# Operation Mega

> **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: "Operation Mega," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/operation-mega/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*A 1997 FBI investigation into a senior U.S. government official believed to be passing highly sensitive information to Israel, opened after the NSA intercepted an Israeli intelligence communication referring to a source code-named "Mega." Per John Kiriakou, unlike similar investigations into other countries, the case never resulted in an indictment or public disclosure, and the identity of the American official was never revealed.*

- **Opened:** 1997, by the FBI
- **Trigger:** NSA intercept of Israeli intelligence communication referencing source "Mega"
- **Outcome (per Kiriakou):** No indictment; identity of the American official never revealed

**Operation Mega** is a 1997 FBI investigation into a senior U.S. government official believed to be passing highly sensitive information to Israel. Per [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), the case opened after the NSA intercepted a secure communication between a senior Israeli intelligence officer in Washington and his superior in Tel Aviv referring to a source with the code name "Mega."[1]

## No indictment, no disclosure

Kiriakou contrasts the Mega case with other counterintelligence investigations into foreign spying, which have sometimes produced indictments or public fallout: in this case, there was nothing. The identity of the American official was never learned, and the information passed was never revealed.[2]

## How CIA code names work

Asked about the origin of the name "Mega" itself, Kiriakou explains that CIA code names are generated by computer: every one begins with a two-letter digraph tied to a subject category, followed by a random word with no relation to its literal meaning, in this case, the computer simply generated the word "Mega," unconnected to the case's substance.[3]

## See also

- [Office of Special Plans Israeli leak](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/office-of-special-plans-israeli-leak)
- [Israeli art student spy ring](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/israeli-art-student-spy-ring)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. John Kiriakou Part III: 9/11, Israeli Spying, CIA Media Manipulation (2025-09-19), at 35:28. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFhhPsbO9GU&t=2128s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-19-harrison-berger/
2. John Kiriakou Part III: 9/11, Israeli Spying, CIA Media Manipulation (2025-09-19), at 36:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFhhPsbO9GU&t=2160s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-19-harrison-berger/
3. John Kiriakou Part III: 9/11, Israeli Spying, CIA Media Manipulation (2025-09-19), at 37:04. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFhhPsbO9GU&t=2224s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-19-harrison-berger/

---

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