# The ex-prisoner at the Bureau of Prisons

> **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 ex-prisoner at the Bureau of Prisons," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-ex-prisoner-at-the-bureau-of-prisons/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's approving account of the appointment of a former federal prisoner — recently released after five years on a drug conspiracy charge — as deputy director of the Bureau of Prisons, which he calls an inspired choice and one of the few things he has praised Donald Trump for.*

Kiriakou frames the appointment with a caveat about his own consistency. Invoking the saying that a broken clock is right twice a day, he says Trump "did something recently that was so freaking inspired and brilliant. I can't believe he did it." [1]

## The appointment

The post is deputy director of the Bureau of Prisons. Kiriakou describes the BOP as "one of the most notoriously corrupt and dysfunctional and broken organizations in all of government," and notes that it is also the biggest bureau within the Department of Justice. [1]

The man named to it, in Kiriakou's account, was a former federal prisoner who had just got out — after serving five years on a drug conspiracy charge. [2]

Kiriakou reports one immediate institutional consequence: "The guards union is going berserk." [2]

## Why he approves

Kiriakou's endorsement is unqualified — "honestly, that is an inspired choice. I love that he did that" — and it rests on the appointee's stated priorities rather than on his biography alone. Told that the new deputy director intended to focus on prison health care and food quality, Kiriakou said he "wanted to just stand up and start applauding this guy." [3]

Both of those are subjects on which Kiriakou has campaigned since his own imprisonment, and they are the two areas in which he has most often described the BOP as failing prisoners outright.

## The aside

The exchange produced a joke at Kiriakou's own expense. When Rall suggested that on this precedent Kiriakou might "be back at Langley soon in charge at the big desk," he answered, "Stranger things have happened," and observed that Tulsi Gabbard follows him on Twitter — "Could well be." [2] He does not press the point, and the remark is delivered as banter rather than as a claim about his prospects. [3]

## See also

- [Bureau of Prisons](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bureau-of-prisons)
- [Bureau of Prisons advisory board](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bureau-of-prisons-advisory-board)
- [The Second Chance Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/second-chance-act)
- [The Bureau of Prisons polos](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-bureau-of-prisons-polos)

## Sources

1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-06), at 22:58. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnuGCFlPKaI&t=1378s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-LnuGCF/
2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-06), at 23:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnuGCFlPKaI&t=1410s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-LnuGCF/
3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-06), at 24:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnuGCFlPKaI&t=1441s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-LnuGCF/

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