Proof The CIA Used Hypnosis To Extract Secrets - John Kiriakou

What happened in this episode?

In this short episode of Modern Wisdom, host Chris Williamson speaks with former CIA officer John Kiriakou about Cold War-era “brainwashing” fears and what Kiriakou describes as the CIA’s attempts to replicate perceived adversary capabilities. Kiriakou recounts the origins of MK Ultra as a response to intelligence reporting about Soviet and Chinese mind-control research, and argues the programme was operationally a failure that nevertheless caused serious harm, including alleged deaths linked to LSD dosing and other experiments. He also claims that when the US Senate’s Church Committee investigated intelligence abuses in 1975, the CIA director was instructed not to destroy MK Ultra records but ordered them shredded anyway, leaving what Kiriakou says is only a small surviving fraction.

The most detailed segment is a first-person account from Kiriakou’s posting in Athens, following the 2000 assassination of British defence attaché Brigadier General Stephen Saunders. Kiriakou describes a “walk-in” source who claimed to have seen suspected perpetrators and says CIA headquarters proposed hypnotising the man to improve recall. He describes a hypnosis session run by a headquarters psychiatrist, including the witness allegedly providing a vehicle number plate later checked against records. Kiriakou adds the source later sought to impress officers and began fabricating information, leading them to cut contact, while maintaining that the initial hypnotic recall proved accurate in their checks.

The episode ends with a request to subscribe and an advertisement for an electrolyte drink.

What are the key points?

• Kiriakou says Cold War “brainwashing” fears drove the CIA to launch MK Ultra, which he calls a “complete and utter failure”.
• He alleges MK Ultra activity included dosing CIA employees and civilians with LSD and other dangerous experimentation.
• He claims the CIA destroyed most MK Ultra documentation despite a Church Committee warning, leaving “15%” surviving records.
• Kiriakou recounts the 2000 assassination of British defence attaché Brigadier General Stephen Saunders in Athens and a subsequent CIA “walk-in” lead.
• He describes a CIA-arranged hypnosis session to question the walk-in, involving a headquarters psychiatrist said to be a certified hypnotist.
• He says the walk-in later became unreliable and started making things up, prompting officers to cut him off.

Who is speaking?

Named speakers identified in Egleze's source-linked moments from this episode.

• John Kiriakou

Which topics are covered?

How is this page sourced?

Programme

Modern Wisdom

Published

13 October 2026

Duration

11m

Original episode

Open the original source ↗

Egleze verifies the speaker, source and timestamp for each linked moment. Unless a moment is explicitly marked independently verified, statements remain attributed claims by the named speaker rather than established facts.