CNN.com reports in an article titled, “Skilling: two tales of one man” that the indicted former CEO of the company whose name has become synonymous with corporate fraud passed a lie detector “test.” Excerpt:
Daniel Petrocelli, Skilling’s lawyer, accused the government of making his client a “scapegoat,” adding Skilling had done “nothing wrong.”
Speaking to reporters outside the federal courthouse after his client pleaded not guilty to 36 charges, Petrocelli said Skilling had chosen to take a lie detector test when the Enron scandal broke two years ago “and passed it with flying colors.” He said the test was administered by a polygraph expert respected by the FBI.
Of course, what Mr. Petrocelli didn’t mention is that anyone can pass a polygraph “test” with flying colors — regardless of whether one is telling the truth — through the use of simple countermeasures that polygraphers cannot reliably detect. Detailed information on countermeasures is available in AntiPolygraph.org’s free e-book, The Lie Behind the Lie Detector. Perhaps Mr. Skilling read it, too?