Former CIA officer reveals the 'no longer legal' way he was recruited
John Kiriakou has detailed the ‘very odd way’ that he began his tenure as a CIA agent, revealing that it probably wouldn’t be a ‘legal’ recruitment method today.
The United States’ Central Intelligence Agency was founded in September 1947 under the 33rd President of the USA, Harry S. Truman.
Initially established to replace the wartime Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the interim Central Intelligence Group (CIG), some of the CIA’s major achievements include: inventing the first functional lithium-iodine battery; collecting information on Soviet military capabilities and intentions via the Berlin Tunnel, and killing one of America’s most wanted terrorists, Osama bin Laden, in May 2011.
Kiriakou, who joined the company in the 1980s, was once in charge of heading military raids on al-Qaeda safehouses in Pakistan, with his efforts causing to dozens of fighters being captured.
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22 years after departing the agency, the Pennsylvania native has discussed the ‘very odd way’ in which he got his start.
How former CIA officer was recruited
Speaking to LADbible Stories via its Minutes With project, the 61-year-old recounted that in the late 80s, he was in graduate school in Washington, DC, taking a class called ‘the Psychology of Leadership’.
Dr Jerrold Post, a former analyst for the CIA and founder of the Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior, taught the class at the time.
The story goes that one day, Post gave his students an assignment.
He requested that his pupils ‘shadow’ their bosses and report back with a ‘psychological evaluation’.
Kiriakou described his boss as particularly ‘difficult’, as well as being ‘unpleasant, strong, and brutish’.
After studying his subject, the soon-to-be whistleblower went back to his apartment and wrote his paper.
“I said that [his boss] was a sociopath with psychopathic and possibly violent tendencies. I gave Dr Post the paper, and a week later, he gave it back to me and he gave me an A.”
Underneath the grade, Kiriakou alleged that the psychiatrist, who died in November 2020 at the age of 86, had written a note requesting that they meet up after class.
The planned encounter took place inside Dr Post’s office.
It allegedly saw the author stating: “Look, I’m not really a professor here. I’m a CIA officer, undercover as a professor here and I’m looking for people who would fit into the CIA’s culture.”
He reportedly added that Kiriakou - who would later be sentenced to 30 months in jail for passing classified information on the CIA’s enhanced interrogation program to a reporter - ‘would fit in’ prefectly as an operative.
Dr Post then asked him: “Do you want to be a CIA officer?”
And the father-of-five’s answer? Yes, of course.
“He made some calls, it was up to me to pass all the tests and there were a lot of tests, but that’s how I got into the CIA.”
Current CIA hiring process
It’s fair to assume that these days, it’s very unlikely that you’re going to be recruited by a CIA officer posing as your grad school professor.
But hey—stranger things have happened, right?
If you do harbor dreams of eventually winning a CIA Trailblazers award, then it's proably safe to assume that you’re going to apply for the job yourself.
According to the agency’s official website, hiring managers can begin screening, testing, and interviewing once you’ve submitted your resume.
Those who pass the intense tasks will receive a Conditional Offer of Employment (COE) and will be required to complete and submit paperwork.
The final part of the hiring process is to ‘successfully complete security and medical evaluations as part of the clearance process’.
After that, candidates deemed ‘right’ for the job will receive an official offer and onboarding information.
However, not every Tom, Dick, or Harry can become a CIA agent; there are certain requirements that all candidates must meet before they are even considered for employment.
These include being a US or dual-national US citizen, being at least 18 years of age, and moving to the Washington, DC area, as per the CIA website.
Ella Scott