# Fridays at the agency

> **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: "Fridays at the agency," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fridays-at-the-agency/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's observation that Fridays were always very slow at the CIA, because the Middle East weekend falls on Thursday-Friday or Friday-Saturday depending on the country and the quiet propagates back to Washington, a rhythm he says bled into the United States generally.*

- **The observation:** 'Fridays at the CIA were always very, very slow'
- **The cause:** Everything is closed in the Middle East on Thursday-Friday or Friday-Saturday, depending on the country
- **Why it varies:** 'They have different weekends'
- **The knock-on:** 'That sort of bled into the United States, too'
- **Congress:** Usually not in session; even when it is, members go home on Thursday nights

**Fridays at the agency** is a working observation [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) says he took from his time at the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) and has kept since: that the last working day of the American week is almost always the emptiest.

*"I got this from the agency when I was at the agency,"* he says, *"Fridays at the CIA were always very, very slow."*[1][2]

The reason he gives is not American at all. Business stops early because *"everything's closed in the Middle East on either Thursday and Friday or Friday and Saturday, depending on the country you're in. They have different weekends."* For an agency whose traffic in his years was dominated by the region, that meant the cables had already stopped coming in.[2]

He treats the effect as having spread beyond the building. *"That sort of bled into the United States, too. It's usually quieter on a Friday."* [Congress](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/congressional-intelligence-oversight) is generally not in session, and *"even when they're in session, they're going home on Thursday nights."*[2][3]

He raised it on Halloween 2025 to note that the rule had failed: *"man, there is so much to talk about today. It's busy. And none of it is good news."*[3]

## See also

- [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)
- [Langley](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/langley)
- [The CIA's internal social culture](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-internal-social-culture)
- [CIA cable priority levels](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-cable-priority-levels)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 01:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=65s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/
2. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 01:35. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=95s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/
3. DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou: “Gaza-istan?” (2025-11-01), at 02:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-d0Y6eESc&t=125s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-01-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-john-kiriakou-gaz/

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