# The MintPress prediction

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

*The forecast John Kiriakou volunteers against himself, that asked in a post-election interview alongside Thomas Drake and Jesselyn Radack whether whistleblowers would fare better or worse under Donald Trump, he alone answered that nothing could be worse than Barack Obama, and was wrong.*

- **When:** Shortly after Donald Trump's election
- **Also interviewed:** [Thomas Drake](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thomas-drake), [Jesselyn Radack](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jesselyn-radack)
- **The question:** Would things get better or worse for whistleblowers under Trump?
- **Kiriakou's answer:** *"I can't imagine a scenario where anything could be worse than Barack Obama"*
- **His verdict on it:** *"I was foolish and wrong in retrospect"*

**The MintPress prediction** is a forecast [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) raises unprompted and against himself. Shortly after the 2016 election the outlet interviewed him, [Thomas Drake](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thomas-drake) and the Justice Department whistleblower [Jesselyn Radack](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jesselyn-radack), putting the same question to each: were things going to get better or worse for whistleblowers under [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump)?[1]

He flags his own answer before giving it. *"I said, I was the only one who said this, and I was foolish and wrong in retrospect, but I said, I can't imagine a scenario where anything could be worse than Barack Obama. I can't imagine that Donald Trump would be worse."*[1][2]

The correction is four words long: *"And then Donald Trump was worse."* What limited it, on his account, was arithmetic rather than restraint, *"the only thing that saved us from Trump was the fact that he was only in office for four years."*[2]

He keeps the concession separate from his position on [Obama](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/barack-obama), which the same conversation states at its harshest: eight [Espionage Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/espionage-act) prosecutions of people who spoke to the press, against three in the ninety-two years before, *"nearly three times the number of all US presidents combined. That was not an accident."*[3]

## See also

- [Thomas Drake](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thomas-drake)
- [Jesselyn Radack](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jesselyn-radack)
- [Barack Obama](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/barack-obama)
- [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump)
- [Espionage Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/espionage-act)

## Sources

1. Julian Assange and the U.S. War on Whistleblowers with John Kiriakou (2022-05-04), at 22:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud469eadc76&t=1357s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-05-04-covertaction-bulletin-julian-assange-and-the-u-s-war-on-whistleblow/
2. Julian Assange and the U.S. War on Whistleblowers with John Kiriakou (2022-05-04), at 23:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud469eadc76&t=1390s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-05-04-covertaction-bulletin-julian-assange-and-the-u-s-war-on-whistleblow/
3. Julian Assange and the U.S. War on Whistleblowers with John Kiriakou (2022-05-04), at 20:58. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aud469eadc76&t=1258s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2022-05-04-covertaction-bulletin-julian-assange-and-the-u-s-war-on-whistleblow/

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