DHS employees subjected to polygraph tests in effort to uncover leakers: Report
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees are being asked to take a polygraph test, according to The Wall Street Journal. Although lie detector tests are not admissible as evidence in most courts, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is allegedly using the devices while asking employees if they have shared information with the media.
Noem is reportedly searching for leakers inside the department. She is testing both top bosses and media staff who are suspected of talking to the press without permission. How many DHS employees have taken a polygraph since President Donald Trump took office is unclear.
Administering polygraph tests is not uncommon for certain federal agencies with high-security clearances. The Defense Intelligence Agency requires polygraph screening on all new hires. The FBI regularly conducts polygraph tests on its own agents in the wake of Special Agent Robert Hanssen’s espionage in February 2001, according to the Office of the Inspector General. In 2005, the bureau conducted nearly 9,000 screenings for pre-employment and personnel security.
DHS: No tolerance for leaks
Noem is using lie detector tests as the primary method to identify disloyal individuals within the agency.
“Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS is unapologetic about its efforts to root out leakers that undermine national security,” Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for DHS, said to The Journal. “We are agnostic about your standing, tenure, political appointment, or status as a career civil servant—we will track down leakers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”
After taking the tests, some employees were put on administrative leave, which usually means they are temporarily removed from their job duties while further investigation or review occurs.
According to The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources familiar with the dynamics inside DHS, other employees resigned rather than take the polygraph tests.
Noem defends use of polygraphs
Polygraph tests have been used to measure physiological signs that someone is being untruthful. However, the American Psychological Association maintains there is no definitive link between a person lying and the machine’s responses.
Noem said she would seek to prosecute leakers. However, after a landmark federal ruling in 1923, polygraph tests were not recognized as admissible evidence in the U.S. Court system.
Noem appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” in March and said she believed DHS employees leaked federal immigration enforcement operation plans set to be conducted in multiple U.S. cities. She claimed that it put federal agents’ lives in danger.
“Anyone who is leaking information outside of how something is planned for the safety of those law enforcement officers needs to be held accountable for that,” Noem said.
“Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan asked her if she would continue polygraphing DHS employees.
“The authorities that I have under the Department of Homeland Security are broad and extensive, and I plan to use every single one of them to make sure that we’re following the law,” Noem told Brennan. “That we are following the procedures in place to keep people safe, and that we’re making sure we’re following through on what President Trump has promised.”
Straight Arrow News reported last month that FBI Director Kash Patel is also using lie detector tests to identify people inside the agency who might be leaking sensitive or damaging information related to Trump administration operations.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
