CIA and FBI embedded at social media firms is John Kiriakou’s claim, drawn from the Twitter Files that Matt Taibbi exposed, that active-duty CIA and FBI officers were placed — often undercover — inside Twitter, Facebook and other social-media platforms.[1] He asks why active-duty officers would hold such positions and answers that there can be only one reason: “Because they’re spying on Americans.”[2] In a fuller telling, Kiriakou says Taibbi’s reporting, done just after Musk bought Twitter, found active-duty CIA and FBI officers working at the company, and that active-duty CIA, FBI and possibly NSA personnel were later found embedded at Facebook and Google as well.[3]
The revolving door and national security letters
Kiriakou says national security letters — used by the FBI to compel information from tech companies without a warrant — are often received and processed by former FBI and CIA personnel who now work at those same tech companies via the revolving door. “If you follow the revolving door between FBI, CIA, and big tech, that’s where they go to cash out.”[4]