# The CIA and honey-trapping > **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: "The CIA and honey-trapping," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-cia-and-honey-trapping/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's explanation of why the CIA, unlike the Russians, Chinese, Israelis and French, does not run honey-trap recruitment operations. He credits an instructor's story about a 1970s attempt against an Iranian mulla, who reacted to the incriminating photographs by asking for 8×10s and wallets, as the moment the agency concluded coercion produces resentment rather than sources.* - **Kiriakou's rule:** The CIA *"does not do it because in most cases it just simply doesn't work"* - **Countries that do (per Kiriakou):** Russians, Chinese, Israelis, French, *"and others"* - **Why not:** Coercion breeds resentment, not cooperation; ethics; risk of the target panicking to police or the FBI; risk of the target *"actually falling in love with the woman"* - **Recruitment problem:** *"What woman in her right mind would say, 'I'd like to be a prostitute' after her advanced degree in international affairs?"* - **The mulla anecdote:** A 1970s CIA honeypot on an [Iranian](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iran) mulla; when confronted with the photographs he asked for *"an 8-by-10 of that one and two 5-by-7s of that one, do you have wallets of this one?"* **The CIA and honey-trapping** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s answer to the recurring question about why the CIA, unlike its counterparts in Moscow, Beijing, Tel Aviv and Paris, does not run sexual-compromise recruitment operations. ## Why the CIA does not do it Kiriakou's argument is operational. *"The CIA does not do it, and it does not do it because in most cases it just simply doesn't work. And what I mean is sure people are going to get laid. But that's not the point. The point is, is it better, is it easier, to develop a source as a partner where there's mutual trust, or is it better to develop the source through coercion, saying, 'Well, we honeypotted you and we have these photos of you with this prostitute or with this woman or whomever, and if you don't give us the information we want, we're going to tell your wife. We're going to tell your boss.' That doesn't work. That just breeds resentment."*[1][2] ## The Iranian mulla anecdote The story Kiriakou uses to date the conclusion came from one of his own instructors in training. *"He said that in the 1970s the CIA targeted an Iranian mulla and they honeypotted him and they ran a prostitute against him and he went back to a hotel with a prostitute and they had sex and of course the CIA had the whole room filled with cameras, hidden cameras. They took pictures of them doing the deed from every angle. And afterwards they laid out the pictures in front of him and they said, 'You're going to work for us now.' And this mulla said, 'Ooh, I'll take an 8-by-10 of that one and two 5-by-7s of that one, and do you have wallets of this one?'"*[3][4] Kiriakou allows that *"he may have made up. It may be apocryphal, but it's a good story"*, and treats the underlying determination as institutional: *"a determination was made that this honeypotting just doesn't work. It didn't work for us."*[3][4] ## Who does do it *"It apparently works for the Russians, the Chinese, the Israelis, the French, and others who continue to use it."*[5] ## The recruitment problem Kiriakou piles on a second reason. *"Can you imagine going to a college and you're a CIA recruiter and you're like, 'Hey, come and work with the CIA, see the world, and we're going to make you into a prostitute.' What woman in her right mind would say, 'I'd like to be, when I graduate with my advanced degree in international affairs, a prostitute.' Because that's really what it comes down to."*[5][6] ## And the two operational failure modes Two more risks Kiriakou lists: the target panicking and running to the police or the FBI *"making this major international incident"*, and the operation flipping in the opposite direction: *"the target actually falling in love with the woman that's been sent against him, because then you just wreck the person personally and that's not going to be a cooperative agent."*[6][7] ## See also - [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) - [Mossad](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mossad) - [Case officer tradecraft](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/case-officer-tradecraft) ## Sources 1. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 07:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=436s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/ 2. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 07:48. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=468s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/ 3. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 08:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=499s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/ 4. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 08:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=530s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/ 5. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 09:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=560s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/ 6. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 09:51. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=591s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/ 7. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 10:23. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=623s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-cia-and-honey-trapping/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt