Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Nancy A. Youssef, Alexander Ward, and Vera Bergengruen report for the Wall Street Journal in a 24 April 2025 article titled, “Polygraph Threats, Leaks and Infighting: The Chaos Inside Hegseth’s Pentagon.” Excerpt: WASHINGTON—Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was rattled. Word had leaked that he was planning a classified briefing for Elon Musk on China, a revelation …
In a video clip posted to X on Wednesday, 23 April 2025, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem boasted to broadcaster Tim Pool, “we’re polygraphing everybody!” A transcript of their conversation prepared by AntiPolygraph.org follows: Noem: I will tell you, one thing in Homeland Security that we’ve been doing [laughs] is we’re polygraphing everybody! …
Michael Evans of the London Times reports in a paywalled article titled “Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon descends into fear, loathing and lie detectors.” Excerpt: Pentagon officials are living “in fear” of being forced to take polygraph tests to prove they are not leaking sensitive information to the media. An email warning of the potential use of …
Gabe Cohen reports for CNN in a 12 April 2025 article titled, “Dozens of DHS staffers, including top FEMA officials, given lie detector tests over alleged leaks.” Excerpt: The Department of Homeland Security has administered lie detector tests to about 50 staffers in recent weeks, including FEMA’s acting administrator and roughly a dozen officials at …
Thomas Frank reports for Politico that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subjected Cameron Hamilton, the acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to a polygraph “test” in connection with a leak investigation. In this instance, it appears that no information that could credibly be construed to be properly classified had in fact …
Following a Thursday, 20 March 2025 report by the New York Times that “[t]he Pentagon was scheduled on Friday to brief Elon Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joseph R. “Joe” Kasper on Friday, 21 March signed a …
As noted by Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, “the Senate Intelligence Committee’s markup of the 2013 intelligence authorization bill includes 12 provisions that are intended to combat unauthorized disclosures of classified information.” Among these provisions is a requirement that within 120 days of enactment, the Director of National …
Dana Liebelson and Adam Zagorin of the Project on Government Oversight report on Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper’s recent decision to use polygraphs in an attempt to detect and deter media leaks. AntiPolygraph.org co-founder George Maschke is among those interviewed for this article.
On 25 June 2012, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper announced (PDF) that he is “mandating that a question related to unauthorized disclosure of classified information be added to the counterintelligence polygraph used by all intelligence agencies that administer the examination (CIA, DIA, DOE, FBI, NGA, NRO, and NSA).” Although Clapper’s announcement does not specify what …
It appears that CIA officer Mary McCarthy was not the source of Washington Post reporter Dana Priest’s information on the CIA’s secret prisons. In “Dismissed CIA Officer Denies Leak Role,” Post staff writers R. Jeffrey Smith and Dafna Linzer report that she denies it, and the CIA is not alleging it. Excerpt: A lawyer representing …