# Kiriakou and third parties

> **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: "Kiriakou and third parties," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-and-third-parties/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's advocacy for viable third parties, and his 2016 experience touring the West with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, including the disorganization that convinced him the party would never break through, epitomized by a colleague who ignored an airport page thinking it was 'NSA tracking my movements.'*

- **Toured with:** Gary Johnson (Libertarian, 2016)
- **His view:** The U.S. badly needs viable third parties

**Kiriakou and third parties** captures [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s belief that the U.S. *"very strongly"* needs viable third parties, and his 2016 experience touring 12 western states introducing Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, who won a record 2.8% nationally, identifying himself as a libertarian in the process.[1][2] He recounts the party's disorganization with affection and exasperation: its Christmas party held in late January in Alexandria, Virginia, where the Virginia party chairman asked Kiriakou to run for governor and he flatly declined, a Winnebago bought with the $40,000 from its lone major donor (the *"canned tomato king of California"*), and a former vice-presidential nominee who ignored an airport page because he *"figured it's probably NSA tracking my movements"*, *"that is why this party will never turn into anything."*[3][4][5][6][7] Kiriakou separately put the ticket's Utah result at 18% (elsewhere recalled as 16%), and says Johnson himself waved off any talk of a breakthrough, attributing the campaign's relative success to a fluke: *"unlike the Democrats and the Republicans, we don't have a patron. We don't have a billionaire."*[8] His practical critique: 70% of American races run unopposed, so a serious party would run for every water board and school board, not just the presidency.[9] The relationship with Johnson predated the tour: while Kiriakou was in prison, Johnson wrote him a supportive letter and separately wrote to the Attorney General urging his release; on Kiriakou's release, Johnson was the first non-friend, non-relative to call, inviting him onto the Libertarian Party's board of directors, and the two went on to campaign together in roughly 20 states in the month before the 2016 election.[10]

## "There's nothing left about the Democratic Party"

Kiriakou's objection to the phrase *"radical left"* is that nothing it points at is left-wing. He recounts pressing his oldest friend, a strongly pro-Trump Republican, on the point: *"I said, 'I have to ask you, what is it that's radical about the left?' And he said, 'oh, all their policies.' I said, 'no, no, I'm serious, I want you to tell me what it is that's radical.' And he said, 'well, like the environment.' And I said, 'it's radical to want clean water and clean air?' And then that's it, that's the end of the conversation, because we've gotten to the point where these words don't mean anything."*[11][12]

His own description of the field is that it has no left in it at all: *"I joke all the time that in the United States we have two political parties. We have a right-of-centre party, and we have a farther-right-of-centre party. There's nothing left about the Democratic Party. It's a capitalist party."*[13]

## See also

- [Overcriminalization](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/overcriminalization)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. Ex-CIA John Kiriakou: The US Government Is Destroying Itself (2026) (2026-02-12), at 1:15:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9qRSlRIqFM&t=4530s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-12-austin-and-matt-us-destroying-itself/
2. Does the Charlie Kirk Case Have Evidence Gaps? (2026-05-18), at 48:53. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zy79qrNm-k&t=2933s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-18-covert-operations-insight/
3. Ex-CIA John Kiriakou: The US Government Is Destroying Itself (2026) (2026-02-12), at 1:16:31. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9qRSlRIqFM&t=4591s · 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 1:18:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9qRSlRIqFM&t=4714s · 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 1:23:46. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9qRSlRIqFM&t=5026s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-12-austin-and-matt-us-destroying-itself/
6. Does the Charlie Kirk Case Have Evidence Gaps? (2026-05-18), at 50:27. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zy79qrNm-k&t=3027s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-18-covert-operations-insight/
7. Does the Charlie Kirk Case Have Evidence Gaps? (2026-05-18), at 51:59. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zy79qrNm-k&t=3119s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-18-covert-operations-insight/
8. Does the Charlie Kirk Case Have Evidence Gaps? (2026-05-18), at 49:55. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zy79qrNm-k&t=2995s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-18-covert-operations-insight/
9. Ex-CIA John Kiriakou: The US Government Is Destroying Itself (2026) (2026-02-12), at 1:21:09. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9qRSlRIqFM&t=4869s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-12-austin-and-matt-us-destroying-itself/
10. John Kiriakou & Brian Ross — Doing Time Like a Spy (2017-05-17), at 36:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iSfm1yeJUA&t=2160s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2017-05-17-strand-book-store/
11. Charlie Kirk's Story Cracks — Hegseth (2025-12-09), at 43:56. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA2Sh1zpgfU&t=2636s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-09-dialogue-works-charlie-kirk-s-story-cracks-hegseth/
12. Charlie Kirk's Story Cracks — Hegseth (2025-12-09), at 44:27. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA2Sh1zpgfU&t=2667s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-09-dialogue-works-charlie-kirk-s-story-cracks-hegseth/
13. Charlie Kirk's Story Cracks — Hegseth (2025-12-09), at 45:29. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA2Sh1zpgfU&t=2729s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-09-dialogue-works-charlie-kirk-s-story-cracks-hegseth/

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