# The CIA one-year leave

> **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 one-year leave," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-cia-one-year-leave/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The administrative fact about CIA departures John Kiriakou uses to knock down the *"once CIA, always CIA"* line on social media. Officers who resign are placed on a mandatory one-year leave without pay during which their security clearances remain intact so the agency can pull them back for an operation or a source that will only speak to them. Only at the anniversary is the badge formally shredded and the resignation becomes real.*

- **What it is:** A twelve-month leave without pay after a resignation request
- **Purpose:** Preserve the security clearance so the officer can be pulled back for an operation or a source that will only work with them
- **Termination:** The anniversary — Kiriakou notes the CIA makes *"a very big deal about shredding your badge on the one-year anniversary of your request to resign"*
- **Kiriakou's targets:** Social-media commenters who insist [Ed Snowden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/edward-snowden), [Ray McGovern](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ray-mcgovern), [Larry Johnson](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/larry-johnson) and Kiriakou himself are still in the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)
- **Kiriakou's own experience:** He gave up *"my freedom, my pension, my career, my marriage, my children"* — none of which is consistent with still being on the CIA payroll

**The CIA one-year leave** is the administrative fact about how [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) departures actually work — a twelve-month leave without pay during which the outgoing officer's security clearance stays live. [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) uses it to answer the *"once CIA, always CIA"* line he says he gets from *"a lot of mental midgets out there, mostly on social media"*.

## How it works

*"When you resign from the CIA, you don't really resign. You take a one-year leave without pay. And that way your security clearance remains intact. So if during that one year there's an operation for which you are uniquely qualified or there's a source who will only speak to you — which believe me happens — that gives the CIA the right to pull you back in for that one year. If you don't get pulled in for that one year then your resignation becomes effective and you're no longer a CIA employee."*[1][2]

## The badge-shredding ceremony

*"They make a very big deal about shredding your badge on the one-year anniversary of your request to resign."*[2]

## The names Kiriakou pushes back on

He treats the *"once CIA, always CIA"* line as a factual mistake, not just a rhetorical one. *"There are a lot of dumb dumbs out there who apparently think that [Ed Snowden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/edward-snowden) is still in the CIA, that [Ray McGovern](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ray-mcgovern) is still in the CIA, [Larry Johnson](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/larry-johnson) is still in the CIA — I somehow gave up my freedom, my pension, my career, my marriage, my children because I'm somehow still in the CIA. So that is a huge misconception, but just among the dum dums who are out there on the internet."*[2][3]

## See also

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

## Sources

1. 'Would I Run For President?' | Q&A With An Ex-CIA Agent (2026-09-05), at 10:02. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j09ZaBP3Bu8&t=602s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-05-john-kiriakou-would-i-run-for-president/
2. 'Would I Run For President?' | Q&A With An Ex-CIA Agent (2026-09-05), at 10:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j09ZaBP3Bu8&t=633s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-05-john-kiriakou-would-i-run-for-president/
3. 'Would I Run For President?' | Q&A With An Ex-CIA Agent (2026-09-05), at 11:06. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j09ZaBP3Bu8&t=666s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-09-05-john-kiriakou-would-i-run-for-president/

---

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