FBI Director Kash Patel has forced senior officials to reveal, under polygraph tests, whether they have ever said anything bad about him, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
"In interviews and polygraph tests, the F.B.I. has asked senior employees whether they have said anything negative about Mr. Patel, according to two people with knowledge of the questions and others familiar with similar accounts," reported Adam Goldman. For example, "officials were forced to take a polygraph as the agency sought to determine who disclosed to the news media that Mr. Patel had demanded a service weapon, an unusual request given that he is not an agent. The number of officials asked to take a polygraph is in the dozens, several people familiar with the matter said, though it is unclear how many have specifically been asked about Mr. Patel."
The move has drawn criticism from observers.
“An F.B.I. employee’s loyalty is to the Constitution, not to the director or deputy director,” former FBI agent James Davidson told The Times, adding, “It says everything about Patel’s weak constitution that this is even on his radar.”
This follows reporting that Patel has scaled back briefings and does not appear to be handling the full workload required of an FBI director. He was also briefly appointed acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but was stripped of that responsibility after ghosting the job for weeks.
Patel is not alone among senior Trump administration officials in demanding his subordinates submit to polygraphs. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also did so extensively, in part to try to root out leaks of information from the agency to the press; her approach was so heavy-handed that a number of staffers quit the agency in recent months.