Attorney Mark S. Zaid discusses polygraph policy in this op-ed column. Excerpt: In the wake of the FBI’s embarrassment at having one of its own caught spying for the Russians, former FBI director William Webster was appointed to head a commission to find out what went wrong. The commission concluded that lax security allowed Special … Read more
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blasts the FBI’s plans for more lie detector “testing” in this editorial. Excerpt: The bureau’s plan to expand the use of lie detector tests is just plain unprofessional and unscientific. The fact is, they are notoriously unreliable. Aldrich Ames, the CIA agent who in 1994 admitted to spying for Russia, passed … Read more
Associated Press correspondent Jesse J. Holland reports. Excerpt: April 9, 2002 | WASHINGTON (AP) — While two U.S. citizens have been arrested for espionage since July, increased FBI lie detector tests have uncovered several lesser security transgressions among FBI employees, the agency’s security chief said Tuesday. None of the information gained from the 700 polygraph … Read more
The Commission for the Review of FBI Security Programs, better known as the Webster Commission, has delivered its report to the Attorney General, and it may now be downloaded as a 1.14 MB Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file from the U.S. Department of Justice website at: http://www.usdoj.gov/05publications/websterreport.pdf Substantive discussion of polygraph policy begins at p. 67 … Read more
Kansas City Star correspondent Kevin Murphy reports. Excerpt: WASHINGTON – All but a few of 700 FBI agents and employees passed lie detector tests as part of an internal security overhaul at the bureau, Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday. Mueller outlined for reporters the FBI’s broad plan for preventing security lapses, such as those that … Read more
Los Angeles Times staff writers Eric Lichtblau and Richard A Serrano report. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — FBI officials said Wednesday that thousands of employees may be subjected to polygraph tests in an effort to plug holes in security–holes so glaring that even convicted spy Robert Philip Hanssen now says he should have been caught years earlier. … Read more
New York Times correspondent David Johnson reports. Excerpt: WASHINGTON, April 3 – About seven F.B.I. employees with access to highly classified information have been unable to pass polygraph examinations administered as part of the bureau’s stepped-up security program after the arrest last year of a senior agent as a Russian spy, F.B.I. officials said today. … Read more
Reuters correspondent James Vicini reports. Excerpt: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As many as seven FBI employees with access to highly classified information face more investigation after taking polygraph tests given to tighten security following the discovery of a Russian spy within the FBI, officials said on Wednesday. “We have identified up to 700 persons who were … Read more
Associated Press writer Ted Bridis reports. Excerpt: WASHINGTON – FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday promised broader use of lie detectors and a closer check of employee financial records to help deter or catch spies within America’s elite law enforcement agency. Mueller acknowledged delicate issues of privacy and trust. But he said FBI employees must … Read more
Miami Herald Washington correspondent Tim Johnson reports. Excerpt: WASHINGTON – Even though confessed Cuban spy Ana Belen Montes already outwitted a lie-detector test, the government plans to rely on polygraph exams to check her honesty as they debrief her about her 16-year spying career while working for U.S. military intelligence. Montes took a polygraph examination … Read more