# Brian Kelley

> **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: "Brian Kelley," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/brian-kelley/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Chief of counterintelligence at the CIA; framed by FBI counterintelligence chief Robert Hanssen — the actual Soviet/Russian mole — as the source of executed agents; spent a year and a half on leave without pay, surrounded around the clock by FBI agents, while his daughter was approached and told her father would face the death penalty if he did not confess.*

- **Role:** Chief of counterintelligence, CIA
- **Framed by:** Robert Hanssen (the actual mole, then FBI counterintelligence chief)
- **Time under suspicion:** A year and a half
- **FBI tactic:** Surrounded his house 24/7; approached his daughter at her Oregon nursing-home job with the death-penalty threat

**Brian Kelley** was the chief of counterintelligence at the CIA at the time he was framed by his FBI counterpart [Robert Hanssen](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/robert-hanssen) — the actual Soviet/Russian mole — as the source of executed assets. Per [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou): *"Poor Brian, they put him on leave without pay. They surround his house 24 hours a day with FBI agents. Other FBI agents go to Oregon, where his daughter was working in a nursing home, to tell her, 'You have to get your father to confess, because if we arrest him without a confession we're going to ask for the death penalty.' And Brian's like, 'I don't know what's happening here. It's not me.'"*[1][2]

Time elapsed before the frame was unraveled and Hanssen identified as the mole: a year and a half.[2]

## After the Hanssen reveal

Per [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou): *"I had a great friend who was one of the mole hunters at the CIA. [Brian Kelley](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/brian-kelley). Brian is dead now. [Robert Hanssen](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/robert-hanssen) was the chief mole hunter at the FBI — but he was the mole."*[3]

## See also

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

## Sources

1. Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Explains the Part Everyone Missed (2026-04-27), at 35:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wc8tRNoJk&t=2116s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-27-carlos-watson-part-everyone-missed/
2. Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Explains the Part Everyone Missed (2026-04-27), at 35:46. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wc8tRNoJk&t=2146s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-27-carlos-watson-part-everyone-missed/
3. Inside the CIA: Secrets That Send Chills Down Your Spine - CIA John Kiriakou (2026-05-25), at 26:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtqEYHyY3ms&t=1581s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-25-covert-operations-insight-chills/

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