ALEXANDRIA, VA.: An ex-CIA officer who helped track down and capture a top al-Qaida figure was charged Monday with disclosing classified secrets, including the role of one of his associates on that covert mission, in the latest prosecution by the Obama administration against people suspected of leaking information.
John Kiriakou, 47, of Arlington, Va., is charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and the Espionage Act. A federal judge ordered Kiriakou to be released on a $250,000 unsecured bond. Kiriakou declined to comment as he left the courthouse Monday.
Kiriakou is accused of divulging to three journalists, including a New York Times reporter, the role of “Officer B,” who worked with Kiriakou on the capture of suspected al-Qaida financier Abu Zubaydah in the months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times, and his case has been made an example by opponents of the interrogation technique. Kiriakou’s public discussions of Zubaydah’s waterboarding were a key part of the debate.
Kiriakou also is accused of disclosing the identity of a covert operator to an unidentified journalist. Authorities say that journalist then gave the officer’s name to a team of defense lawyers representing a suspect the U.S. held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. When the lawyers included information about the officer in a sealed legal brief in 2009, the CIA became suspicious and the government began to investigate.
The affidavit states that the defense lawyers were found to have done nothing wrong.
According to the affidavit, FBI agents interviewed Kiriakou last week, and he denied leaking the information. When asked whether he had provided the Zubaydah interrogator’s name to the Times for a 2008 article, he replied “Heavens, no.”
A New York Times spokeswoman declined to comment.
Kiriakou’s attorney, Plato Cacheris, said after the hearing that his client will plead not guilty. He also said a potential defense argument could be that the charges criminalize conduct that has been common between reporters and government sources for decades.
If convicted, Kiriakou could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
