Attorney General Jeff Sessions arrives to view the solar eclipse at the White House on August 21, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Sep 11, 2017
Amid a furious and "chilling" push by the Trump Justice Department to root out leakers--which has included suggestions that even journalists could be targeted--Axiosreported Sunday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has floated the idea of putting White House officials through a polygraph test, a proposal that was quickly denounced as "legitimately insane."
"A crackdown on leaks is a crackdown on the free press and on democracy as a whole."
--Ben Wizner, ACLU
"Sessions' idea is to do a one-time, one-issue, polygraph test of everyone on the [National Security Council] staff," writes Axios's Jonathan Swan. "Interrogators would sit down with every single NSC staffer (there's more than 100 of them), and ask them, individually, what they know about the leaks of transcripts of the president's phone calls with foreign leaders. Sessions suspects those leaks came from within the NSC, and thinks that a polygraph test--at the very least--would scare them out of leaking again."
CNNindependently verified Swan's reporting Sunday night.
Swan notes that Sessions has pitched the idea to "multiple people" within the Trump administration.
The thought of potentially administering polygraph tests to White House staffers reportedly came to Sessions after transcripts of President Donald Trump's "crazy" phone conversations with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were leaked to the press last month.
"Sessions has told associates he likes the idea of targeting the foreign leader phone calls because there's a small enough universe of people who would have had access to these transcripts," Swan reports. "That Sessions would seriously entertain such a startling action reveals how frustrated he's become about the rampant leaking of classified information."
As Common Dreams reported, Jeff Sessions declared last month that the Justice Department under his leadership plans to expand and intensify its pursuit of those leaking to the media, and asserted that the Trump administration has "tripled" the number of leak probes during its first seven months in power.
This is insane. Legitimately insane that the attorney general would keep bringing this up."
--Asawin Suebsaeng, The Daily Beast
Civil libertarians and journalists have characterized the Trump administration's posture toward leaks--and its hostility to the press more broadly--as "McCarthy-esque."
"Every American should be concerned about the Trump administration's threat to step up its efforts against whistleblowers and journalists," concluded Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. "A crackdown on leaks is a crackdown on the free press and on democracy as a whole."
Reporters and commentators reacted with a mixture of amazement and dismay to Sessions' reported idea on social media:
\u201cThis is insane. Legitimately insane that the attorney general would keep bringing this up https://t.co/4zuNksH0lw\u201d— Asawin Suebsaeng (@Asawin Suebsaeng) 1505085056
\u201cIn part because anyone who doesn't get their news from season 1 of law and order should know that lie detectors are so bullshit\u201d— Asawin Suebsaeng (@Asawin Suebsaeng) 1505085056
\u201cJeff Sessions wants the National Security Council staff to take a lie detector test to find leakers.\n\nHow about Sessions takes one first?\u201d— Mike Levin (@Mike Levin) 1505090898
Join Us: Everything is on the Line
The future of all that we cherish is on the line and we have to fight like hell to protect democracy, human decency, and a liveable planet. The last line of defense is people who understand what’s at stake—activists, writers, thinkers, doers, and everyday people who see what is happening, know in their hearts that a better world is possible, and are willing to fight for it. You are one of the good people Common Dreams was built for. We provide independent news, progressive opinion, and crucial analysis on the day’s most important issues. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. But to keep publishing and remain strong in these dangerous times, we need your support. So we’re asking you today: Will you donate to our Fall Campaign and keep the progressive, nonprofit journalism of Common Dreams alive? |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Amid a furious and "chilling" push by the Trump Justice Department to root out leakers--which has included suggestions that even journalists could be targeted--Axiosreported Sunday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has floated the idea of putting White House officials through a polygraph test, a proposal that was quickly denounced as "legitimately insane."
"A crackdown on leaks is a crackdown on the free press and on democracy as a whole."
--Ben Wizner, ACLU
"Sessions' idea is to do a one-time, one-issue, polygraph test of everyone on the [National Security Council] staff," writes Axios's Jonathan Swan. "Interrogators would sit down with every single NSC staffer (there's more than 100 of them), and ask them, individually, what they know about the leaks of transcripts of the president's phone calls with foreign leaders. Sessions suspects those leaks came from within the NSC, and thinks that a polygraph test--at the very least--would scare them out of leaking again."
CNNindependently verified Swan's reporting Sunday night.
Swan notes that Sessions has pitched the idea to "multiple people" within the Trump administration.
The thought of potentially administering polygraph tests to White House staffers reportedly came to Sessions after transcripts of President Donald Trump's "crazy" phone conversations with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were leaked to the press last month.
"Sessions has told associates he likes the idea of targeting the foreign leader phone calls because there's a small enough universe of people who would have had access to these transcripts," Swan reports. "That Sessions would seriously entertain such a startling action reveals how frustrated he's become about the rampant leaking of classified information."
As Common Dreams reported, Jeff Sessions declared last month that the Justice Department under his leadership plans to expand and intensify its pursuit of those leaking to the media, and asserted that the Trump administration has "tripled" the number of leak probes during its first seven months in power.
This is insane. Legitimately insane that the attorney general would keep bringing this up."
--Asawin Suebsaeng, The Daily Beast
Civil libertarians and journalists have characterized the Trump administration's posture toward leaks--and its hostility to the press more broadly--as "McCarthy-esque."
"Every American should be concerned about the Trump administration's threat to step up its efforts against whistleblowers and journalists," concluded Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. "A crackdown on leaks is a crackdown on the free press and on democracy as a whole."
Reporters and commentators reacted with a mixture of amazement and dismay to Sessions' reported idea on social media:
\u201cThis is insane. Legitimately insane that the attorney general would keep bringing this up https://t.co/4zuNksH0lw\u201d— Asawin Suebsaeng (@Asawin Suebsaeng) 1505085056
\u201cIn part because anyone who doesn't get their news from season 1 of law and order should know that lie detectors are so bullshit\u201d— Asawin Suebsaeng (@Asawin Suebsaeng) 1505085056
\u201cJeff Sessions wants the National Security Council staff to take a lie detector test to find leakers.\n\nHow about Sessions takes one first?\u201d— Mike Levin (@Mike Levin) 1505090898
Amid a furious and "chilling" push by the Trump Justice Department to root out leakers--which has included suggestions that even journalists could be targeted--Axiosreported Sunday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has floated the idea of putting White House officials through a polygraph test, a proposal that was quickly denounced as "legitimately insane."
"A crackdown on leaks is a crackdown on the free press and on democracy as a whole."
--Ben Wizner, ACLU
"Sessions' idea is to do a one-time, one-issue, polygraph test of everyone on the [National Security Council] staff," writes Axios's Jonathan Swan. "Interrogators would sit down with every single NSC staffer (there's more than 100 of them), and ask them, individually, what they know about the leaks of transcripts of the president's phone calls with foreign leaders. Sessions suspects those leaks came from within the NSC, and thinks that a polygraph test--at the very least--would scare them out of leaking again."
CNNindependently verified Swan's reporting Sunday night.
Swan notes that Sessions has pitched the idea to "multiple people" within the Trump administration.
The thought of potentially administering polygraph tests to White House staffers reportedly came to Sessions after transcripts of President Donald Trump's "crazy" phone conversations with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were leaked to the press last month.
"Sessions has told associates he likes the idea of targeting the foreign leader phone calls because there's a small enough universe of people who would have had access to these transcripts," Swan reports. "That Sessions would seriously entertain such a startling action reveals how frustrated he's become about the rampant leaking of classified information."
As Common Dreams reported, Jeff Sessions declared last month that the Justice Department under his leadership plans to expand and intensify its pursuit of those leaking to the media, and asserted that the Trump administration has "tripled" the number of leak probes during its first seven months in power.
This is insane. Legitimately insane that the attorney general would keep bringing this up."
--Asawin Suebsaeng, The Daily Beast
Civil libertarians and journalists have characterized the Trump administration's posture toward leaks--and its hostility to the press more broadly--as "McCarthy-esque."
"Every American should be concerned about the Trump administration's threat to step up its efforts against whistleblowers and journalists," concluded Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. "A crackdown on leaks is a crackdown on the free press and on democracy as a whole."
Reporters and commentators reacted with a mixture of amazement and dismay to Sessions' reported idea on social media:
\u201cThis is insane. Legitimately insane that the attorney general would keep bringing this up https://t.co/4zuNksH0lw\u201d— Asawin Suebsaeng (@Asawin Suebsaeng) 1505085056
\u201cIn part because anyone who doesn't get their news from season 1 of law and order should know that lie detectors are so bullshit\u201d— Asawin Suebsaeng (@Asawin Suebsaeng) 1505085056
\u201cJeff Sessions wants the National Security Council staff to take a lie detector test to find leakers.\n\nHow about Sessions takes one first?\u201d— Mike Levin (@Mike Levin) 1505090898
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.