Former CIA agent charged for media leaks
John Kirikaou accused of releasing secret information about other officers
A former CIA agent had been charged with leaking classified information about fellow officers to journalists, the Associated Press reported.
John Kiriakou, 47, who claimed he helped interrogate a top suspected terrorist, is said to have illegally given out information about two CIA coworkers and their involvement in classified operations from 2007 to 2009, CNN reported.
He has been charged with one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and two counts of violating the Espionage Act.
The Justice Department also said in a second case Kiriakou gave the name and contact information of a CIA employee who participated in the operation to capture and question Abu Zubaydah, allegedly al-Qaida’s top military strategist until 2002, when he was captured, CNN reported. According to a memo released by the Obama administration, interrogators used water boarding on Zubayda 83 times in August 2002.
There weren’t any journalists identified by name in the criminal complaint, but it does indicate Kiriakou gave The New York Times reporter Scott Shane the name of CIA officer Deuce Martinez, and identified him as a part of the Zubaydah interrogation, Politico reported.
Kiriakou will make his first federal court appearance in Alexandria, Va., on Monday.
This is the sixth leak-related criminal prosecution brought since the Obama administration since the president took office, exceeding the number of such cases in all previous administrations combined, Politico reported.
This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.
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