Trump Administration Using Polygraphs to Investigate Unclassified Leaks

Marisa Taylor, Ted Hesson, Alexandra Alper, and Helen Coster report for Reuters in an article titled, “Trump officials are using polygraph tests to flush out even minor leaks.” Their reporting is based on “conversations with nine current and former federal government employees under the current administration who described a concerted effort to expose leaks of all kinds.” Excerpt:

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In several government agencies – including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense – managers told employees they would have to undergo lie detector tests, or polygraphs, after unclassified information was reported in the media, six of the government workers told Reuters.

Polygraph results are rarely used as evidence in U.S. courts because of doubts surrounding their reliability.

At the DHS, managers told employees that they needed to undergo the tests – not necessarily because leaks had occurred, but because of suspicions that staffers might be talking to the press, according to four of the government workers.

The DHS employees were also told they could be fired if they don’t take the tests, the four said.

ATTENDEES POLYGRAPHED

After details of a DHS meeting in March involving Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the then acting FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton leaked to the press, DHS managers ordered polygraph tests on at least four meeting attendees, according to an additional two former Federal Emergency Management Agency officials. FEMA is part of DHS.

The attendees, including Hamilton, sat for polygraphs at the Transportation Security Administration headquarters in Virginia.

One FEMA staffer in the public affairs division was placed on paid leave after a polygraph came up inconclusive, the two former FEMA officials said, although it was unclear whether the test was tied to the meeting.

Reached by Reuters, the staffer on paid leave declined to comment.

One DHS employee told Reuters they resigned when asked to take a polygraph test because they feared being wrongly accused of leaking.

DHS workers were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements about the tests, the employee said.

When asked to comment, the DHS said it was “unapologetic” about its drive to root out leakers. “We are agnostic about your standing, tenure, political appointment, or status as a career civil servant – we will track down leakers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” a DHS spokesperson told Reuters.

OPM did not respond to a request for comment. The DOD said in March that it would use polygraph tests to expose leakers.

Read the rest of the article here.

It should be noted that there is no documented instance of the polygraph ever solving a federal leak investigation.

It is also interesting that DHS employees are being asked to sign non-disclosure agreements regarding the polygraph “tests” that management is forcing them to undergo. What about the polygraph is DHS trying to hide?

AntiPolygraph.org welcomes comment from anyone who has seen or could provide a copy of DHS’s polygraph non-disclosure agreement. We can be reached privately and securely via Signal at ap_org.01 or via SimpleX Chat.