Overview
- ProPublica reports that FBI Director Kash Patel personally issued polygraph waivers for Deputy Director Dan Bongino and senior appointees Marshall Yates and Nicole Rucker.
- The outlet says Yates and Rucker did not clear their exams and that all three ultimately received Sensitive Compartmented Information access.
- Former senior FBI officials told ProPublica they could not recall comparable waivers, noting that under Christopher Wray a single waiver was issued for an outside expert with inconclusive results.
- The FBI rejected the report, with spokesperson Ben Williamson saying it is false that the named officials failed polygraphs and accusing the article of misrepresenting security protocols.
- The bureau told ProPublica that polygraphs are not required for political appointees, a claim national security lawyers disputed, and the reporters said they found no record that Bongino took a polygraph.