# The Scooter Libby deposition > **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 Scooter Libby deposition," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-scooter-libby-deposition/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The 2006 or 2007 session at which John Kiriakou, appearing as a witness in the Scooter Libby case, mentioned that the only conversation he had witnessed between two senior CIA officers concerned a covert action programme — and the agency's general counsel jumped up and stopped him mid-sentence, because an officer may not say the words at all.* - **When:** 2006 or 2007, in Kiriakou's recollection - **Who was present:** The special prosecutor, the CIA general counsel's office, Libby's attorneys, the Justice Department - **The question:** Whether he had ever seen two senior CIA officers talking to each other - **His answer:** That the only conversation he saw was about a covert action programme - **The interruption:** "Stop" — from the CIA general counsel - **The rule stated:** "You can't even say the words covert action" - **The irony he notes:** The special prosecutor there would prosecute him a few years later **The Scooter Libby deposition** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s account of appearing as a witness in the prosecution arising from the exposure of [Valerie Plame](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/valerie-plame), and of the moment the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)'s own lawyer cut him off. He tells it to establish how far outside normal practice a public presidential announcement of a [covert action programme](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/covert-action-program) sits. ## The room *"I was a witness in the Scooter Libby trial in 2006 or 2007, I guess it was, and I had to go before the special prosecutor — who ironically prosecuted me a couple of years later."*[1] The room was crowded with counsel. *"So I'm meeting with the special prosecutor, and the CIA general counsel's office is represented, and Scooter Libby's attorneys are there, and the Justice Department has its people there."*[1] ## The question and the interruption *"And he asked me a question: did I ever see these two senior CIA people talking to each other? And I said, well, they're not friends, if that's what you're getting at. I mean, the only conversation I ever saw them have was about a covert action program."*[2] The reaction was immediate. *"And the CIA general counsel jumps up and he's like, 'Stop.' And I said, 'I wasn't going to say anything about covert action.' He's like, 'You can't even say the words covert action. We don't even acknowledge that there is such a thing as covert action.' And I said, 'Okay, sorry.'"*[2][3] He repeated the constraint in a second telling a month earlier: *"when I was being called to testify in the Scooter Libby case, I was told that I wasn't even allowed to say the words. Covert action. Wasn't even allowed to say the words, let alone to talk about a program."*[4] ## The comparison he draws The anecdote exists in his telling only as a measuring stick. Against it he sets a sitting president announcing such a programme from a podium: *"now the president's going on national television to talk about the covert action program that he just approved at, you know, six levels above top secret."*[3] In the October version he made the same contrast in the language of career experience rather than protocol: *"here the president of the United States is publicly announcing a covert action program. I never saw anything like it in my life."*[5] The detail Kiriakou marks as ironic — that the prosecutor who took his testimony in the Libby matter would later prosecute him — he states once and does not develop. ## See also - [Covert action programs](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/covert-action-program) - [Valerie Plame](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/valerie-plame) - [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-11-19), at 42:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqfGXMDtams&t=2536s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-19-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-11-19), at 42:49. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqfGXMDtams&t=2569s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-19-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-11-19), at 43:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqfGXMDtams&t=2599s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-19-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-10-22), at 19:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNhvUJehZGo&t=1184s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-22-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 5. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-10-22), at 20:15. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNhvUJehZGo&t=1215s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-22-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-scooter-libby-deposition/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt