Department of Homeland Security employees are reportedly being made to take polygraph exams where the line of questioning is highly unusual, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
During these exams, they are asked whether they have been sharing information with the media.
"Polygraph exams have long been a routine tool used inside intelligence agencies, including DHS, as part of security clearances, job applications and certain investigations. But under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s direction, they have been used to search for leaks of information that Noem and her top deputies consider disloyal or embarrassing, according to current and former officials familiar with the practice," the report said.
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According to those interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the information allegedly leaked by employees is often not classified. The polygraph tests are being conducted by a relatively obscure division within the Transportation Security Administration, the DHS agency typically associated with airport passenger and baggage screening.
The report further noted that Cameron Hamilton, the recently removed acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was subjected to a polygraph test after details were leaked to multiple media outlets about a meeting he had with Noem and Lewandowski regarding plans to break up FEMA.
Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for DHS, told WSJ: “Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS is unapologetic about its efforts to root out leakers that undermine national security."
Tom Mauriello, a University of Maryland professor and former polygraph examiner for the Defense Department, said that such tests should be used selectively for specific investigations rather than as general lie-detection tools.
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Both current and former DHS officials, who have served under Republican and Democratic administrations alike, told WSJ they have never witnessed the use of polygraphs on the scale now being implemented under Noem’s direction.
Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary at DHS during the Obama administration, told WSJ: “There’s no precedent for this.“