major non-NATO allies). Trump told NYT: Taiwan up to Xi Jinping; won't act while he's president; long-term policy allows future unification.
US Pentagon budget: More than next 8 countries combined. Trump spends $1 trillion/year, requests $1.5 trillion next year. Interest on national debt is 3rd largest expenditure (after Pentagon and Social Security).
China lets US spend into oblivion while investing in infrastructure (bullet trains at 400 mph, pristine airports/roads). US lacks these (e.g., potholed roads like Bosnia).
Kiriakou believes US will go bankrupt; must raise taxes, cut budget.
Kiriakou blew whistle on CIA torture due to love for US as country of laws.
- 1946 Federal Torture Act banned torture; executed Japanese soldiers for waterboarding US POWs (death penalty).
- 1968: Washington Post photo of US soldier waterboarding North Vietnamese; Robert McNamara ordered investigation; soldier sentenced to 20 years hard labor at Leavenworth.
- 2002: US claims waterboarding legal "because we're the good guys"; law unchanged, US changed.
As human rights officer in Bahrain, reported abuses (e.g., beating 15-year-old pro-democracy protester to death) to block arms sales. CIA undermined by offering $10M for secret torture prison.
Torture ended with McCain-Feinstein anti-torture amendment (Dec 2014); John McCain credited Kiriakou's revelations.
Kiriakou seeks Trump pardon; applied, high-level supporters approached Trump.
Question from previous guest: "What's something you stopped doing that improved your life more than anything you started?"
Kiriakou stopped feeling sorry for himself after second divorce, depression, 50s, unemployable felon, financial struggles.
Shifted to independence:
- Writes books (links all below).
- Two syndicated columns in 212 small-town papers.
- TV appearances.
- Podcasts: Deep Focus (YouTube/Apple), John Kiriakou's Dead Drop (stories), daily on YouTube/Rumble.
Now makes great living, in long-term relationship. Post-CIA: Head of competitive intelligence at Deloitte & Touche, spying on Ernst & Young, PwC, IBM.
"Don't feel sorry for yourself. Do something about it. Act."
Host praises Kiriakou's storytelling/books/wisdom, hopes for pardon. Promo for 1% Diaries (break big goals into tiny steps; sold out last year, new colors/tweaks; 20% off Black Friday bundle at thediary.com).
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