# The lapis lazuli paperweight

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

*The chunk of raw lapis lazuli John Kiriakou says he took from Osama bin Laden's house in Afghanistan and still keeps — described on air as magnificent, and agreed on air to have probably served as bin Laden's paperweight.*

- **What:** A giant chunk of raw lapis lazuli
- **Where Kiriakou says he took it:** Osama bin Laden's house
- **When:** During the clean-up after Tora Bora, which he joined two months after the battle
- **Its supposed use:** A paperweight — agreed on air as probable, not established
- **Present whereabouts:** Still in Kiriakou's possession
- **His description:** "It's magnificent"

**The lapis lazuli paperweight** is a piece of unworked stone John Kiriakou says he removed from a house belonging to [Osama bin Laden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/osama-bin-laden) in Afghanistan and has kept ever since. He mentioned it on the DeProgram programme in August 2025, in the middle of describing his part in [the clean-up after Tora Bora](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cleaning-up-after-tora-bora).[1]

## The object

Kiriakou introduced it as an aside and offered to produce it for a later broadcast: *"You know what? I'll bring it for the next show. I have a giant chunk of raw lapis lazuli."*[1]

Its origin, as he states it, is specific: *"that I took from Osama bin Laden's house."*[2]

## The paperweight

The function the object is named for was not asserted but arrived at on air. The suggestion — *"I like to think it was his paperweight"* — was met with agreement, and Kiriakou's own summary was hedged in the same way: *"I think it probably was, but I took it and I still have it. It's magnificent."*[2]

The attribution is therefore speculative by the account's own terms. What Kiriakou states as fact is only that the stone came from the house and that he retains it.

## Lapis and the country it came from

Lapis lazuli is one of the semi-precious stones for which Afghanistan is known, and the country's mineral wealth is a subject Kiriakou has returned to on the same programme, where a viewer's question about Afghan raw materials produced a discussion of gemstones, rubies and rare earth minerals.[3]

Asked in the same exchange whether he had any of bin Laden's videos, Kiriakou said no, and answered instead with [his account of what was actually found on the computers](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-porn-on-bin-ladens-computers).[2]

## See also

- [Osama bin Laden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/osama-bin-laden)
- [Cleaning Up After Tora Bora](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cleaning-up-after-tora-bora)
- [Tora Bora](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/tora-bora)
- [The Porn On Bin Ladens Computers](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-porn-on-bin-ladens-computers)
- [Afghan rare earth minerals](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/afghan-rare-earth-minerals)

## Sources

1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-12), at 56:04. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE-XS8gvwiM&t=3364s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-12-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-12), at 56:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE-XS8gvwiM&t=3394s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-12-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 1:09:18. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=4158s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/

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