Former CIA officer John Kiriakou reveals the shocking truth: no U.S. President—not even Donald Trump—truly controls the CIA, as entrenched intelligence officials “wait out” leaders they dislike while advancing their own agendas.
Key Takeaways
- CIA officers serve for decades while presidents come and go, allowing intelligence agencies to effectively ignore presidential directives they disagree with
- John Kiriakou was targeted by the FBI and CIA, eventually imprisoned after exposing the agency’s torture program
- President Trump’s second term strategy includes appointing loyal figures like John Ratcliffe and Kash Patel to intelligence positions to combat “deep state” influence
- The CIA’s post-9/11 transformation has created what Kiriakou describes as an agency with less accountability and more political influence
- Career intelligence officials accumulate significant wealth and power, creating incentives to protect the agency rather than serve presidential administrations
The CIA’s Alarming Independence from Presidential Control
In a revealing interview with Tucker Carlson, former CIA counterintelligence operations officer John Kiriakou exposed the disturbing reality that America’s premier intelligence agency operates with remarkable independence from presidential oversight. According to Kiriakou, the CIA’s structure allows career officers to outlast any administration they disagree with. This dynamic creates a dangerous power imbalance where unelected intelligence officials can effectively override the policy objectives of democratically elected presidents they disfavor.
“This is another problem. It’s that presidents come and go every four years, every eight years. But these CIA people, they’re there for 25, 30, 35 years. They don’t go anywhere. So if they don’t like a president or if a president orders them to do something that they don’t want to do, they just wait because they know they can wait him out, and then he’s not going to be president anymore. They can continue on with whatever plan the blob or the deep state wants to implement,” said John Kiriakou, Former CIA Operations Officer.
The problem extends beyond simple bureaucratic inertia. Kiriakou described a culture where intelligence officials develop their own policy preferences and work to advance them regardless of White House directives. This revelation comes as President Trump begins his second term, having already experienced significant resistance from intelligence agencies during his first administration. His current staffing strategy, which includes placing trusted allies in key intelligence positions, appears directly aimed at countering this institutional resistance.
— Jared DuBois (@JaredDuBois) February 6, 2025
A Whistleblower’s Persecution
Kiriakou’s insights come from personal experience as a CIA whistleblower who paid a heavy price for exposing the agency’s torture program. After revealing that the CIA used waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques on terror suspects, Kiriakou became a target of both the CIA and FBI. The agencies mounted an extensive investigation, ultimately charging him under the Espionage Act despite his revelations being about illegal government activity rather than classified information that endangered national security.
“An interesting interview between Tucker Carlson and Former CIA Counterintelligence Operations Officer John Kiriakou about being targeted by the CIA and FBI after telling the truth about CIA torture ops,” said Tucker Carlson.
The FBI’s tactics included attempting to entrap Kiriakou in espionage charges through deceptive practices. After exhaustive legal battles, Kiriakou served 23 months in federal prison. Years later, an FBI agent actually apologized to him for the bureau’s role in the prosecution, acknowledging that the case was driven by politics rather than legitimate national security concerns. This revelation underscores how federal law enforcement agencies can become tools for political retribution against those who challenge intelligence community practices.
The Reality of the “Deep State”
Kiriakou explicitly validated President Trump’s much-criticized use of the term “deep state,” confirming that entrenched bureaucrats within intelligence agencies do indeed operate with their own agenda. The combination of job security, institutional loyalty, and lack of meaningful oversight creates a powerful unelected body within the government that can thwart presidential directives through delay, obstruction, or outright defiance. This reality poses serious questions about democratic accountability in a system where voters elect presidents but unelected officials can quietly undermine their policies.
“Donald Trump took a lot of guff in his first term when he used on a regular basis the term ‘deep state.’ I argued from the very beginning, it is a deep state. Maybe you don’t like the terminology. You don’t have to call it the deep state. You can call it the federal bureaucracy. You can call it the state. But the truth is that it exists,” John Kiriakou, Former CIA Operations Officer.
The interview also revealed concerning details about wealth accumulation within the intelligence community. Kiriakou noted that many CIA officials become remarkably wealthy during their careers, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest and corruption. While the exact mechanisms for this enrichment weren’t fully explained, the implication is that intelligence officials may have financial incentives to protect certain policies, programs, or relationships regardless of whether they align with presidential priorities.
Trump’s Second Term Strategy
President Trump’s appointment of trusted allies like John Ratcliffe and Kash Patel to key intelligence positions represents a direct response to the challenges Kiriakou outlined. These appointments appear designed to ensure that the intelligence community follows presidential directives rather than continuing to operate as a semi-autonomous entity. Trump has also directed the implementation of policies aimed at reducing politicization within government agencies and increasing accountability for career officials who attempt to undermine his administration’s priorities.
The revelations from Kiriakou’s interview validate many conservatives’ concerns about unelected bureaucrats wielding excessive power. They also highlight the importance of President Trump’s efforts to reform the federal bureaucracy and restore proper civilian control over intelligence agencies that have grown increasingly powerful in the post-9/11 era. Without such reforms, the fundamental principle that elected officials direct government policy could be permanently compromised by entrenched intelligence personnel who believe they know better than the president Americans voted for.
