Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Today’s Washington Post editorial, “Mr. Hanssen’s Plea” carries with it an implicit endorsement of polygraph screening. Excerpt (emphasis added): Fixing…vulnerabilities [in FBI security procedures] is the task ahead. No system can ensure perfect security. There will be smart and unscrupulous would-be spies at an organization the size of the bureau who find cracks to slip …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Steven Aftergood of the American Federation of Scientists’ Secrecy in Government Project writes in today’s edition of Secrecy News: DEALING WITH POLYGRAPH TESTING Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are organizing to defend their legal rights in the face of new Department of Energy polygraph testing requirements. The Society of Professional Scientists and Engineers (SPSE), …
In an article entitled “To Tell The Truth,” US News and World Report writers Kevin Whitelaw and David E. Kaplan put forth informed commentary on the dangers of security vetting by polygraph. Excerpt: … The task [of finding moles in the CIA] fell to [Edward] Curran, who sensed the nation’s premier spy agency was consumed …
In an article ironically titled “Americans See Through Blind Eyes,” Toby Westerman of WorldNetDaily reports on Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies dean David Major’s call for expanded polygraph screening. Excerpt: Polygraph examinations – lie detector tests – should be given to all U.S. government personnel having access to secret information in order to prevent …
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing today on “Issues Surrounding the Use of Polygraphs.” The five witnesses who were invited to testify are former DoDPI director Michael H. Capps, Professor William G. Iacono of the University of Minnesota, former CIA general counsel Jeffrey H. Smith, attorney Mark S. Zaid, and past American …
Associated Press correspondent Jesse J. Holland reports on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s 25 April hearing on “Issues Surrounding the Use of Polygraphs.” Note that the only scientific expert among the witnesses who spoke was Professor William G. Iacono. Excerpt: WASHINGTON (AP) – The FBI might have started earlier to investigate Robert Hanssen, the …
On Wednesday, 25 April 2001, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by Employee Polygraph Protection Act co-sponsor Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), will hold an open hearing beginning at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Building. If you have information about which the committee should be made aware, contact the committee at …