# James Jesus Angleton

> **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: "James Jesus Angleton," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/james-jesus-angleton/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The CIA counterintelligence chief old-timers were 'genuinely afraid' of, and the wall of illegal files on American citizens kept in his office.*

James Jesus Angleton headed the CIA Counterintelligence Center in the early 1970s, where he prohibited a new officer from accessing a wall of files on American citizens, highlighting the agency's illegal surveillance practices. [1]

Under James Jesus Angleton's leadership, the CIA Counterintelligence Center maintained a wall of files on American citizens, which was patently illegal. A new officer was prohibited from accessing these files, but later discovered their contents. [2]

## Files on Americans, and the Philby wound

[John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) says old-timers were *"genuinely afraid"* of counterintelligence chief [James Angleton](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/james-jesus-angleton). His first boss, who once worked in Angleton's office as a young grad fellow, was warned never to look in the wall of file folders, and when he did, found that *"every single one"* was on an American citizen.[3][4][5] Angleton, obsessed with hunting Soviet moles, was undone by the discovery that the mole was his own best man and *koumbaros*, [Kim Philby](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kim-philby); Kiriakou says he *"kind of lost his mind and never got it back."*[5][6]

## The exhaustion he left behind

Kiriakou also treats Angleton's obsession as one of the reasons the next mole survived so long. Explaining how [Aldrich Ames](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aldrich-ames) went undetected for nearly two decades, he names a fear of moles that had tormented successive [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) directors and deputy directors, *"most famously deputy director for counterintelligence James Jesus Angleton"*, and the reaction it produced: *"a lot of people inside the CIA were just exhausted by this constant hunt for moles."* Alongside it ran the Directorate of Operations' refusal to entertain the idea at all, which Kiriakou calls *"this culture of misplaced secrecy [that] covered for its brethren regardless of their errors, failures, misdemeanors and outright crimes."*[7]

## Sources

1. Trump FIRES Bondi, CIA's "MK Ultra" History, and "Two Weeks" Spin, with Kiriakou, Davis and Ahmari (2026-04-02), at 01:05:22. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pZp0HSDaa0&t=3922s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-02-megyn-kelly-trump-fires-bondi-cia-s-mk-ultra-history-and-two-weeks-sp/
2. Trump FIRES Bondi, CIA's "MK Ultra" History, and "Two Weeks" Spin, with Kiriakou, Davis and Ahmari (2026-04-02), at 01:05:54. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pZp0HSDaa0&t=3954s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-02-megyn-kelly-trump-fires-bondi-cia-s-mk-ultra-history-and-two-weeks-sp/
3. Ex-CIA John Kiriakou: The US Government Is Destroying Itself (2026) (2026-02-12), at 30:35. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9qRSlRIqFM&t=1835s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-12-austin-and-matt-us-destroying-itself/
4. Ex-CIA John Kiriakou: The US Government Is Destroying Itself (2026) (2026-02-12), at 31:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9qRSlRIqFM&t=1898s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-12-austin-and-matt-us-destroying-itself/
5. Ex-CIA John Kiriakou: The US Government Is Destroying Itself (2026) (2026-02-12), at 32:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9qRSlRIqFM&t=1930s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-12-austin-and-matt-us-destroying-itself/
6. Ex-CIA John Kiriakou: The US Government Is Destroying Itself (2026) (2026-02-12), at 36:55. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9qRSlRIqFM&t=2215s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-12-austin-and-matt-us-destroying-itself/
7. Mini Episode 5 Betrayal (2026-02-13), at 10:07. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/698a64aad2345f67c3234536/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-13-dead-drop-mini-episode-5-betrayal/

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