Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has instructed U.S. intelligence agencies to evaluate the feasibility of conducting random polygraph tests for employees and contractors, according to officials familiar with the directive.
The move also comes in the wake of former FBI Director James Comey’s indictment by a federal grand jury last month on charges that he made false statements to Congress after denying that he leaked information to reporters.
Two sources told CBS News that Gabbard’s memo specifically highlights polygraph questions related to potential media leaks and indicates that such testing will become more frequent and routine across the intelligence community.
An official from Gabbard’s office said the directive does not establish new policy but instead reinforces existing rules and legal authorities governing the protection of classified information
Since the start of President Trump’s second term, we have seen numerous unauthorized disclosures of classified information, which have the potential to damage U.S. strategic alliances and credibility and endanger sources and methods vital to intelligence gathering,” DNI spokesperson Olivia Coleman told CBS News.
“The fact that deep state actors leaked information about DNI Gabbard’s directive, aimed at preventing leaks and protecting classified information, to the media is both deeply ironic and a powerful reminder of why her efforts to identify and deter leakers is urgently necessary,” she added.
An official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) told CBS News the review was prompted by internal findings suggesting that the decline in polygraph examinations may have emboldened former U.S. intelligence officials to spy for foreign adversaries.
The official declined to provide additional details about the study or its timing but stressed that Director Tulsi Gabbard’s directive does not mandate additional screenings at this stage, the outlet added.
The directive reflects a return to a more aggressive counterintelligence posture reminiscent of the Obama administration’s approach following the massive leak of classified information by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
In 2014, then–Director of National Intelligence James Clapper ordered agencies to question applicants and employees about whether they had shared classified information with journalists, according to documents obtained by McClatchy Newspapers through a Freedom of Information Act request, noted CBS.
Both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations faced criticism for their efforts to identify leakers, including FBI investigations that targeted government sources and the use of the Espionage Act—a World War I-era law designed to prosecute spies—to charge officials who provided classified material to the press.
Those administrations also expanded the use of polygraph testing and authorized the seizure of reporters’ and officials’ phone and email records as part of leak investigations, said CBS.
Earlier this year, Gabbard said she had made two criminal referrals to the Justice Department, with a third forthcoming, involving cases of alleged unauthorized disclosures — including an illegal leak to The Washington Post about the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua.
While Gabbard’s directive largely reaffirms existing legal statutes and policies implemented by previous administrations, it is expected to draw renewed scrutiny over press freedoms and the relationship between journalists and government sources, said CBS.
Critics have long argued that such policies risk creating a chilling effect on communications between national security reporters and whistleblowers.
Free press advocates have also questioned the use of the Espionage Act — a law originally intended to prosecute spies and traitors — to bring charges against officials accused of leaking information to the media, CBS noted.
Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller issued a direct warning Thursday night to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and other state officials, saying they could face federal prosecution — including “seditious conspiracy” charges — if they interfere with ICE operations.
Miller appeared on Fox News’ America Reports to respond to Pritzker’s ongoing efforts to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting arrests and deportations in Illinois.
“It doesn’t only apply to Gov. Pritzker,” Miller said. “It applies to ANY state official, local official, anybody operating in an official capacity who conspires or engages in activity that unlawfully impedes federal law enforcement conducting their duties.”
The senior White House official outlined a range of potential criminal offenses for officials who attempt to obstruct federal immigration enforcement, including obstruction of justice, harboring illegal aliens, and impeding the enforcement of immigration laws.
“As you get up the scale of behavior, you obviously get into seditious conspiracy charges, depending on the conduct, and many other offenses,” Miller said.
“If you engage in a criminal conspiracy to obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws or to unlawfully order your own police officers or your own officials to interfere with ICE officers, or even to arrest ICE officers, you’re engaged in criminal activity.”
Miller reminded local leaders that ICE agents are shielded by federal immunity when carrying out lawful duties.
“To all ICE officers, you have federal IMMUNITY in the conduct of your duties,” Miller said. “Anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop you or obstruct you is committing a FELONY.”
He added, “If officials cross that line into obstruction, into criminal conspiracy against the United States or against ICE officers, then they will face JUSTICE.”
Under federal law, seditious conspiracy carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Miller’s comments come amid escalating tension between the White House and Pritzker, who has worked to establish Illinois as a sanctuary state.
The governor recently signed an executive order creating the Illinois Accountability Commission — a panel tasked with tracking what he called “unlawful” acts by ICE agents and recommending ways to hold them accountable.
Pritzker has also drawn sharp criticism for comparing President Trump and ICE operations to Nazi Germany.
“They’re literally going after Black and Brown people because of the color of their skin,” Pritzker falsely claimed on Fox News. “We want the bad guys off the streets. What we don’t want is for people to get racially profiled. That’s what’s happening right now.”
He accused ICE of routinely engaging in misconduct and defended his comparisons to authoritarian regimes.
“I’m talking about what they were doing, taking away people’s rights, arresting people, asking them for papers,” Pritzker said. “Early on in an authoritarian regime, wherever it is in the world throughout history, this is what happens. It’s the beginning of something very bad for a country, especially a constitutional republic.”
Miller dismissed Pritzker’s rhetoric as political grandstanding and warned that the administration will not tolerate any interference with federal law enforcement.
“Keep your citizens safe,” Miller said. “Stop giving cover to criminals and stop obstructing ICE officers who are simply doing their jobs.”