Overview
- ProPublica reports that Kash Patel personally approved waivers letting Deputy Director Dan Bongino, congressional liaison Marshall Yates, and aide Nicole Rucker bypass standard polygraph exams, after which all three received SCI access.
- The outlet found no record that Bongino ever took a polygraph and could not determine whether he sat for one.
- FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson says it is false that the officials failed polygraphs and calls the reporting inaccurate, asserting political appointees are not required to take the exams.
- National-security experts cited by ProPublica dispute the exemption claim, saying Schedule C appointees are typically not excluded from polygraph vetting for SCI access.
- Multiple former FBI officials told reporters they could not recall comparable waivers for a top-ranking official, describing such departures from protocol as unprecedented.