Used routinely by the US internal security department (DHS) of the United States, as part of security authorization, background verification and crime investigations, the polygraph – or lies detector – under Secretary Kristi Noem now also serves another function: detecting possible press information leaks considered embarrassing and unfair.
According to a report from Wall Street JournalEmployees from different DHS divisions have been subjected to 90 -minute tests up to 4 hours in interrogation rooms, connected to equipment that monitors their physical signals while asked about possible media contacts. Much of the information that employees are accused of leaking is even confidential, cites the report.
Tests are performed by a discreet division of transport security administration (TSA), associated with airport safety. According to the WSJ, the summoned employees range from those in high positions to press officers, authorized to interact with journalists, but are suspected of sharing unauthorized information.
Noem was asked about it in an interview in March. According to her, “the authorities I have in the internal security department are broad and comprehensive, and I intend to use each one to ensure that we are following the law.”
“Under the leadership of Secretary Noem, DHS is no apart for their efforts to eradicate the leaks that compromise national security,” DHS spokesman McLaughlin told WSJ Tricia McLaughlin. – We are agnostic about your position, mandate, political appointment or status as a career civil servant, we will track the leaks and process them with all the rigor of the law.
The spokeswoman did not answer the question about how many employees of the 250,000 totals have been submitted to the test so far.
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According to the report, employees report never seen the polygrade to be used in this way in other administrations. Many also say that they do not understand the criteria for selection in the tests, leading to a climate of arbitrariness and intimidation in the department. There are cases, cites the WSJ, of employees placed on administrative license after the tests and others who preferred to resign to submit to the exams, according to sources close to the situation.
WSJ sources also said Madison Sheahan, deputy director of the immigration and customs agency (ICE) and near Noem, often threatens staff with polygraph tests during meetings. In some cases, Noem itself or its advisor Corey Lewandowski requested or threatened employees to perform the tests.
The use of the DHS polygraph has also reached high positions: the interim director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Cameron Hamilton, was submitted to the exam after the leak of information about a meeting with Noem and Lewandowski, in which they discussed plans to dismantle the agency. He was fired shortly after.
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The report mentions that the FBI also applied polygraph tests to employees suspected of contact with the media, as part of an offensive against leaks announced by the Justice Department, according to Secretary of Justice Pam Bondi. In the Department of Defense, Secretary Pete Hegseth would also have threatened high military leaders with the use of the polygrade, although it does not know if the tests were performed, as sources close to the case.
