Overview
- A memo issued in the past month directs U.S. intelligence agencies to assess whether random polygraph exams for employees and contractors are workable.
- The directive stresses that clearance adjudications should include questions about sharing information with the press.
- ODNI says the move does not create new policy and does not instruct agencies to begin random testing, focusing instead on feasibility tied to counterintelligence needs.
- DNI spokesperson Olivia Coleman cited numerous recent unauthorized disclosures and framed the step as necessary to identify and deter leakers.
- After a Washington Post report said the Pentagon planned widespread random testing and new nondisclosure agreements, the department’s chief spokesman labeled the story untrue.