# Jean Gately > **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: "Jean Gately," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jean-gately/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The CIA officer who commanded the 1961 Bay of Pigs operation and, decades later, served alongside John Kiriakou as an elderly contractor at the CIA's Pakistan station, where he still blamed Kennedy for the defeat, 'We could have won that thing.'* - **Known for:** Commanding the 1961 Bay of Pigs operation against Cuba - **Later assignment:** CIA Pakistan station, alongside John Kiriakou - **Recorded quote (to Kiriakou):** "Fucking Kennedy. We could have won that thing." **Jean Gately**, whose name Kiriakou most often gives as Gene Gately, was the CIA officer who commanded the 1961 Bay of Pigs operation against Cuba. He was still in service decades later, working alongside [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), by then chief of counterterrorism operations, at the CIA's Pakistan station, one of a handful of roughly 80-year-old contractors on staff.[1][2] ## The Pakistan-station encounter Per Kiriakou: *"To tell you the truth, when I got there, I didn't get his last name. So I only called him Gene. … And I was there for weeks until somebody said, 'Ask Gately.' I said, 'Who's Gately?' Gene. I said, 'Gene is Gene Gately?' He said, 'Yeah, who'd you think he was?' I said, 'The commander of the Bay of Pigs operation is working for me.' And he said, 'Yeah.'"*[1] The Pakistan station's staff all lived in the same small guesthouse, taking meals together. Kiriakou: *"So I went up to him and I said, 'Gene, you're Gene Gately? You commanded the Bay of Pigs?' And he says to me, 'Fucking Kennedy. We could have won that thing.' And that was the very first time I ever saw that kind of flash of anger. And I thought, 'Oh, I understand 1963.'"*[3][4] In a separate retelling, Kiriakou dates the realization to dinner at the shared guesthouse: *"I go, 'Gene, I had no idea you were Gene Gately, the Gene Gately.'"*, with Gately blaming Kennedy for withholding air support during the operation.[2][5] In yet another telling, Kiriakou describes running an entire branch in Pakistan of seven old men, all former directors or deputy directors of Near East Operations, one a former deputy director of the CIA itself, who held "green badges" as retirees brought back to work out of patriotism, and all of whom lived together in the same guesthouse. It was in that setting that a colleague mentioned "Gaitley" in passing and Kiriakou realized his "Gene" was Jean Gately of the Bay of Pigs, prompting the same response, *"Fucking Kennedy. We could have won that thing"*, from a man who by then had been at the CIA for 42 years.[6][7] ## See also - [John McCone](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-mccone) - [JFK assassination](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jfk-assassination) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Explains the Part Everyone Missed (2026-04-27), at 31:04. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wc8tRNoJk&t=1864s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-27-carlos-watson-part-everyone-missed/ 2. Trump's Worst Nightmare Just Came True — CIA Spy on Iran War (2026-04-06), at 2:03:54. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA2slD8xEpc&t=7434s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-06-danny-jones-iran-war-trumps-nightmare/ 3. Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Explains the Part Everyone Missed (2026-04-27), at 31:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wc8tRNoJk&t=1897s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-27-carlos-watson-part-everyone-missed/ 4. Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Explains the Part Everyone Missed (2026-04-27), at 32:08. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wc8tRNoJk&t=1928s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-27-carlos-watson-part-everyone-missed/ 5. Trump's Worst Nightmare Just Came True — CIA Spy on Iran War (2026-04-06), at 2:04:57. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA2slD8xEpc&t=7497s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-04-06-danny-jones-iran-war-trumps-nightmare/ 6. In Confidence: A Private Conversation with John Kiriakou (2026-01-13), at 1:21:55. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VuKrdCf-ds&t=4915s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-13-covertaction-magazine/ 7. In Confidence: A Private Conversation with John Kiriakou (2026-01-13), at 1:22:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VuKrdCf-ds&t=4946s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-13-covertaction-magazine/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jean-gately/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt