Former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou cast doubt Monday on new intelligence released by the FBI regarding Jeffrey Epstein, saying the latest information does not add up.
Kiriakou made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime while discussing a recent report claiming there is no Epstein “client list.”
The report, released by Axios on Sunday, referenced a two-page memo stating the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI had found no evidence of a “client list” associated with Epstein.
The memo, reportedly shared with lawmakers, appeared to be aimed at putting to rest persistent public speculation over who Epstein may have been connected with through his alleged sex trafficking operation.
Fox host Jesse Watters asked Kiriakou if he believed the FBI’s explanation “adds up.”
“No, I don’t think this adds up,” Kiriakou responded.
“You’ve hit it on the head, and so has Barry. I think you’re both exactly right on this. We really don’t know anything because the FBI doesn’t want us to know anything. I’m not blaming the FBI Director Kash Patel or the Deputy Director Dan Bongino.”
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Kiriakou suggested that while the current leadership at the FBI may be attempting to be transparent, deeper institutional forces remain at work, referencing what he described as “the deep state.”
“I think that that layer beneath them, that’s part of what we like to call the deep state, has taken this bull by the horns, and they’ve probably destroyed information,” Kiriakou said.
He went on to draw comparisons to past intelligence controversies, including the CIA’s response to congressional inquiries into Project MKUltra in the 1970s.
“Look at what the CIA did in 1975 after Congress ordered that it release all of its files related to an operation called MKUltra,” he said.
“The director of the CIA went back to headquarters and ordered everything to be destroyed, and, in the end, only about 20% of the documents survived.”
Kiriakou also cited the FBI’s surveillance of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., pointing out that decades later, information about those operations continues to emerge.
“We’re still learning about the FBI’s operations against Martin Luther King 50, 55 years after the fact, so now we’re supposed to believe that everybody’s telling the truth, that there were no files, there were no dossiers?” he said.
“I’m sorry. I just don’t buy it because I know how these people operate.”
Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking involving underage girls.
He was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City a month later.
His death was officially ruled a suicide, but questions have persisted due to several irregularities, including malfunctioning security cameras and reportedly absent guards.
During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump promised to release all available files related to Epstein. Kash Patel, now FBI Director, echoed that vow, pledging to release as many documents as possible.
However, in a May appearance on Fox News, both Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino stated they believe Epstein died by suicide. “Epstein killed himself,” Bongino said during the interview.
Despite the DOJ and FBI’s memo asserting there is no client list, Attorney General Pam Bondi previously stated that she had personally reviewed such a list earlier this year.
In February, Bondi said, “I’ve seen the list. I know what’s in it.”
No additional details have been released to the public, and the document she referenced has not been declassified or made available for independent review.
The memo from the DOJ and FBI has renewed skepticism from officials, journalists, and former intelligence professionals alike, with many continuing to call for the full public release of all remaining Epstein-related documents.
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If someone files a FOIA for information on Epstein and the judge denies the request it would probably be from one of these three reasons:
Exactly..
There had to be more people, celebrities, politicians, judges, and people like Bill Gates, Bozos, Soros, Suckerberg) on that list then expected.
Conspiracy, conspiracy, conspiracy. Everyone enjoys a good soap opera with their morning coffee. Find something else to worry about folks. This does not impact the future of the United States.
If people on that list are the same Deep State creatures still influencing day to day policy and administration then OF COURSE it still “impacts the future of the United States” !
FIRE HYDRANTS & MORORCYCLES !!!
This is BS. If Bondi, Patel, and Bongino are really “great Americans” and can’t get to the bottom of it then they are not very good at their job.
Really? There are much bigger things for these people to be working on than the Epstein soap opera. We have corrupt politicians stealing billions in tax dollars along with millions of illegal and terrorist mutts running loose in this country. Do you really want them spending their time prosecuting unnamed people who may or may not have made trips to Epstein’s sex island? That is a waste of time and money, and sets back the conservative agenda by neglecting the real problems.
I agree with speedle. Plus, whatever happened visa vi Epstein is probably still happening on some other island right now.