Bureau of Prisons advisory board
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The Bureau of Prisons advisory board is a body John Kiriakou joined after an unsolicited telephone call, and which he disclosed publicly for the first time in a July 2026 interview in Nicosia.

The call

Driving through Washington early on a Saturday morning, Kiriakou answered a number he did not recognise, "Chicago mobile", on the reasoning that someone calling at that hour might matter. It was the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.

Asked to what he owed the pleasure, Kiriakou was told: "You've been talking about the Bureau of Prisons for the last 10 years." He corrected the figure to thirteen. The Director's reply was that this was the reason for the call, "You don't just talk about the Bureau of Prisons. You offer solutions."

The mandate

The Director then said the president had tasked him with tearing the Bureau of Prisons down and rebuilding it. Kiriakou's response was that the Bureau "is a failure because it's corrupt and everybody in it is corrupt," and that the conditions inside American prisons are third world and a matter for global shame. The Director said that was exactly why he was calling, and asked him to serve on an advisory board. Kiriakou answered: "I'm all in."

Asked for further recommendations, he named two people and made the introductions.

Caveat

Kiriakou is not unreservedly optimistic about the outcome. Asked whether two and a half remaining years of a presidential term is enough to reform an entire prison system, his answer was no, while hoping whatever the commission produces is implemented.

See also

- Bureau of Prisons
- FCI Loretto
- Kiriakou's prison designation
