# CIA versus FBI at a raid

> **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: "CIA versus FBI at a raid," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-versus-fbi-at-a-raid/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's two-sentence account of the institutional difference between the two agencies, drawn from joint raids in Pakistan in 2002: the FBI numbers the four walls with sticky notes, photographs the inside of every drawer and collects every piece of paper, because it is building a case. The CIA breaks down the door, grabs all the men and sends them to Guantánamo.*

- **The FBI's method:** Sticky-note the four walls; photograph every drawer; collect all papers
- **Its purpose:** *"Because they're going to build a case"*
- **The CIA's method:** *"You bust down the door, you grab all the guys and you send them to Guantanamo"*
- **Where observed:** Joint CIA–FBI raids, Pakistan, 2002

**The CIA-FBI difference at a raid** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s compressed illustration of what the two agencies are actually for, drawn from the joint raid teams — half [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia), half FBI — that worked together in Pakistan in 2002.

## Two procedures

The Bureau's method he describes as evidentiary and methodical: *"the FBI goes in and they put little sticky notes on the four walls — wall one, wall two, wall three, wall four. Then they open all the drawers and they take pictures of what's inside the drawers. Then they look for papers and they collect all the papers."*[1]

The reason is the destination of the material: *"because they're going to build a case."*[1]

His own agency's method takes one sentence: *"CIA — you go in, you bust down the door, you grab all the guys and you send them to Guantanamo."*[2]

## The fiction in the operations order

The contrast is not merely observational. In briefing the assault teams before the [Site 13](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/site-13) raid, Kiriakou told the room that every man was to be cuffed because this was an open criminal investigation and *"our friends from the FBI are going to begin collecting evidence."*[1]

His own assessment of that justification, delivered immediately: *"which was total horseshit."*[1]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [Site 13](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/site-13)
- [CIA-FBI interagency rivalry after 9/11](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-fbi-911-interagency-rivalry)
- [Abu Zubaydah](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/abu-zubaydah)

## Sources

1. Ex-CIA Spy Breaks Down How He Captured Abu Zubaydah / John K (2022-05-23), at 10:24. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeL0QGTHOho&t=624s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-05-23-danny-jones-ex-cia-spy-breaks-down-how-he-captured-abu-zu/
2. Ex-CIA Spy Breaks Down How He Captured Abu Zubaydah / John K (2022-05-23), at 10:55. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeL0QGTHOho&t=655s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-05-23-danny-jones-ex-cia-spy-breaks-down-how-he-captured-abu-zu/

---

From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-versus-fbi-at-a-raid/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt