In “Polygraph Tests Raise Questions,” retired FBI special agent and scientist Dr. Drew Richardson comments for the Staunton, Virginia News Leader:
I have previously written about the tools and trade of national security practice in this column. Topics have included the lack of validity of polygraphic lie detection, the need for recorded interviews and interrogations, sundry considerations regarding the use of torture and the potential impact of bias on national security investigations.
One case that has recently resurfaced and may exemplify the consequences of failure in multiple areas should be the focus of our attention today. Before analyzing that failure I would like to comment upon a separate matter that has produced mainstream headlines recently.
The Justice Department announced that Nada Nadim Prouty, a 37-year-old Lebanese national, recently pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship. With her new citizenship, Ms. Prouty was able to seek and obtain employment as a FBI special agent and a CIA officer. As a result of access made available to Prouty through this employment, she was able to unlawfully search federal computer systems for information regarding the terrorist organization Hizballah.
Prouty would probably have passed applicant polygraph exams for both agencies. She would have been found to be truthful regarding the falsified information that she provided on her job applications concerning her citizenship.
Last month the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit reinstated a civil suit filed in behalf of Egyptian citizen Abdallah Higazy against an FBI special agent and polygraph examiner. The suit relates to a false confession obtained in December 2001 during a post-test interrogation that followed a polygraph examination.
Apparently, Mr. Higazy was erroneously accused of being dishonest in his answers to various questions posed to him during a polygraph examination. During his post-test interrogation, Higazy ultimately confessed to stealing a radio from the Egyptian military to be used for eavesdropping — a radio which had previously been recovered.
It has since been conclusively shown that Higazy did not own the radio and that a hotel employee fabricated a story about it being found in Higazy’s hotel room safe. Higazy was held in custody for 34 days prior to his ultimate release.
Higazy has stated that his false confession was based on what he believes to be a coercive interrogation that led him to believe his family in Egypt might be tortured unless he cooperate by furnishing the confession. It remains to be seen what the government’s and the polygraph examiner’s full response will be at any subsequent trial.
What appears to be clear at this point is that polygraph validity is once again called into question and that the customary practice of not recording FBI interviews will make it difficult to objectively and conclusively know what actually transpired between Higazy and the examiner in the polygraph suite on that fateful day.
One is left wondering whether any bias played a role in erroneous polygraph findings. Did the false testimony of the hotel employee that was no doubt made known to the examiner through investigative agents impact his examination? Did Higazy’s ethnicity, nationality and the close association in time to the events of 9/11 impact this examination? I don’t know — but I am convinced that various forms of bias can play a role in the outcome of a polygraph examination.
And what about torture? There is no reason to believe actual torture played a role in this matter. Because of a lack of recording, any discrepancies regarding a threat of torture will likely remain a mystery. But then — to what extent might even a wrongly construed perception regarding the possibility of torture have contributed to a false confession? Those who might consider utilizing torture to obtain information should consider this matter closely. Ethics aside, the efficacy of torture, its threat and even its mention is clearly brought into question.
There is much to be learned from this matter, and, no doubt, much that needs to change. I would hope the appropriate committees in Congress would investigate the facts and implications of the Prouty and Higazy matters.
Drew Richardson is a retired FBI agent and cardiovascular physiologist who teaches forensic science at James Madison University. Contact him at dr0404@hotmail.com.