Trump administration officials are threatening polygraph tests on staffers to cut down on leakers who paint an unfavorable image of the White House.
Most recently, the FBI began using the tool, according to comments first reported by the Washington Post and confirmed by the Washington Examiner.
“We can confirm the FBI has begun administering polygraph tests to identify the source of information leaks within the bureau,” the statement said.
Other members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, including Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, have also discussed and deployed polygraph testing to root out leakers in their departments.
“The seriousness of the specific leaks in question precipitated the polygraphs, as they involved potential damage to security protocols at the bureau,” an FBI spokesperson told the Washington Post.
One former FBI field office head said the move put “morale in the toilet.”
“People are trying to keep their heads down,” they said.
Over at Noem’s DHS, the agency changed how it was polygraphing employees in March, per NBC News. While it has long carried out lie detector tests, the DHS began adding specific questions about leaking classified documents or sensitive law enforcement information on federal immigration enforcement operations. The news came after the DHS and Trump border czar Tom Homan expressed frustration that multiple media leaks had put the administration’s attempts to arrest gang members in the country illegally in jeopardy. The leaks put federal immigration enforcement officials, local law enforcement, and community members at risk as Immigration and Customs Enforcement attempted to carry out operations, Homan worried.
“The Department of Homeland Security is a national security agency. We can, should, and will polygraph personnel,” the DHS said.
Noem has vowed to prosecute individuals accused of leaking. In March, she said the agency had identified two leakers “who have been telling individuals about our operations and putting law enforcement lives in jeopardy.”
“We plan to prosecute these two individuals and hold them accountable for what they’ve done,” she announced in a post to X.
Under Hegseth’s leadership at the Department of Defense, the agency has whipped out lie detector tests for damage control due to scandals that have ripped the department, including a stunning national security blunder on Signal involving top Trump administration officials. The Pentagon also reportedly used the method to root out opposition following a leak that killed an allegedly planned classified briefing on China that Hegseth arranged for Elon Musk.
Joe Kasper, the DoD’s chief of staff, issued a memo in March about the “recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense demand immediate and thorough investigation.”
“The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy,” he wrote.
As it used polygraph tests in its investigation of department leaks, the inquiry led to the recent firings of three Pentagon officials, two of whom were leading advisers to Hegseth.
At the time the leaks occurred, Hegseth reportedly threatened to “hook” Adm. Christopher Grady, then-acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, up “to a f***ing polygraph!” Grady did not take a polygraph.
“Hegseth demanded proof that Grady hadn’t leaked news of the March 21 briefing,” the report said, noting, “Grady was never subjected to a polygraph, and Hegseth would go on to accuse several other people for the leak, including Lt. Gen. Doug Sims, the Joint Staff director, who Hegseth also threatened with a polygraph test.”
PENTAGON OFFICIALS ON LEAVE FOR SUSPECTED LEAKS BLAST ‘UNCONSCIONABLE’ INVESTIGATION
Last week, Bondi bolstered attempts to hold leakers to the fire when she issued updated guidelines that broadened the scope of prosecutable offenses to include “privileged or sensitive” information, “designed to sow chaos and distrust” in the government, not just classified data.
“The era of anonymous leaks [and] shielded sources protecting anti-Trump operatives is over,” Department of Justice deputy attorney general Todd Blanche said Saturday. “This DOJ is done looking the other way. We will hold leakers — wherever they are — fully accountable. No more safe havens in federal agencies.”
