{"id":3862,"date":"2003-01-08T15:30:48","date_gmt":"2003-01-08T20:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/?p=3862"},"modified":"2026-05-17T08:02:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T13:02:33","slug":"fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry\">\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The FBI&#8217;s nationwide dragnet for suspected terrorist infiltrators was based on an apparently bogus tip from accused Canadian forger Michael Hamdani. In a 3 January 2003 <em>Washington Post<\/em> article titled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/politics\/2003\/01\/03\/fake-id-arrest-led-to-fbi-hunt\/28452f06-d667-4ad6-aa01-25c32296cbc5\/\">&#8220;Fake-ID Arrest Led to FBI Hunt,&#8221;<\/a> staff writer John Mintz reported that U.S. and Canadian investigators had questioned Hamdani extensively using polygraph machines. U.S. President George W. Bush authorized a nationwide manhunt for the putative terrorist infiltrators based on Hamdani&#8217;s polygraph-confirmed information. But in an 8 January 2003 <em>Washington Post<\/em> article titled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/politics\/2003\/01\/08\/wanted-5-men-the-terror-alert-that-wasnt\/e75df931-7e97-43b0-91cc-bf509cd19847\/\">&#8220;Wanted: 5 Men &#8212; The Terror Alert That Wasn&#8217;t,&#8221;<\/a> Ruth Marcus and Dan Eggen report that the tip was bogus. Already, revisionists within the FBI have begun rationalizing the apparent false negative outcome of Hamdani&#8217;s polygraph interrogation, assigning blame to the Canadians for a &#8220;seriously flawed&#8221; polygraph examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In a case with as serious national security implications as this one, why didn&#8217;t the FBI promptly review the Canadian-administered polygraph examination?<\/strong> According to the <em>Washington Post,<\/em> U.S. investigators were in Canada. In a high priority case such as this one, surely a &#8220;quality control&#8221; review could have been completed within 24 hours. But it appears that it was only <strong>after<\/strong> Hamdani&#8217;s story was called into question by the testimony of a Pakistani jeweler whose picture Hamdani had falsely identified as that of one of the supposed &#8220;terrorists&#8221; that the FBI found any &#8220;problems&#8221; with Hamdani&#8217;s polygraph examination. Such post hoc rationalizations of erroneous polygraph outcomes are standard fare from the polygraph community. But the real problem is that <strong>polygraph &#8220;testing&#8221; is a pseudoscientific fraud.<\/strong> It has no scientific basis whatsoever, and <strong>unless the subject makes a confession or admission, the polygrapher can only guess as to whether he is telling the truth.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For discussion of the Hamdani case, see the AntiPolygraph.org message board thread, <a href=\"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/forum\/index.php?topic=897.0\">US-Wide Manhunt Hoax Based on Polygraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FBI&#8217;s nationwide dragnet for suspected terrorist infiltrators was based on an apparently bogus tip from accused Canadian forger Michael Hamdani. In a 3 January 2003 Washington Post article titled &#8220;Fake-ID Arrest Led to FBI Hunt,&#8221; staff writer John Mintz reported that U.S. and Canadian investigators had questioned Hamdani extensively using polygraph machines. U.S. President &#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":[111,30,459,84],"class_list":["post-3862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-polygraph","tag-canada","tag-fbi","tag-michael-hamdani","tag-terrorism","anons"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase - 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\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase - AntiPolygraph.org News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The FBI&#8217;s nationwide dragnet for suspected terrorist infiltrators was based on an apparently bogus tip from accused Canadian forger Michael Hamdani. In a 3 January 2003 Washington Post article titled &#8220;Fake-ID Arrest Led to FBI Hunt,&#8221; staff writer John Mintz reported that U.S. and Canadian investigators had questioned Hamdani extensively using polygraph machines. U.S. President ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/\" \/>\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=\"2003-01-08T20:30:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-17T13:02:33+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\\\/2003\\\/01\\\/08\\\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2003\\\/01\\\/08\\\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"AntiPolygraph.org\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/369226985d60d0cd81bc388f32f13fc0\"},\"headline\":\"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase\",\"datePublished\":\"2003-01-08T20:30:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-17T13:02:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2003\\\/01\\\/08\\\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":317,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Canada\",\"FBI\",\"Michael Hamdani\",\"terrorism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Polygraph\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2003\\\/01\\\/08\\\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2003\\\/01\\\/08\\\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2003\\\/01\\\/08\\\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase - AntiPolygraph.org News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2003-01-08T20:30:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-17T13:02:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2003\\\/01\\\/08\\\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2003\\\/01\\\/08\\\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/2003\\\/01\\\/08\\\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"AntiPolygraph.org News\",\"description\":\"Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported &quot;lie detectors.&quot;\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"AntiPolygraph.org\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/polygraph-quackery.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/polygraph-quackery.jpg\",\"width\":1355,\"height\":799,\"caption\":\"AntiPolygraph.org\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AntiPolygraph.org\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ap_org\",\"https:\\\/\\\/bsky.app\\\/profile\\\/antipolygraph.bsky.social\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/AntiPolygraph\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/369226985d60d0cd81bc388f32f13fc0\",\"name\":\"AntiPolygraph.org\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/352648b7de416838c71aefdde2aafa386ca68af8d96ef52138d397773bfbeff1?s=96&d=mm&r=x\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/352648b7de416838c71aefdde2aafa386ca68af8d96ef52138d397773bfbeff1?s=96&d=mm&r=x\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/352648b7de416838c71aefdde2aafa386ca68af8d96ef52138d397773bfbeff1?s=96&d=mm&r=x\",\"caption\":\"AntiPolygraph.org\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/antipolygraph.org\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/antipolygraph-org-administrator\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase - AntiPolygraph.org News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase - AntiPolygraph.org News","og_description":"The FBI&#8217;s nationwide dragnet for suspected terrorist infiltrators was based on an apparently bogus tip from accused Canadian forger Michael Hamdani. In a 3 January 2003 Washington Post article titled &#8220;Fake-ID Arrest Led to FBI Hunt,&#8221; staff writer John Mintz reported that U.S. and Canadian investigators had questioned Hamdani extensively using polygraph machines. U.S. President ...","og_url":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/","og_site_name":"AntiPolygraph.org News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AntiPolygraph.org","article_published_time":"2003-01-08T20:30:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-17T13:02:33+00:00","author":"AntiPolygraph.org","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ap_org","twitter_site":"@ap_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"AntiPolygraph.org","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/"},"author":{"name":"AntiPolygraph.org","@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/369226985d60d0cd81bc388f32f13fc0"},"headline":"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase","datePublished":"2003-01-08T20:30:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-17T13:02:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/"},"wordCount":317,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Canada","FBI","Michael Hamdani","terrorism"],"articleSection":["Polygraph"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/","url":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/","name":"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase - AntiPolygraph.org News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2003-01-08T20:30:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-17T13:02:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2003\/01\/08\/fabricator-michael-hamdani-passed-polygraph-sent-fbi-on-wild-goose-chase\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fabricator Michael Hamdani Passed Polygraph, Sent FBI on Wild Goose Chase"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/","name":"AntiPolygraph.org News","description":"Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported &quot;lie detectors.&quot;","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"AntiPolygraph.org","url":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/polygraph-quackery.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/polygraph-quackery.jpg","width":1355,"height":799,"caption":"AntiPolygraph.org"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AntiPolygraph.org","https:\/\/x.com\/ap_org","https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/antipolygraph.bsky.social","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AntiPolygraph"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/369226985d60d0cd81bc388f32f13fc0","name":"AntiPolygraph.org","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/352648b7de416838c71aefdde2aafa386ca68af8d96ef52138d397773bfbeff1?s=96&d=mm&r=x","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/352648b7de416838c71aefdde2aafa386ca68af8d96ef52138d397773bfbeff1?s=96&d=mm&r=x","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/352648b7de416838c71aefdde2aafa386ca68af8d96ef52138d397773bfbeff1?s=96&d=mm&r=x","caption":"AntiPolygraph.org"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/author\/antipolygraph-org-administrator\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3862"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6579,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862\/revisions\/6579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}