( CNN ) -- Investigators charged a former CIA officer Monday with disclosing classified information to journalists on several occasions . John Kiriakou , a CIA intelligence officer from 1990 to 2004 , illegally divulged information about two CIA employees and their involvement in classified operations between 2007 and 2009 , the Justice Department said in a statement . In a second case , the Justice Department said , Kiriakou disclosed the name and contact information of a CIA employee who participated in the operation to capture and question Abu Zubayda , who allegedly was al Qaeda 's top military strategist until his capture in 2002 . Interrogators used the controversial waterboarding technique on Zubayda 83 times in August 2002 , according to a government memo released years later by the administration of President Barack Obama . Kiriakou is charged with one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act `` for allegedly illegally disclosing the identity of a covert officer , '' the Justice Department statement said . He also faces two counts of violating the Espionage Act for `` allegedly illegally disclosing national defense information '' and one count of making false statements to a CIA board that reviews sensitive materials that employees propose to publish publicly . The last charges alleges that he tried `` to trick the CIA into allowing him to include classified information in a book he was seeking to publish , '' the statement said .
John Kiriakou was a CIA intelligence officer from 2001 to 2005 . He is charged with several counts related to illegally disclosing information . Feds say he was a CIA operative involved in capturing a top terror suspect . That suspect was subjected to waterboarding 83 times , a government memo says .