Veteran FBI Employee Accused of Trying To Beat Polygraph, Suspended Without Pay

George Maschke writes: A mid-career veteran of the FBI has been suspended without pay and faces revocation of his/her security clearance (which would inevitably lead to termination) because the Bureau's polygraph operators allege he/she tried to beat the polygraph. The case is currently the subject of an unpublicized Congressional inquiry. Retired FBI scientist, supervisory special agent, and polygraph critic Dr. Drew Richardson has publicly shared a memorandum he wrote in support of the accused in this case, which has heretofore been shrouded in secrecy. It should be borne in mind that polygraphy is vulnerable to simple countermeasures (PDF, see Ch. 4) that polygraph operators cannot detect. This case is yet another example of how the pseudoscience of polygraphy endangers virtually everyone with a high-level security clearance.

Comments

Re: Why does the FBI continue to engage in witchcr

[gijoel]

Thank goodness they haven't heard of retrophrenology

Obligatory Seinfeld

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

George: Jerry, just remember. It's not a lie... if you believe it.

Oh, come on now.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Why is everyone making such a big fuss about this? In accordance with established appeals procedure we have already put out an RFP for a comically large wooden balance scale and duck. Once the bid is complete, the agent's weight will be compared with that of the duck and the truth will be established by incontrovertible scientific means. There is no need for alarm.