# CovertAction Magazine

> **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: "CovertAction Magazine," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/covertaction-magazine/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The muckraking outlet "exposing covert action since 1978", and one of John Kiriakou's three long-running syndicated column homes, alongside Consortium News and ScheerPost. Kiriakou joined its podcast arm, the CovertAction Bulletin, appearing on panels with Peter Dale Scott and Pepe Escobar, and jokes that the Pentagon's browser-plugin credibility warnings, red check marks against outlets like CovertAction, are the surest sign it's worth reading.*

- **What:** Investigative outlet founded 1978; revived online as covertactionmagazine.com
- **Kiriakou's role:** Syndicated columnist; contributor to the CovertAction Bulletin podcast
- **Stablemates:** His other columns run at Consortium News and ScheerPost

**CovertAction Magazine**, heir to the CovertAction Quarterly tradition of *"exposing covert action since 1978"*, is one of [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s regular publishing homes.

## Kiriakou's column

For years Kiriakou has described the same portfolio: a daily radio show, and three syndicated columns, one at Consortium News, one at ScheerPost out of USC, and one at CovertAction Magazine.[1][2][3] The magazine remained a fixture as the rest of the lineup evolved, through the Substack migration, the Rebel Media series, and the rest.[4][5]

He also joined the magazine's podcast, the CovertAction Bulletin, introduced there as *"doing some work for CovertAction Bulletin and CovertAction Magazine"*, appearing on panels alongside Peter Dale Scott and Pepe Escobar, including one on the September 9, 2001 assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud.[6][7]

## The red check mark

Kiriakou tells of Pentagon-facing browser tools that flag disfavored outlets: red check marks popping up next to URLs, *"don't go to CovertAction Magazine."* In his telling, the same machinery labeled Consortium News Russian-adjacent; he wears the designation as proof of relevance.[8]

## Named in the 2026 shortlist

In a January 2026 answer on which independent outlets he trusts, Kiriakou gave CovertAction Magazine a specific brief rather than a general endorsement: *"for historical analysis, CovertAction Magazine, Jeremy Kuzmarov is very good."*[9]

It appeared in a short list headed by [Consortium News](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/consortium-news) and also containing antiwar.com and *Reason*, of which he said that even where he disagrees, *"they argue it well."*[9]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [Ray McGovern](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ray-mcgovern)

## Sources

1. How CIA's "Rogue" Agent Survived Prison (probe vs 2022 ep) (2022-05-23), at 46:15. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP17LjLLXhk&t=2775s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-05-23-how-cia-s-rogue-agent-survived-prison-probe-v/
2. An Interview With John Kiriakou (CIA Whistleblower On Th (2022-07-23), at 52:59. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULlvbl5ym8E&t=3179s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-07-23-the-darkened-hour/
3. John Kiriakou: The Politics of CIA Whistleblowers — The Po (2023-05-13), at 1:03:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6nIky-RSTw&t=3791s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-05-13-indie-news-network-inn/
4. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou: GOP won't do real intel oversight (2023-01-20), at 31:47. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjpxB9P5WbE&t=1907s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-useful-idiots-gop-intel-oversight/
5. Unauthorized Disclosure: What Will Happen To Assange Nex (2023-06-26), at 46:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCBF2avfMHU&t=2770s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-06-26-kevin-gosztola/
6. The 9/9/2001 Massoud Assassination (2021-12-11), at 01:40. Recording: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903718/episodes/9721047-the-9-9-2001-massoud-assassination.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-12-11-covertaction-bulletin-the-9-9-2001-massoud-assassination/
7. The 9/9/2001 Massoud Assassination (2021-12-11), at 00:06. Recording: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903718/episodes/9721047-the-9-9-2001-massoud-assassination.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-12-11-covertaction-bulletin-the-9-9-2001-massoud-assassination/
8. CIA Spy Breaks Silence On Elon Musk's Twitter Files — John (2023-04-12), at 34:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmPpOps1yeI&t=2079s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-04-12-danny-jones/
9. The Fix Is In / DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou (2026-01-13), at 07:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdzab0KqbA8&t=441s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-13-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-the-fix-is-in-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-joh/

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