# The contrition requirement

> **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 contrition requirement," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-contrition-requirement/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The rule John Kiriakou says defeats his own pardon applications before they begin — that an applicant must show proof of contrition — and his refusal to meet it. Asked whether he is sorry for the crime he committed, his answer is no, and that he would do it again.*

- **Requirement:** Proof of contrition in a pardon application
- **Kiriakou's position:** "I'm not contrite"
- **Asked if he is sorry:** "No, I'm not. I would do it again"
- **His stated losses:** Marriage, pension, security clearance, job

**The contrition requirement** is the procedural obstacle [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) identifies in his own repeated failure to obtain a pardon, and the one he says he will not remove.

## The rule

Kiriakou states it as a formal condition of the application rather than an informal expectation. *"this is one of the things when you apply for a pardon, you have to show proof that you showed contrition. And I'm not contrite."*[1]

He then supplies the question and his answer to it: *"Are you sorry for the crime you committed? No, I'm not. I would do it again."*[1]

## The cost he sets against it

The refusal is not offered as costless. Kiriakou opens the same passage with an inventory of losses — *"My wife and I split up. I lost my pension. I lost my security clearance. I lost my job"* — and closes it with the same conclusion: *"I would do the whole doggone thing over again … Because it was the right thing to do. And torture is outlawed in this country now. And I'm proud to have played a role in that."*[1]

The reasoning he attaches is about the passage of time rather than vindication in the moment: *"You come to some issues where you know that you're right and they're wrong. And eventually everybody else is going to see that."*[1]

## The one period of doubt

Asked whether he ever regretted doing the principled thing, Kiriakou dated the doubt precisely to the plea negotiations — *"when the Justice Department offered me 45 years in prison and told me that was the best deal I was going to get"* — and to the night he intended not to survive, an episode recorded at [whistleblowers and suicide](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/whistleblowers-and-suicide).[2]

What he says settled the question was not comfort but arithmetic about who else would act: *"the more I thought about it, the more I thought, 'No, somebody had to do it. We're led by a cabal of criminals. And somebody had to say something.'"*[3]

## See also

- [Kiriakou pardon request](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-pardon-request)
- [Whistleblowers and suicide](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/whistleblowers-and-suicide)
- [Giuliani Pardon Solicitation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/giuliani-pardon-solicitation)
- [Federal plea coercion](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/federal-plea-coercion)
- [Espionage Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/espionage-act)

## Sources

1. Why CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Almost Took His Own Life (2025-02-25), at 00:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu8Hww81wTc&t=0s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-02-25-katie-halper-why-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-almost-to/
2. Why CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Almost Took His Own Life (2025-02-25), at 00:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu8Hww81wTc&t=30s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-02-25-katie-halper-why-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-almost-to/
3. Why CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Almost Took His Own Life (2025-02-25), at 01:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu8Hww81wTc&t=63s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-02-25-katie-halper-why-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-almost-to/

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