Former CIA officer Brian O’Neill has written a cogent and well-researched essay for the non-profit, independent news organization, The Conversation titled, “Trump administration’s lie detector campaign against leakers is unlikely to succeed and could divert energy from national security priorities.” Excerpt:
The Trump administration has recently directed that a new wave of polygraphs be administered across the executive branch, aimed at uncovering leaks to the press.
As someone who has taken roughly a dozen polygraphs during my 27-year career with the CIA, I read this development with some skepticism.
Polygraphs carry an ominous, almost mythological reputation among Americans. The more familiar and unofficial term – lie detector tests – likely fuels that perception. Television crime dramas have done their part, too, often portraying the device as an oracle for uncovering the truth when conventional methods fail.
In those portrayals, the polygraph is not merely a tool – it’s a window into the soul.
Among those entering government service, especially in national security, the greater anxiety is not the background check but passing the polygraph. My advice is always the same: Don’t lie.
It’s the best – and perhaps only – guidance for a process that most assessments have concluded is a more subjective interpretation than empirical science.
Read the rest of this excellent article here.
Our only quibble with O’Neill might be the parsimony of his advice regarding polygraphs. While we concur that those in positions of public trust are duty-bound to answer relevant questions truthfully, simply not lying is no protection from the high risk of error associated with the pseudoscience of polygraphy. We believe that those facing mandatory polygraph “testing” are well-advised to educate themselves about it. Our free book, The Lie Behind the Lie Detector, is a good starting point.