# Kiriakou's personal anecdotes

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Kiriakou's personal anecdotes," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/andy-warhol-encounter/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Three personal stories John Kiriakou has told in interviews, tracking down and meeting Andy Warhol as a college senior, a Congolese vice president's remark that Americans promise democracy while the Chinese provide food, and Kiriakou's own Zelle account being suspended over Cuba-sanctions compliance after a paid article about his Cuba trip.*

- **Andy Warhol:** Met and got his autograph at the Factory in New York as a college senior
- **Congo anecdote:** Congolese VP told Kiriakou Americans promise democracy, Chinese provide food
- **Zelle suspension:** Triggered by a Cuba-referencing payment memo line for a paid article about his Cuba trip

[John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) has told several personal anecdotes unrelated to his intelligence career.

## Andy Warhol

As a college senior with four unplanned days in New York, Kiriakou, who grew up near Warhol's hometown of Pittsburgh, decided to track down Andy Warhol. He found the Factory and met Warhol, whom he describes as quiet and meek but friendly enough to give him an autograph.[1]

## The Congo anecdote

At a conference in Washington, Kiriakou recounts a conversation with the vice president of the Congo, who told him: *"The Americans always promised us democracy, but the Chinese always gave us food. What do you think we needed? We didn't really need the democracy."*[2]

## The Zelle suspension

After writing a paid, roughly 4,000-word article about his trip to Cuba for ScheerPost, Kiriakou says his payment was sent via Zelle with a memo line referencing the article's subject, Cuba. This triggered a sanctions-compliance suspension of his Zelle account; his appeal was then misdirected to an address in Arlington, Texas, rather than his actual home in Arlington, Virginia.[3]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. CIA Spy Breaks Silence On Elon Musk's Twitter Files — John (2023-04-12), at 00:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmPpOps1yeI&t=39s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-04-12-danny-jones/
2. CIA Spy Breaks Silence On Elon Musk's Twitter Files — John (2023-04-12), at 1:18:28. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmPpOps1yeI&t=4708s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-04-12-danny-jones/
3. CIA Spy Breaks Silence On Elon Musk's Twitter Files — John (2023-04-12), at 2:48:57. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmPpOps1yeI&t=10137s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-04-12-danny-jones/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/andy-warhol-encounter/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt