For years, former CIA operative John Kiriakou has appeared on podcasts and TV shows to provide “expert” commentary on matters of national security and to rehabilitate his image as a traitor to the United States. Now, the convicted leaker and longtime Trump antagonist is being reintroduced to mainstream audiences through appearances on Fox News programs like Jesse Watters Primetime, where he has been presented as a credible voice on U.S. policy toward Iran. But Kiriakou isn’t some neutral national security expert; he’s a convicted leaker who has spent years attacking President Trump and aligning himself with far-left political causes and organizations.
And this man has the audacity to ask President Trump for a pardon?
Kiriakou was convicted for leaking classified information related to U.S. counterterrorism operations, a serious breach that put intelligence methods at risk.
His hostility toward President Trump goes back to Trump’s first term. In a 2017 appearance on Democracy Now, at the height of the Russia collusion narrative, Kiriakou openly called for Trump’s removal from office, declaring impeachment was not only justified but necessary.
“And now we have members of Congress talking about impeachment,” Kiriakou said. “I think impeachment, frankly, is something that is a real possibility, something we ought to be discussing. I think that it’s pretty clear that the president has committed obstruction of justice.”
The Russia collusion hoax, which began at the top with President Obama and his intelligence agencies, has been widely discredited. Its originators, including former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan, may soon face criminal charges for lying to Congress and other crimes.
In 2015, Kiriakou publicly endorsed Communist Senator Bernie Sanders, writing on X:
“@BernieSanders is the only candidate who can get us back on track and the only one to appreciate the role of #whistleblowers. Vote Bernie!”
That same year, Kiriakou authored an article attacking Trump as a racist elitist. In 2016, he portrayed Trump as “An American Mussolini,” complete with imagery likening him to a fascist dictator.
Throughout Trump’s presidency, Kiriakou continued amplifying anti-Trump voices, including boosting commentary from MSNBC commentator Mehdi Hasan, while publicly ridiculing Trump.
Kiriakou has long-standing ties to Code Pink, a radical anti-war organization known for aggressive protests targeting President Trump. His relationship with the group dates back to at least 2013, when Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin hosted a send-off event for him before he reported to prison. The organization later fundraised on his behalf following his conviction.
As recently as February, Kiriakou appeared on Code Pink’s radio platform, where Trump’s foreign policy and past associations were attacked using left-wing talking points.
Last summer, members of Code Pink, thanks to Marjorie Traitor Green sharing Trump’s location, tracked down President Trump at a Washington, D.C. restaurant and verbally harassed him, shouting accusations and comparing him to Hitler.
Kiriakou’s media footprint also includes work with Russian state-backed outlet Sputnik, where he hosted programming that platformed Black Lives Matter activists.
Kiriakou is a Trump-hating leftist associated with activist groups that target President Trump. He has undermined U.S. national security through the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. He likely criticized President Trump during President Biden’s term in an effort to ingratiate himself to the far-left president so he might be granted a pardon that never came.
Yet despite this egregious record, Fox News has chosen to elevate him as a credible voice on matters of war and foreign policy.
At a time when the stakes of U.S. involvement in global conflicts are higher than ever, viewers deserve transparency, not propaganda from Trump-haters and convicts like Kiriakou.
Fox News owes its audience an explanation for why a convicted leaker with a documented anti-Trump agenda is being given a platform to influence public opinion on critical national security issues.
President Trump should deny Kiriakou’s request for clemency. He doesn’t deserve it.
