# The FBI raids on Kiriakou's home

> **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: "The FBI raids on Kiriakou's home," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fbi-raid-on-kiriakou-s-home/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Twenty-two agents, eight hours, a sledgehammer hole in the kitchen wall that is still there, potted plants emptied onto the floor and every piece of electronics removed — twice, and with no charge arising from either. John Kiriakou uses the raids as the ground for his flat description of the bureau as an outlaw organization.*

- **Number of raids:** Two
- **Agents:** Twenty-two — 'I don't want to exaggerate'
- **Duration:** Eight hours
- **Damage:** A sledgehammer hole in the kitchen wall, still unrepaired
- **Stated pretext:** Information that he was storing weapons
- **Charges arising:** None

**The FBI raids on Kiriakou's home** are the experience [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) offers when asked to justify his assessment of the bureau. *"First of all, I think that [the FBI](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fbi) is an outlaw organization. Not only have I had my home raided by the FBI, but I've had my home raided by the FBI twice. Twice."*[1]

## What a raid looks like

*"I can't tell you what it feels like to have 22 people break down your door, all wearing windbreakers that say FBI on the back of it, as your neighbours come out to record everything on their cell phones."* They remained in the house for eight hours.[2]

The physical record survives: *"in one case smashing a hole in my kitchen wall with a sledgehammer — and there's still a hole in the wall."* He turned the camera to show it during the interview.[2][3]

The rest: *"dumping my potted plants out on the floor, allegedly looking for weapons, taking literally all of my electronics — and then never charging me with a crime."*[3]

## The pretext

*"They said that they had information that I was storing weapons back there. I said: I don't own any weapons."*[3]

Pressed on the number of agents, Kiriakou corrected his host downwards rather than up: *"22, not 24. I don't want to exaggerate."*[4]

## Set against the record

Asked what the agency itself had made of him before the whistleblowing, Kiriakou listed the decorations: *"I got 12 exceptional performance awards, the sustained superior performance award, the counterterrorism service medal, and the meritorious service medal."*[4]

The agent who physically handcuffed him was [Peter Strzok](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/peter-strzok).[5]

## See also

- [Peter Strzok](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/peter-strzok)
- [FBI](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fbi)
- [Espionage Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/espionage-act)
- [CIA Torture Program Whistleblowing](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-torture-program-whistleblowing)

## Sources

1. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 15:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=941s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/
2. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 16:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=974s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/
3. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 16:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=1005s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/
4. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 17:46. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=1066s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/
5. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 18:18. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=1098s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/

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