The crackdown on leaks at the Central Intelligence Agency that led to the dismissal of a veteran employee last week included an unusual lie detector test for CIA Inspector General John Helgerson, The New York Times reported on Monday.
The CIA fired the intelligence officer, identified in published reports as Mary McCarthy, after she acknowledged leaking classified information to members of the media.
Citing unnamed intelligence officials with knowledge of the investigation, the newspaper said the special polygraphs, which have been given to dozens of employees since January, are part of a broader effort by CIA Director Porter Goss to re-emphasise a culture of secrecy at the agency.
As the inspector general, Helgerson was the supervisor of McCarthy, who was fired on Thursday after admitting she had told reporters about secret CIA detention centers and other subjects, The Times said.
Goss and CIA deputy director Vice Admiral Albert Calland voluntarily submitted to the polygraph tests during the leak investigation to show they were willing to experience the same scrutiny they were asking other employees to undergo, the report said.
Helgerson’s submission was more unusual because of his status as the independent inspector general — a post to which he was appointed by the president and from which only the president can remove him, the paper said.
Britt Snider, who served as inspector general from 1998 to 2001, said in an interview on Sunday night that he had not been given a polygraph in that position, the report said.
”I’ve never heard of it, and it’s certainly unusual,” the paper quoted Snider as saying.
He called it ”awkward” for the inspector general to be investigated by the agency he ordinarily investigates, the paper pointed out. – AFP