CovertAction Magazine — heir to the CovertAction Quarterly tradition of “exposing covert action since 1978” — is one of 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 and also containing antiwar.com and Reason, of which he said that even where he disagrees, “they argue it well.”[9]