# The mailroom standoff

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

*Told at FCI Loretto that he had no right to write to journalists, John Kiriakou printed the Bureau of Prisons regulations in the law library and laid them out in the mailroom until the staff gave up and sent the letter.*

Asked about Marty Gottesfeld being cut off from other journalists inside a communications management unit, Kiriakou said the same thing had been tried on him and described how he beat it.[1]

Staff at FCI Loretto tried to stop him communicating with other journalists. He told them they could not do that, because he had a First Amendment right. They told him he did not. He answered that he did, and that it was in the Bureau of Prisons regulations — then went to the law library, printed the regulations out, and laid them on the counter in the mailroom.[1]

## "It's brand spanking new"

Two of the staff then argued that the printout was old. Kiriakou told them it had been published a month earlier. At that they looked at each other, told him to go, and sent the letter.[2]

Kiriakou draws two lessons from the exchange, and states them together. The first is that the staff do not know their own regulations. The second is that they know the prisoner is at such an incredible disadvantage that they can do almost anything they want to him and he has no recourse — which is why, he says, the pressure has to be kept up from the outside, by people whose hands are not tied.[2]

## See also

- [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto)
- [Letter from Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/letter-from-loretto)
- [Kiriakou's FOIA request from prison](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-foia-request)

## Sources

1. John Kiriakou & Dana Gottesfeld conversation (2019-07-22), at 39:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCaPEPF_Cmc&t=2370s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2019-07-22-free-martyg-john-kiriakou-dana-gottesfeld-conversation/
2. John Kiriakou & Dana Gottesfeld conversation (2019-07-22), at 40:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCaPEPF_Cmc&t=2401s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2019-07-22-free-martyg-john-kiriakou-dana-gottesfeld-conversation/

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