D. Procedural History

As of July 2019, Debbins was working for a DIA contractor overseas. See Tomlinson Decl. ¶ 7; Ex. A, ¶ 22. That month, as part of his security clearance reinvestigation, he returned to the United States to take a polygraph examination, which he failed.⁵ See Ex. A, ¶ 23. After Debbins failed the polygraph, he participated in a series of voluntary interviews with FBI agents from July 2019 to December 2019. See id. ¶ 24. During these interviews, Debbins detailed his cooperation with the Russian intelligence agents from 1996 until 2010. See id. Debbins has claimed that his conspiracy with the Russian intelligence agents did not continue past January 2011. See id. 25; SOF ¶ 1.

5. The government includes the information that Debbins failed his polygraph examination solely to provide the context leading to the FBI interviews—not as a factor to be considered in determining Debbins' sentence.

With all of this psychological and physiological torture, I simply wanted to unload these racing thoughts to pass my polygraph, without considering the legal ramifications.I made self-destructive and self-incriminating statements as a subconscious suicide attempt of a tormented soul, whose life was ruined by this de-humanizing Kremlin regime.

C. The Polygraph Administered by the FBI in October 2019

14. In Debbins's letter to the court dated February 2, 2021, he states that, in the period between 2014 and his arrest, he "[w]as paranoid of the GRU and loved ones." Debbins explains, "I thought my wife and daughter were working for the GRU, which may explain why I didn't pass the 2019 FBI polygraph. The FBI didn't believe me when I told them that I had no post-2010 contacts."

15. For the background of the Court, the FBI began investigating Debbins after he failed a polygraph as part of his security clearance reinvestigation in early July 2019. Between July 2019 and December 2019, the FBI interviewed Debbins on multiple occasions about his cooperation and contacts with Russian intelligence agents. During these interviews, Debbins claimed that he stopped cooperating with the Russian intelligence agents after 2010. At the FBI's request, Debbins agreed to take a polygraph examination regarding whether he had any communication with the GRU or any other branch of Russian intelligence after 2010.

16. The FBI administered the polygraph to Debbins on October 23, 2019. Before the polygraph, Debbins signed two forms—a "Consent to Interview with Polygraph" and an "Advice of Rights." During the examination, the polygrapher asked Debbins whether he had any contact with Russian intelligence or the GRU since 2011. Debbins failed the polygraph.

17. During the interview immediately following the failed polygraph, Debbins continued denying any contact with the GRU since 2011. He offered a number of explanations as to his inability to pass. However, Debbins did not mention any paranoia that his wife and daughter were working for the GRU as a possible explanation. In fact, Debbins explicitly told the FBI that his wife was not involved with the Russian intelligence service during a separate interview.