David Ransom served as U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain during the period of John Kiriakou’s posting there. Kiriakou characterizes him as “an absolutely lovely guy, one of the finest human beings I’ve ever worked for — a terrific ambassador and just a really great guy.”[1]
The Bob Dole foreign-contribution incident
In one documented incident, Ransom asked Kiriakou — serving as the embassy’s notetaker in a meeting with the Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs — to remind him during the meeting to raise the matter of a former U.S. ambassador to Bahrain who, the embassy understood, was working as a fundraiser for the Bob Dole presidential campaign and might solicit money from the Bahraini government. Foreign nationals are barred by U.S. law from contributing to American political campaigns.[2]
When Ransom raised the issue, the Foreign Minister responded:
Oh, he’s already been here. We gave him $50,000. We didn’t realize it was illegal. But he went to see the Amir, and the Amir gave him $50,000.[3]
In the car returning from the foreign ministry, Ransom instructed Kiriakou not to include the latter disclosure — that the Amir had personally contributed $50,000 — in the diplomatic cable reporting the meeting. “That’s a hornet’s nest that I don’t think either one of us want to be involved in.”[4]
Kiriakou complied with the instruction at the time, but agonized over the omission for several months on the grounds that failure to report a known crime would surface at his next CIA polygraph examination. The episode took place a month to three months before he rotated back to CIA headquarters.[5]