Overview

• Under Director Kash Patel and Deputy Dan Bongino, the FBI has rolled out polygraph tests to roughly 40% of local offices, extending loyalty screenings beyond traditional security and counterintelligence uses.
• Employees report facing detailed questions about their opinions of leadership and risk of forced exit if they express criticism of Patel or Bongino during polygraph examinations.
• The intensified loyalty vetting has prompted waves of retirements, resignations and forced departures among agents perceived as insufficiently aligned with the bureau’s new political direction.
• Former and current staff describe the polygraph expansion as a politically motivated purge that undermines the agency’s independence and stifles internal dissent.
• The Justice Department has confirmed criminal investigations into ex-FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Chief John Brennan as part of a broader effort to target perceived internal adversaries.