MEDIA GAMES

Ex-CIA Agent Turned Russian-Radio Host: ‘I’m a Patriot’

After a 30-month stint in prison, John Kiriakou is a radio personality for a Russian-sponsored news outlet.

An ex-CIA official who was jailed for giving information to a reporter has become a host on Sputnik Radio, a Russian-sponsored news outlet, according to the New Republic. John Kiriakou spent over two decades at the CIA, working on recruiting spies and counterterrorism in Pakistan—but was jailed for “disclosing a spy’s identity to a journalist” and sentenced to 30 months in prison. After his release, Sputnik News reached out to him “out of the blue” with a job offer. Kiriakou claims he has complete editorial control on his radio show Loud and Clear, and insists that—unlike on CNN—he can go “on the air and talk about national security whistleblowing.” He also calls himself a “patriot,” and said, “If I ever had any inkling that I was being used in any way, I would walk out the door.” The Justice Department is forcing Sputnick Radio to register as a foreign agent, according to the report.