Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola welcome CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou to the podcast. He is a writer and the host of the "Loud and Clear" radio show.
Kiriakou briefly recounts how he blew the whistle on the Bush administration's use of waterboarding and was the target of a leak prosecution. He was in prison for nearly two years.
He addresses some of the whistleblower's allegations, as well as whether it actually shows that President Donald Trump wouldn't provide military aid to Ukraine if the government didn't help him investigate Joe Biden's son.
We get into the issue of impeachment and what led Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to do an about-face and allow an inquiry to begin.
Later in the episode, Kiriakou responds to the New York Times' decision to publish information that outed the whistleblower as a CIA employee, who worked in the Trump White House.
We raise the issue of the military aid to Ukraine and how it is aimed at potentially provoking Russia, as well as how Democrats like Adam Schiff have not been supportive of whistleblowers.
In the final part of the interview, Kiriakou discusses the case of Daniel Hale, an alleged drone whistleblower, and how the government uses his case to ensure whistleblowers cannot put on a defense when they face Espionage Act charges.
