The HardTalk interview
======================

The HardTalk interview was the first John Kiriakou gave after his release from prison. He describes the BBC programme as "a kind of a hard-hitting mean-spirited talk show" whose host "kept trying to provoke me."

The provocation that worked was an accusation of unrepentance: "Well, you're not showing any remorse for the crime that you committed." The answer has since become his standing formulation of the case against his own conviction.

> "No, because I have no remorse. It's not a crime to reveal a crime. The crime was committed by the CIA. The crime was committed by the torturers. I'll never apologize for what I did."

He followed it immediately with an appeal to authority rather than to sentiment: "John McCain got up on the floor of the United States Senate to thank me for providing a public service to the American people. I'm glad that I did what I did." The force of the citation, in his telling, is that McCain had himself been tortured.

The same exchange produces his flattest statement of what the Espionage Act charge amounted to: "talking to the New York Times and the ABC News is not espionage. Sorry, it's just not."

See also

- John Kiriakou
- John McCain
- Espionage Act
- CIA Torture Program Whistleblowing
