When Army engineer David Tenenbaum lost his security clearance after a polygraph, he accused the Defense Department polygrapher, along with others, of targeting him because he's an Orthodox Jew. | Rick Osentoski/MCT
Michael Pillsbury, seen in his Georgetown home in Washington, D.C., Nov. 28, 2012, a China expert who has advised three Republican administrations and held numerous security clearances, had to battle claims by polygraphers that he made admissions of leaking sensitive information. After he rebutted the allegations, the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals gave him top secret access he was seeking. | Mary F. Calvert/MCT
Mark Phillips, a polygrapher, says he was retaliated against for resisting abusive practices at the National Reconnaissance Office. | Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT
Polygrapher John Sullivan sued the CIA to get his security clearance back. | Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT
Latest Headlines
Glitch in widely used polygraph can skew results
Police departments and federal agencies across the country are using a type of polygraph despite evidence of a technical problem that could label truthful people as liars or the guilty as innocent, McClatchy has found. As a result, innocent people might have been labeled criminal suspects, faced greater scrutiny while on probation or lost out on jobs. Or, just as alarming, spies and criminals may have escaped detection. » read more
FBI turns away many applicants who fail lie-detector tests
Thousands of job applicants come to FBI offices every year, eager to work for the top law enforcement agency in the U.S. But many of them have their hopes dashed, and it’s not because of their work experience or education or criminal records. They’re turned down because they’ve failed their polygraph tests. The FBI’s policy of barring applicants who fail their polygraph tests clashes with the view of many scientists that government agencies shouldn’t rely on polygraph testing to decide whether to hire or fire someone. » read more
- · Polygraph world’s close ties spark accusations of favoritism
- · After criticism, Obama officials quietly craft new polygraph policy
- · Response to Letter Regarding McClatchy Series on Polygraphs
- · Letter regarding McClatchy series on polygraphs
- · Federal polygraph programs are secret even to researchers
- · U.S. polygraphers questioned accuracy of tests on detainees overseas
- · As polygraph screening flourishes, critics say oversight abandoned
- · Feds expand polygraph screening, often seeking intimate facts
FBI AND CIA DOCUMENTS
A collection of documents, some never before released, on federal polygraph screening. The documents, which include reports related to the CIA's and FBI's programs, describes some of the alleged abuses at federal agencies.
Special Report
National Reconnaissance Office accused of illegally collecting personal data
One of the nation’s most secretive intelligence agencies is pressuring its polygraphers to obtain intimate details of the private lives of thousands of job applicants and employees, pushing the ethical and legal boundaries of a program that’s designed instead to catch spies and terrorists. » read more
National Reconnaissance Office hasn’t told police of crime confessions
The nation’s spy satellite agency has been extracting polygraph confessions to crimes such as child molestation but local law enforcement agencies aren’t always told so that they can investigate. » read more
National Reconnaissance Office view: Whistleblower is merely a malcontent
Mark Phillips wanted out of the spy business. He was so fed up with petty intrigue that some days he imagined walking out of his windowless office and never coming back. » read more
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