CIA Classified Leaker Gets off SCOTFREE

When did we stop prosecuting seditious behavior? When did we stop defending the sanctity of war time classified information. When did we stop protecting America from enemies within? When did we stop loving America?

The former CIA intelligence official who went public on ABC News about the agency's use of waterboarding in interrogations, John Kiriakou, apparently will not be the subject of a Justice Department investigation, even though CIA officials say he revealed classified information about the use of waterboarding.

Next thing you know they'll be giving him a Pulitzer. No,wait they gave that one to Preist already. Perhaps the Nobel for "Peace."

CIA Efforts to Prosecute Whistle-Blower Spy Stopped Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report, ABC News

The former CIA intelligence official who went public on ABC News about the agency's use of waterboarding in interrogations, John Kiriakou, apparently will not be the subject of a Justice Department investigation, even though some CIA officials believe he revealed classified information about the use of waterboarding.

"They were furious at the CIA this morning, but cooler heads have apparently prevailed for the time being," a senior Justice Department official told the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

Gen. Michael Hayden, the CIA director, did sent out a classified memo this morning warning all employees "of the importance of protecting classified information," a CIA spokesperson told ABCNews.com.

Kiriakou was not mentioned by name in the memo, according to the spokesperson, who said he could not make it public because it is classified.

The spokesperson would not comment other than to say that "intelligence officers have a lifelong, moral and legal responsibility to safeguard classified information. This continues even after someone leaves the agency."

In his appearance on ABC News and later with other media outlets, Kiriakou revealed that captured al Qaeda figure Abu Zubaydah had been subjected to waterboarding during his interrogation. It was the first time any current or former CIA employee has revealed the use of the technique in public.

"The CIA has not commented on specific interrogation techniques," its spokesperson said. "Disclosing classified information is a violation of the law."

Send the bastard to jail!

Kiriakou said he did not seek CIA approval to appear on ABC News but said he knew "the rules."

Rules are if you are leftist you are safe from prosecution but if you are a Republican like Libby you are going to jail for forgetting where you were a year ago Thursday.

 

Comments

[DemocracyRules]

HOW ABOUT a class action suit against him and THE CIA? Sue him and his employer for public mischief, reckless endangerment of the public peace, breach of contract in fulfilling his employee duties, failure of an employer to correct an employee's behavior in such a way as to protect the public good... AND perhaps a dozen more charges.

The bottom line is that 300,000,000 Americans are less safe than they were before this yahoo blabbed.

SUE the CIA. It's about time these people became accountable for their most blatant and dangerous incompetencies.

Extract $100,000,000 in damages from these ‘intelligence’ phonies and use the money to fund more lawsuits against them.

Instead of occupying their time giving secrets away to Hezbullah and other drive-by spy agencies, let the CIA spend all it's time and money in court. It could be a boon to us all.

THE KEY problem is that the CIA is not accountable, it has no bottom line. Just a short list of crazy things they have done: They screwed up a little or a lot on: (1) The Soviets getting A-bomb secrets, (2) H-bomb secrets, (3) China going communist, (4) the outcome of the Korea conflict, (5) the Vietnam escalation, (6) the Cuban missile crisis, (7) the outcome of the Vietnam truce, (8) 'intelligence' sharing with the UK when the chief of counter-intelligence there was a Soviet spy, (9) the collapse of the Soviet Union, (10) the acquisition by Pakistan of nuclear weapons, (11) the 9/11 fiasco, (12) the near-acquisition by Libya of nuclear weapons, (13) China stealing US military secrets, (14) the dumb comments they made about Iraqi WMD, (15) the near-acquisition by Syria of nuclear weapons, (16) their stupid 'intelligence' estimates about Iran’s WMD intentions.

THIS is a SHORT LIST. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought the CIA was a UN agency, they are so incompetent.

[Pamela Geller]

what he said

[Sara]

What in heck are you talking about? I normally agree with just about everything you write, but I think you've lost your mind on John Kiriakou. That nest of vipers at CIA and their continual quest to bring down this Presidency and hand our country over to the terrorists are the ones who need to be exposed. I listened to Kriakou's interview. I heard him saying that waterboarding brought Abu Zubaydah to his "come to Allah" moment in 35 seconds and resulted in saving hundreds of lives. What did he reveal that was classified? That the interrogators used waterboarding? Is there anyone in America who doesn't know that we've used it at least 3 times since 9/11? Even my kids know that.

It is that bunch of traitorous scumbags at CIA and State who have tried to orchestrate a coups of sorts against a sitting U.S. president who need to be prosecuted.

I just cannot figure where you are coming on this one, especially in light of the arguments going on right now over the CIA tapes and the NIE and the fate of Gitmo. We might as well all give up and face Mecca, bow to Sharia law, and let Iran or Syria blow Israel off the face of the earth.

If you had a terrorist in your control and you knew he had your children under the control of his command, would you waterboard him to save your children? I guess not. You would let your children die so you could feel noble about not condoning waterboarding. Not a choice I would make, but to each his own.

Give John Kiriakou a medal. He deserves it.

[chsw]

What Kiriakou revealed which was classified was the specific who, what, and when of the waterboarding. Also, any of Zubaydah's contacts who are still at large will now go deeper underground as they will assume that whatever he knew is now known by the CIA.

If he isn't prosecuted, then what is the point of Hayden's memo? Then again, the official who outed Valerie Plame to Robert Novak wasn't prosecuted. Hence, Kiriakou and others believe that they, too, can tattle off America's secrets.

chsw

[Pamela Geller]

Sara, You missed my point. I have no problem with waterboarding. In fact I think we should do more of it. I do have a problem with releasing any classified information especially the kind that will be used by the leftards to say that we are being mean to the Islamazis.That it is torture. And we have to stop torturing, or waterboarding or what have you.

Next up we will have to have a special investigation into "waterboarding."

There must be respect for classified information. And there must be penalities for those that leak. Perhaps potential leakers will keep their mouths shut as a side benefit.

[Surak]

Mm, I'm puzzled about the basis for an argument. It seems that all the commenters are on the same side. Here are my comments on the comments:

(After a list of 16 spectacular intelligence failures): "If I didn’t know better, I would have thought the CIA was a UN agency, they are so incompetent." Interesting conclusion. I might have deduced not incompetence, but malevolence or worse, as Sara suggested.

"Give John Kiriakou a medal. He deserves it." No. Not after disclosing national security secrets.

I knew we were in trouble in January, 2001, when Bush declined to prosecute the Clinton administration vandals who removed all of the "W" keys from keyboards in the White House. G-d forbid that there had been a national security emergency that week. Bush turned the other cheek, and he hasn't stopped turning. But, as the Jewish sages teach, he who is kind to the cruel will ultimately be cruel to the kind. (Something analogous appears in Atlas Shrugged.)

[lance de boyle]

The hell with sending self-aggrandizing stoolies to jail.

The CIA should off the sons of bitches.

Do X, get Y. The end.

Instead of acting as paragons of ethics and rationality (which is seen as weakness), our enemies---here and abroad---need to see us as crazy as hell, unpredictable, badder than anything they can dream of.

I'm not looking for a president who is a good diplomat. I'm looking for a president who is scary.

Generals Patton and Sherman come to mind.

"Go ahead, fuck with me!"

[songdongnigh]

We need another Bill Colby. Memos ain't gonna stop this traitorous cr@p. Kiriakou will probably end up working with “Socks” Berger.