“CIA Takes Crack at Glass Ceiling for Spies”

In a Reuters article about the status of women in the CIA, Tabassum Zakaria touches upon CIA polygraph policy, including alleged bias against women, and notes that a woman heads the CIA polygraph unit. Excerpt: Lawyers who handle lawsuits by female spies say while steps have been taken toward equality, there is still some distance … Read more

Polygraph Dragnet at Philippine City Hall

In an article titled “NBI continues probe over lost receipts” Danilo A. Reyes reports on the Philippine website Sun.Star about a polygraph dragnet at General Santos city hall. Excerpt: GENERAL SANTOS — Two polygraph examiners from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will conduct lie detector tests on City Hall employees as investigation over the … Read more

Philippine Whistleblower Agrees to be Polygraphed

The Philippine website INQ7.net reports in an article titled, “‘Ador’ wants to meet President before taking polygraph test.” The short article is cited in full here: A CIVILIAN agent of the former Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) said that he wants to meet with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before subjecting himself to a lie detector … Read more

“Getting at the Truth of It”

Los Angeles Times staff writer Anna Gorman reports for the Ventura County edition about retired FBI polygrapher Jack Trimarco. Excerpt: Jack Trimarco makes a living off spotting lies. Lies that make hearts race and blood pressure rise. Lies that reveal the crimes of kidnappers, child molesters and murderers. The Ventura County polygraph expert also makes … Read more

“DOE Needs to Stand Up to Congress on Lie Tests”

This Albuquerque Tribune editorial minces no words in its criticism of the Department of Energy’s polygraph screening program. Excerpt: “Deception” is a nasty, nine-letter word that preoccupies U.S. counterintelligence agents. Appropriately, they worry about the potential for moles and leaks of nuclear weapons secrets from the nation’s classified bulwarks, including Sandia and Los Alamos national … Read more

“Scientists Eyeing High-Tech Upgrade for Lie Detectors”

Boston Globe staff writer Patricia Wen reports. Excerpt: Former CIA agent Aldrich Ames easily fooled lie detector tests, concealing his work as a Russian spy. But could he have duped a ”brain fingerprinting” exam, which probes what people know by checking their electrical brain waves? … Iowa-based neuroscientist Lawrence Farwell…is eager to see his ”brain … Read more

New Jersey Makes Polygraph a Requirement for Free Exculpatory DNA Testing

The Associated Press reports that New Jersey Attorney General John J. Farmer, Jr. is making passing a polygraph “test” a pre-condition for free exculpatory DNA testing that the state of New Jersey is offering to convicts. The following is an excerpt from the article “N.J. Offering Free DNA Tests to Cons” published in the 18 … Read more

“DOE Drops Medical Questions” (Sort Of)

Albuquerque Journal staff writer John Fleck reports. Excerpt: The Department of Energy has halted a controversial policy of asking medical questions of nuclear weapons scientists as part of its spy-hunting polygraph tests. Instead of asking medically related questions, the department’s new policy now places the burden on workers being polygraphed, requiring them to reveal before … Read more