John Kiriakou | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #661

The Democratic Party instituted 'superdelegates' after George McGovern's landslide loss in the 1972 presidential election. This system grants automatic delegate status to elected officials and party leaders, giving them significant influence over the nomination process. This mechanism was used to prevent populist candidates, such as Bernie Sanders and, more recently, Tulsi Gabbard, from gaining momentum and securing the party's nomination, effectively centralizing control away from the popular vote.

The DNC would change debate rules to keep Tulsi Gabbard out of reach when she inched up in polls. The same was done to Bernie Sanders. After McGovern's 1972 loss, party leaders created superdelegates to give more influence to experienced officials and reduce the chance of an 'extreme' nominee.

Kiriakou's recruitment into the CIA was unconventional, initiated by an undercover professor who identified his analytical skills. He recounts a historical example from his training: Stalin used a spy in the White House to learn of President Roosevelt's declining health before the Yalta Conference. Stalin then insisted on holding the conference in a remote, difficult-to-reach location, knowing the arduous journey would further weaken Roosevelt, leading to significant Soviet gains, including control over Poland.

Kiriakou was recruited by Dr. Gerald Post, a CIA officer undercover as a professor at George Washington University, after writing a psychological profile on his boss. The Yalta Conference location was chosen by Stalin because a spy informed him of Roosevelt's sickness, aiming to weaken him before negotiations. Roosevelt, exhausted, conceded Poland to end talks quickly.

The September 11th attacks fundamentally transformed the CIA's mission. Executive Order 12333, which previously prohibited assassinations, was amended under President Bush to allow 'kill everybody you want.' This led to the creation of Special Activities Divisions/Groups focused on targeted killings globally, shifting the agency's primary function from intelligence gathering to direct action. The CIA also implemented a torture program, including waterboarding, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, and 'rectal feeding,' designed by two contract psychologists for $108 million. However, confessions obtained under torture were legally inadmissible, complicating prosecution.

9/11 changed everything permanently. Executive Order 12333, which previously prohibited killing people, was changed by Bush to 'just kill everybody you want.' Special Activities Divisions were set up for this. Kiriakou states the torture program was conceived in October 2001, and he later saw reports of techniques like waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and rectal feeding. Confessions obtained through torture were inadmissible.

Kiriakou asserts that Saudi Arabia was involved in the 9/11 attacks, citing evidence such as funds transferred to hijackers by the Saudi ambassador's wife and the suspicious deaths of three Saudi princes whose cell phone numbers were found in an Al-Qaeda operative's diary. He also controversially claims that Israel had advance warning of 9/11 but deliberately withheld details from the US. According to Kiriakou, Israel's motive was to ensure the US would launch military interventions in the Middle East, serving Israel's long-term strategic interests by 'doing their dirty work for them.'

Kiriakou states 16 or 17 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi ambassador's wife transferred $50,000 to them. Three Saudi princes, whose numbers were found in Abu Zubaydah's diary, died under suspicious circumstances when the US requested them for interrogation. Kiriakou believes '100%' that Saudi Arabia killed them. He also states, 'I think that the Israelis, while not involved in 9/11, absolutely, positively had advance warning of 9/11… and they purposely did not tell us the details, because they knew what was going to happen. They knew that we would attack Afghanistan, and we would attack Iraq… 9/11 was a good thing for Israel.'

Following 9/11, the US began sending captured Al-Qaeda operatives to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The initial intent was to hold them there temporarily before charging them in federal courts. However, a decision was made by Dick Cheney's office to indefinitely detain them without rights, exploiting the legal ambiguity of their location outside US jurisdiction. Decades later, many detainees remain without trial or charges, a situation Kiriakou views as a violation of American legal principles.

Kiriakou's job in Pakistan was to catch Al-Qaeda members and send them to Guantanamo. The decision to leave them there 'forever' without rights was made in Dick Cheney's office. 34 detainees remain there 24 years later, never charged with a crime.

Kiriakou highlights Israel's 'inordinate political influence' in the United States, particularly through lobbying groups like AIPAC, which spends millions in elections to ensure pro-Israel candidates. He points to the proposed 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, which would integrate US and Israeli militaries, covering technology sharing, co-production of weapons, and bilateral R&D. This integration, Kiriakou argues, formalizes a relationship where Israel actively spies on the US and benefits from advanced defense technology, often without reciprocity.

The 2027 National Defense Authorization Act integrates Israeli and American militaries, making them 'like one military.' AIPAC spends millions to unseat candidates not 100% pro-Israel and does not have to register as a foreign agent. The Israelis openly spy on the US, stealing defense secrets, while the US does not spy on Israel due to political decisions.

Kiriakou warns about the emergence of a 'data state' where government agencies, particularly the NSA and CIA, collect and store vast amounts of American citizens' digital data (phone calls, emails, texts). This mass surveillance, exposed by Edward Snowden, is illegal under NSA's charter but is facilitated by massive data centers. Furthermore, the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act made it legal for the US government to propagandize its own citizens, eroding the public's ability to discern objective information from state-sponsored narratives.

Edward Snowden warned that NSA and CIA were spying on Americans, which is illegal under NSA's charter. The NSA's Utah compound has enough storage for every American's phone call, email, and text for 500 years. The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act allowed the American government to propagandize its own people, a practice previously illegal.