# Leaks come from the Pentagon > **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: "Leaks come from the Pentagon," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/leaks-come-from-the-pentagon/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's rule of attribution for national security leaks, drawn from his own CIA experience: ninety-nine times out of a hundred the leak came from the Pentagon — which he says leaks constantly, is so gigantic that the source cannot be traced, and does not polygraph anybody. He adds the motive: somebody who opposed the operation and was overruled.* - **Kiriakou's figure:** 99 times out of 100, the leak came from the Pentagon - **Basis:** His own experience at the CIA - **Reasons given:** Sheer size; no polygraph program - **Consequence:** "Impossible to know where the leaks came from" - **Typical leaker:** Someone who opposed the operation and was overruled - **Prompting case:** A New York Times report on a SEAL Team 6 mission in North Korea A viewer asked three questions at once about a New York Times report on a SEAL Team 6 mission in North Korea: how such a story leaks, whether the exposure is a national security risk, and whether Kiriakou would have approved the operation. He called them three great questions and took them in order.[1][2] ## Who leaks, and why On the first, Kiriakou did not hesitate: "Somebody who opposed it and was overruled leaked that story."[2] [Ted Rall](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ted-rall) agreed at once — "100%" — and Kiriakou moved to the institutional question of where such a person sits.[2] ## The rule "I can tell you from my own experience at the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)," he said, "99 times out of 100, the leak came from the Pentagon."[2] He gave two structural reasons. The first is volume — in his phrase, "they leak like sieves over there." The second is scale and process: the department is "so gigantic" and "they don't polygraph anybody, [so] it's just impossible to know where the leaks came from."[3] The absence of a polygraph program is the operative detail. Kiriakou's argument is not that Pentagon officials are less loyal than agency officers but that the two organisations have different exposure to detection — and that a leaker who cannot be identified is a leaker who can afford to act on a disagreement. ## The damage On the second question Kiriakou did not defend the disclosure. Asked whether exposing the mission was a national security risk, he answered: "You bet it is. Of course. It exposes methodology."[3] When Rall observed that Kim Jong-un now knows something he did not know before, Kiriakou confirmed it: "That's right."[3] The position is worth noting because it is not the one his critics attribute to him. Kiriakou, who went to prison in a leak case and argues the [Espionage Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/espionage-act) is unconstitutional, nonetheless says without qualification that this particular disclosure damaged security and revealed methods. ## The operators The conversation carried on to the unit itself, which Rall asked about in blunt terms. Kiriakou's answer was that they do make mistakes, and often — "a lot" — and that "a lot of them get killed in the course of the operation."[4] Rall's summary, that you want people who are brave and willing but you also want them to come home and not be exposed, drew Kiriakou's agreement: "Yep. That is right."[4] ## See also - [Espionage Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/espionage-act) - [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) - [SEALs on loan to the CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/seals-on-loan-to-the-cia) - [Ted Rall](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ted-rall) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-11), at 20:52. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cAlUaDXSuI&t=1252s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-11-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-11), at 21:24. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cAlUaDXSuI&t=1284s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-11-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-11), at 21:54. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cAlUaDXSuI&t=1314s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-11-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-11), at 23:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cAlUaDXSuI&t=1406s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-11-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/leaks-come-from-the-pentagon/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt