# Charles Samuels

> **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: "Charles Samuels," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/charles-samuels/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Director of the Bureau of Prisons during Kiriakou's incarceration, and the official to whom Kiriakou publicly appealed over the heads of the Loretto staff in a letter from Loretto.*

- **Position:** Director, [Bureau of Prisons](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bureau-of-prisons)
- **Career path:** Began as a line correctional officer, rose through the ranks to warden, then to Washington
- **Role in Kiriakou's account:** Addressee of a public appeal in a [letter from Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/letter-from-loretto)

**Charles Samuels** was director of the [Bureau of Prisons](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bureau-of-prisons) during Kiriakou's imprisonment at [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto). Kiriakou notes that Samuels worked his way up after starting as a line correctional officer, moving through the ranks to warden and then to Washington to lead the Bureau.[1]

Kiriakou used that career history as the pivot of an argument. Having concluded that the [administrative remedy process](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/administrative-remedy-process) and Inspector General referrals were both dead ends, he wrote that the only alternative was to go to the top — and that a man who had come up through the institution certainly knew the difference between right and wrong, certainly would not want his employees to violate the law, and certainly would not want his people's actions highlighted in a press investigation. He then asked readers of his [letter from Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/letter-from-loretto) to join him in writing to Samuels and demanding an end to what he described as illegal and unconstitutional actions by his staff.[1][2]

The appeal was made in the same letter in which Kiriakou set out the case law on retaliatory transfers and censorship, and it was published while prison staff were, by his account, actively discussing subjecting him to [diesel therapy](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/diesel-therapy).[3]

## See also

- [Bureau of Prisons](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bureau-of-prisons)
- [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto)
- [Letter from Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/letter-from-loretto)
- [Administrative remedy process](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/administrative-remedy-process)
- [Diesel Therapy](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/diesel-therapy)

## Sources

1. S2E9 Killing Fascism (2026-07-13), at 35:22. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a4eaf521c8f5a97d879ac70/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-13-dead-drop-s2e9-killing-fascism/
2. S2E9 Killing Fascism (2026-07-13), at 35:52. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a4eaf521c8f5a97d879ac70/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-13-dead-drop-s2e9-killing-fascism/
3. S2E9 Killing Fascism (2026-07-13), at 32:03. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a4eaf521c8f5a97d879ac70/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-13-dead-drop-s2e9-killing-fascism/

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