Of Polygraphs and E-meters

ClearanceJobs.com director of content Lindy Kyzer and former security clearance attorney Sean Bigley discussed the similarities between the U.S. government’s polygraph screening practices and the Church of Scientology’s practice of E-meter auditing for the ClearedCast podcast. See Kyzer’s write-up here, where you will also find a link to the entire 13:37 long conversation.

Jeff Stein on the Trump Administration’s Polygraph Crusade Against Leakers

Veteran journalist Jeff Stein comments on the Trump Administration’s efforts to identify employees who are speaking with journalists without authorization in a paywalled Substack post titled, “Trump & Co’s Polygraph Pandemonium.” Excerpt: Decades ago, a wise and long serving Justice Department inspector general remarked to me that leak investigations were “a fool’s errand.” By that … Read more

Jack Hopkins on Polygraph Screening

Podcaster Jack Hopkins has published on Substack a thoughtful and well-researched essay on polygraph screening titled, “Kash Patel’s Deception: Stop Believing Polygraphs-Science Unmasks the Real Lies.” Excerpt: Hypocrisy isn’t partisan. It’s universal. It’s a human being thing, not political. Wherever you find human beings…you’ll find examples of hypocrisy. And you know what else is universal? The bullshit in … Read more

FBI Begins Polygraph Hunt for Leakers

Ellen Nakashima and Hannah Natanson report for the Washington Post in an article titled, “FBI, national security agencies using polygraphs for ‘leak’ hunts.” Excerpt: National security agencies across the Trump administration are ramping up investigations into alleged leaks to the news media, in some cases using polygraph tests that current and former officials say are … Read more

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Threatened to Hook Senior Officers Up to a Fucking Polygraph

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 … Read more

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem: “We’re Polygraphing Everybody!”

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! … Read more

Pentagon Officials Warned of Potential Polygraph Testing

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 … Read more

About 50 DHS Employees Polygraphed in Recent Weeks

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 … Read more

Polygraphs Used in Ukrainian US Minerals Deal Leak Investigation

Christopher Miller reports for the Financial Times in an article titled, “Kyiv probes leak of US minerals deal with polygraph tests.” Excerpt: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has instructed Ukraine’s domestic security service to investigate the leak of the latest US proposal for profiting from Ukrainian assets, said government officials, in a probe that includes the use … Read more

George Maschke on DHS Polygraph Screening for Leakers

On Sunday, 9 March 2025, journalist James Menendez spoke for the BBC World Service’s Newshour program with AntiPolygraph.org co-founder George Maschke about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to use polygraph screening in an attempt to ferret out leakers. The edited interview, as broadcast the same day, may be listened to below. A transcript … Read more