{"id":2894,"date":"2001-03-02T15:00:19","date_gmt":"2001-03-02T20:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/?p=2894"},"modified":"2026-05-09T23:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T04:25:13","slug":"ashcroft-on-polygraph-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2001\/03\/02\/ashcroft-on-polygraph-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Ashcroft on Polygraph Testing&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">n his electronic newsletter, Secrecy News, Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/\">Project on Government Secrecy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/news\/secrecy\/2001\/03\/030201.html\">reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>ASHCROFT ON POLYGRAPH TESTING<\/p><p>Attorney General John Ashcroft gave a qualified endorsement to polygraph testing at the FBI at a press conference yesterday.<\/p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my understanding that there have been cases in the past that polygraphing did not work on. I think you could name them. So the polygraph is not a sure way. The polygraph is said to have about 15 percent false positives and has an impact on the way an agency operates,&#8221; he said.<\/p><p>&#8220;Nevertheless, I believe that there are applications for polygraph that are important, and the director and I have agreed that because of the national security involved and the risks involved and the very important consequences of breaches, that we should elevate the use of polygraph in certain cases as it relates to the Bureau.&#8221;<\/p><p>His remarks on polygraph testing and the Hanssen case are posted here:<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/news\/2001\/03\/ag030101.html\">http:\/\/www.fas.org\/sgp\/news\/2001\/03\/ag030101.html<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>n his electronic newsletter, Secrecy News, Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists&#8217; Project on Government Secrecy reports: ASHCROFT ON POLYGRAPH TESTING Attorney General John Ashcroft gave a qualified endorsement to polygraph testing at the FBI at a press conference yesterday. &#8220;It&#8217;s my understanding that there have been cases in the past that polygraphing &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[30,306,70,304],"class_list":["post-2894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-polygraph","tag-fbi","tag-john-ashcroft","tag-polygraph-screening","tag-robert-p-hanssen","anons"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&quot;Ashcroft on Polygraph Testing&quot; - AntiPolygraph.org News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2001\/03\/02\/ashcroft-on-polygraph-testing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;Ashcroft on Polygraph Testing&quot; - AntiPolygraph.org News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"n his electronic newsletter, Secrecy News, Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists&#8217; Project on Government Secrecy reports: ASHCROFT ON POLYGRAPH TESTING Attorney General John Ashcroft gave a qualified endorsement to polygraph testing at the FBI at a press conference yesterday. &#8220;It&#8217;s my understanding that there have been cases in the past that polygraphing ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2001\/03\/02\/ashcroft-on-polygraph-testing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AntiPolygraph.org News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AntiPolygraph.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2001-03-02T20:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-10T04:25:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AntiPolygraph.org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ap_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ap_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AntiPolygraph.org\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2001\\\/03\\\/02\\\/ashcroft-on-polygraph-testing\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2001\\\/03\\\/02\\\/ashcroft-on-polygraph-testing\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"AntiPolygraph.org\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/369226985d60d0cd81bc388f32f13fc0\"},\"headline\":\"&#8220;Ashcroft on Polygraph Testing&#8221;\",\"datePublished\":\"2001-03-02T20:00:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-10T04:25:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2001\\\/03\\\/02\\\/ashcroft-on-polygraph-testing\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":174,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"FBI\",\"John Ashcroft\",\"polygraph screening\",\"Robert P. 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