Where this was said
Operation Acoustic Kitty, Recruiting Spies With a Dog & CIA Tradecraft
At 1:24:45 · chapter starts 1:23:25
Moving into the lighter side of espionage history, Kiriakou and Theo uncover Operation Acoustic Kitty: the CIA surgically implanted a microphone, radio transmitter, and wire into a cat for $20 million, sent it to spy on the Soviet Embassy, and watched it get hit by a taxi on the very first mission. From Cold War absurdity, Kiriakou pivots to one of his proudest professional moments: noticing a surveillance target walked his dog every morning at 6:30 a.m. He borrowed a colleague's dog for a week, manufactured daily 'accidental' encounters in the park, built rapport, and by day three was pitching the man as a CIA source. The target became his best-ever recruitment, paid $5,000 a month — though he ran up $800 phone bills on his CIA-issued disposable cell phone.
The CIA surgically implanted a microphone in a cat's ear, a radio transmitter at the base of its skull, and a wire through its fur — then spent $20 million on the project. On its first mission outside the Soviet Embassy in Washington D.C., the cat was hit by a taxi. The program was shut down. The cat was re-sewn and allegedly lived a long and happy life.
Kiriakou spotted a target who walked his dog every morning at 6:30 a.m. He borrowed a colleague's dog for a week, 'accidentally' met the man, bonded over the dogs, and by day three had him agreeing to spy for the CIA for $5,000 a month. He calls it the best recruitment of his career.
