# Evidence of previous heroism

> **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: "Evidence of previous heroism," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/evidence-of-previous-heroism/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*A phrase John Kiriakou attributes to Judge Leonie Brinkema at his 2013 sentencing. When his service in Pakistan and his role in the capture of Abu Zubaydah were raised in mitigation, the judge ruled, in what Kiriakou gives as her exact words, that any evidence of previous heroism is irrelevant.*

- **Judge:** Leonie Brinkema, Eastern District of Virginia
- **Ruling:** "Any evidence of previous heroism is irrelevant"
- **Context:** Mitigation at Kiriakou's sentencing
- **Recounted in:** In Limine podcast, 6 February 2023

***Evidence of previous heroism*** is the phrase [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) attributes to Judge [Leonie Brinkema](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/leonie-brinkema) of the Eastern District of Virginia when his prior government service was offered in mitigation at his sentencing.

## The ruling

Asked on the *In Limine* podcast about the discrepancy between what he had done for the country and what was being done to him, Kiriakou described the point being put to the court and the answer coming back: *"any evidence of previous heroism is irrelevant."* He is explicit that these were her exact words.[1]

The service in question was not desk work. Kiriakou was the CIA's chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan after September 11th, and when the host asked whether he had led raids or merely directed them, he answered that they were *"busting down doors with battering rams and everything."*[1] On the strength of the [Abu Zubaydah](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/abu-zubaydah) capture he had been promoted to executive assistant to the CIA's Deputy Director for Operations.[2]

## How he reads it

Kiriakou's assessment of the judge in the exchange is blunt and unhedged, *"she didn't give a shit at all"*, and he treats the ruling as of a piece with the rest of her conduct of the case.[1] The remark belongs alongside the two other Brinkema statements he returns to: her definition of espionage as providing national defence information to any person not entitled to receive it, and her comment from the bench that he either did it or he did not, and she thought he did.

The practical effect is narrow but total. A defendant's record cannot cut against the charge, and in Kiriakou's account it was not permitted to cut against the sentence either.[1]

## See also

- [Leonie Brinkema](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/leonie-brinkema)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [Abu Zubaydah](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/abu-zubaydah)

## Sources

1. In Limine — John Kiriakou (2023-02-06), at 1:13:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud096a018e9&t=4423s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-02-06-in-limine-podcast-in-limine-john-kiriakou/
2. In Limine — John Kiriakou (2023-02-06), at 1:14:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud096a018e9&t=4456s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-02-06-in-limine-podcast-in-limine-john-kiriakou/

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