{"id":5116,"date":"2025-06-02T04:28:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T09:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/?p=5116"},"modified":"2025-06-02T04:36:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T09:36:33","slug":"senior-fbi-executives-reportedly-being-polygraphed-at-a-rapid-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/2025\/06\/02\/senior-fbi-executives-reportedly-being-polygraphed-at-a-rapid-rate\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior FBI Executives Reportedly Being Polygraphed at a “Rapid Rate”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FBI Director Kashyap Pramod “Kash” Patel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In an article titled “Unease at F.B.I. Intensifies as Patel Ousts Top Officials,”<\/a> New York Times<\/em> national security reporter Adam Goldman notes the increased use of polygraphs under FBI Director Kash Patel’s leadership to discourage employees from speaking with journalists. Excerpt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The F.B.I.\u2019s increasingly pervasive use of the polygraph, or a lie-detector test, has only intensified a culture of intimidation. Mr. Patel has wielded the polygraph to keep agents or other employees from discussing a number of topics, including his decision-making or internal moves. Former agents say he is doing so in ways not typically seen in the F.B.I. Even though it is not admissible in court, a polygraph can be a powerful tool in supporting a criminal investigation or serious allegations of misconduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Stern, who conducted hundreds of polygraphs while an F.B.I. agent, said he used the tool in criminal and counterintelligence investigations and on applicants and security issues. Mr. Stern said that if someone violated policy, the F.B.I. could polygraph them. But if an agent who legitimately talked to the news media in a previous role had to take one, he said, \u201cthat\u2019s going to be an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never used them to suss out gossip,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a recent meeting, senior executives were told that the news leaks were increasing in priority \u2014 even though they do not involve open cases or the disclosure of classified information. Former officials say senior executives, among others, were being polygraphed at a \u201crapid rate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May, one senior official was forced out, at least in part because he had not disclosed to Mr. Patel that his wife had taken a knee during demonstrations protesting police violence in the District of Columbia in 2020. The veteran agent retired, but not before passing a polygraph as part of Mr. Patel\u2019s efforts to stanch leaks.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Read the rest of the article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It bears repeating here that there is no documented instance of polygraph screening ever solving a federal leak investigation. As a graduate of Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law, FBI Director Kash Patel should understand that polygraph “testing” is not reliable for evidentiary purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FBI employees who are subjected to this pseudoscientific ordeal may benefit from AntiPolygraph.org’s free book, The Lie Behind the Lie Detector<\/a><\/em>, with chapters on polygraph validity, policy, procedure, and countermeasures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We welcome comment from any FBI employees who have been polygraphed regarding media contacts. We can be reached privately (and anonymously) via Signal at ap_org.01<\/a> or via SimpleX Chat<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an article titled “Unease at F.B.I. Intensifies as Patel Ousts Top Officials,” New York Times national security reporter Adam Goldman notes the increased use of polygraphs under FBI Director Kash Patel’s leadership to discourage employees from speaking with journalists. Excerpt: The F.B.I.\u2019s increasingly pervasive use of the polygraph, or a lie-detector test, has only …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[30,623,143,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-5116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-polygraph","8":"tag-fbi","9":"tag-kash-patel","10":"tag-leaks","11":"tag-polygraph-screening","12":"anons"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5116","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=5116"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5120,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5116\/revisions\/5120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipolygraph.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}