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The Clinton Pakistan plane switch

Bill Clinton's secret transfer to an unmarked aircraft for the 2000 flight into Pakistan — the closest precedent John Kiriakou finds for the catering truck transfer, and the one that differs in the detail he thinks matters: the White House told the reporters while it was happening.

The Clinton Pakistan plane switch was the substitution of an unmarked aircraft for Air Force One during Bill Clinton’s secret trip to Pakistan in 2000. John Kiriakou treats it as the closest historical comparison to the catering truck transfer — with one large difference: the White House told the travelling journalists what was happening while it was happening.[1]

The episode became public only in 2026, when the USA Today White House reporter Susan Page disclosed that she had been briefed at the time by White House security officials about a threat to the president that also put her own life in danger. She explained the delay in her own terms: “I haven’t spoken about this episode before, but because of the off-the-record ground rules of that discussion, and since more than a quarter century has passed, and since the ruse became evident as soon as President Clinton disembarked in Pakistan, I think it’s okay for me to relay it now.”[1][2]

The contrast is the point of the comparison. Where Clinton’s reporters were let into the deception and chose to hold it, Donald Trump’s were left aboard the decoy aircraft with the window shades down and told nothing at all.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. John Kiriakou, 2026-08-1315:01 on YouTube · Transcript
  2. John Kiriakou, 2026-08-1315:33 on YouTube · Transcript
  3. John Kiriakou, 2026-08-1316:04 on YouTube · Transcript

Sourced from John Kiriakou's on-record public statements. See his profile for the full body of his interviews, podcast appearances, and short-form video.