Blue
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Blue was the nickname of a correctional officer at FCI Loretto whom John Kiriakou describes as arguably the most unpopular guard in the whole place.

His distinguishing habit was a piece of masking tape covering his nameplate. In Kiriakou's account the reason was straightforward: he did not want anybody to be able to track him down on the outside once they were released, and knife him to death.

Despite that reputation, Kiriakou says Blue never once caused him a problem, and he does not believe the man ever actually spoke to him.

The overheard exchange

Kiriakou learned the reason second-hand. One of his Italian friends asked Blue where he would be stationed for the coming quarter, assignments rotated every three months, and Blue said he was going to Central 1. The friend pointed out that Kiriakou lived in Central 1, referring to him as the CIA guy.

Blue's answer, as relayed to Kiriakou, was that he never messed with that guy. Asked why, he said that was all he needed, to work eight hours at the job and then go outside and find CNN standing next to his car. No thanks.

Context

Kiriakou treats the exchange as confirmation of the leverage he had inside. The Bureau of Prisons had circulated a memorandum four days before his arrival warning staff that the incoming prisoner had access to the media, a document he later obtained through his own Freedom of Information Act request from prison. He describes using the same leverage directly against the warden over the quality of the food, daring him to impose solitary confinement in the knowledge that Kiriakou would go straight to CNN or the Washington Post.

Kiriakou's general assessment of the staff at Loretto is unsparing, he says most of them were assholes, and that on his first day one whispered "traitor" as he walked past on his way to dinner. Blue is the counter-example, and Kiriakou's summary of him is simply: yeah, good, okay.

See also

- FCI Loretto
- Correctional officers at FCI Loretto
- Prison Foia Request
- John Kiriakou
- Solitary confinement
