# Business class after 9/11

> **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: "Business class after 9/11," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/business-class-after-9-11/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's illustration of what the post-attack money did to the CIA's habits: Cofer Black telling him to just do whatever operation he was proposing because there was so much money it could not possibly be spent, and everyone at the agency flying business class from then on, anywhere in the world.*

- **When:** A couple of days after September 11, 2001
- **Who:** Cofer Black, then head of the CIA's counterterrorism program
- **What Black said:** 'Whatever it is, just do it. I have so much money, I can't possibly spend it all'
- **The consequence Kiriakou cites:** Everyone flew business class, anywhere in the world
- **Contrast:** Kiriakou's own nine-dollar airport parking

John Kiriakou tells the story as a punchline to a longer argument about money nobody counts.

## 'Just do it'

A couple of days after September 11, he says, he went up to [Cofer Black](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cofer-black), who was the director of the CIA's counterterrorism program, and said he had an idea for an operation that he wanted to pass by him. Black put up his hands and said: listen, whatever it is, just do it. I have so much money, I can't possibly spend it all. [1] [2]

## The travel policy

One of the things the CIA did right after the attacks, Kiriakou says, because there was so much money, was that everybody went business class. No matter where you were going, anywhere in the world — business class, knock yourselves out. [2] [3]

## The point of the contrast

Kiriakou sets this immediately against his own experience of being reprimanded for economising, related in ['don't try to save the government money'](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/dont-try-to-save-the-government-money), and against the observation that in an organisation like the CIA nobody cares about the money and the money is the last thing you should worry about. [1]

His interviewer supplied the moral — that this is where American money goes while most Americans work two jobs to survive — and Kiriakou agreed with it. [3] The influx itself is treated in [post-9/11 supplemental appropriations](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/post-9-11-supplemental-appropriations), and Kiriakou's related point about the difficulty of hiding a multi-billion dollar supplement inside an already secret budget is discussed in [CIA budget concealment](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-budget-concealment). [4]

## See also

- [Cofer Black](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cofer-black)
- [Post-9/11 supplemental appropriations](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/post-9-11-supplemental-appropriations)
- ['Don't try to save the government money'](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/dont-try-to-save-the-government-money)
- [Concealment of the CIA budget](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-budget-concealment)
- [Counterterrorism Center](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/counterterrorism-center)
- [Security, medical and finance](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/security-medical-and-finance)

## Sources

1. co-branded personal channel — confirm real interview (2025-11-06), at 23:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtd4SW38irE&t=1381s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-06-elizabeth-lane-tv-co-branded-personal-channel-confirm-real-inte/
2. co-branded personal channel — confirm real interview (2025-11-06), at 23:31. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtd4SW38irE&t=1411s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-06-elizabeth-lane-tv-co-branded-personal-channel-confirm-real-inte/
3. co-branded personal channel — confirm real interview (2025-11-06), at 24:02. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtd4SW38irE&t=1442s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-06-elizabeth-lane-tv-co-branded-personal-channel-confirm-real-inte/
4. co-branded personal channel — confirm real interview (2025-11-06), at 14:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtd4SW38irE&t=877s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-06-elizabeth-lane-tv-co-branded-personal-channel-confirm-real-inte/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/business-class-after-9-11/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt