John Kiriakou, ex-CIA officer, pleads guilty to leaking covert agent’s identity
A man walks across the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at the lobby of the Original Headquarters Building at the CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia.
Former CIA officer John Kiriakou pled guilty on Tuesday to leaking the identity of one of the agency's covert operatives to a reporter.
As part of a plea deal, Kiriakou will be sentenced to more than two years in prison, but prosecutors dropped other charges against him that were filed under the Espionage Act, the Associated Press reported.
The Justice Department said Kiriakou also admitted to illegally telling reporters the name of another CIA employee involved in a 2002 operation to capture alleged Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubaydah, according to CNN.
Kiriakou also admitted to lying to a review board about a memoir he was writing, but the Justice Department dropped the charges as part of the plea deal.
Kiriakou, 48, served as an intelligence officer from 1990 to 2004. He faced five charges and could have received up to 45 years in prison, CNN said.
The Washington Post noted that the deal marks the end of a case that was part of the Obama administration's "unprecedented crackdown on leaks" of classified information.
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"Earlier today, former Agency officer John Kiriakou pled guilty to one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA) and, under the terms of a plea agreement, he will receive a sentence of 30 months in prison," said CIA director David H. Petraeus in a statement, according to Politico.
"This case yielded the first IIPA successful prosecution in 27 years, and it marks an important victory for our Agency, for our Intelligence Community, and for our country," Petraeus continued.
Politico noted that Kiriakou's supporters consider him a whistle blower for controversial interrogation techniques such as waterboarding.
The Post noted that Kiriakou was one of the first former CIA officials to speak publicly about the CIA's secret interrogation program.
"He would never do anything with the purpose and intent of injuring our country. His actions that brought him to today were not motivated by any disloyalty to our country nor were they motivated by malice for anyone else or to benefit himself," said Robert Trout, Kiriakou's attorney, according to Politico.
His sentencing is due to take place on Jan. 25.
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