Latest news with #lie detector
Telegraph
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
FBI using lie detectors to test Trump administration loyalty
The FBI is reportedly using lie detector tests to see whether officials are loyal to the agency's director, Kash Patel. Marking a significant escalation in the use of polygraph tests, agents are being questioned over their previous statements on Mr Trump's pick for the top job, as well as whether they have leaked information about him to the media. More broadly, the tests are being used to find employees who may have betrayed their country or shown they can't be trusted with secrets. At times during interviews and lie-detector tests, the FBI has asked senior officials whether they have said anything negative about Mr Patel, two people told the New York Times. In one instance, officials were forced to take a lie-detector test as the agency worked to find out who had told the media that Mr Patel had demanded a service weapon, despite not being a field agent. Dozens of officials are thought to have been asked to take lie-detector tests, though it is unclear how many were quizzed about their loyalty to Mr Patel. The FBI confirmed earlier this year that it had begun using polygraph tests to try and source the origin of leaks about the agency. 'We can confirm the FBI has begun administering polygraph tests to identify the source of information leaks within the bureau,' the bureau's public affairs office told Reuters in April. Polygraph tests are not used to uphold evidence in a court of law but are regularly used by national security agencies as part of investigations and background checks. James Davidson, a former agent who spent 23 years at the FBI, said the increasing use of tests to question employee loyalty undermined Mr Patel's credibility as director. 'Loyalty is to the Constitution' He told the NYT: 'An FBI employee's loyalty is to the Constitution, not to the director or deputy director. It says everything about Patel's weak constitution that this is even on his radar.' However, former polygraphers also said the question asking about Mr Patel may have been a 'control question', which is used to provoke a physiological response from the subject, regardless of whether they are being truthful. Mr Patel was installed as the next FBI director earlier this year in a narrow vote in the Senate. He is viewed as a key ally of Mr Trump, having refused to commit that he would not investigate officials he viewed as opponents of the president. The crackdown on leaking is part of a wider trend within the Trump administration, which has taken steps to prosecute those responsible. The US Department of Justice has already made it easier for prosecutors investigating leaks to demand records and testimony from journalists. 'Low confidence' Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, warned former senior advisers could be prosecuted for leaking Pentagon information. Mr Hegseth, alongside the US president, railed against Pentagon officials last month after it was reported that strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities had not been as successful as initially thought. The defence secretary said the Pentagon assessment had been made with 'low confidence' and confirmed that the FBI was looking into the leak. Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence, pledged in March to 'aggressively pursue recent leakers' in order to hold them accountable for unauthorised disclosures. Ms Gabbard had also said she was willing to work with the justice department and the FBI 'to investigate, terminate and prosecute' the leakers who she referred to as 'criminals'.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gary Coleman's ex knows more about his death 'than she's telling': former FBI agent
Gary Coleman's ex-wife, who has been accused of involvement in his 2010 death by some of the late star's loved ones, was surprised by her lie detector test results. Shannon Price took a polygraph test administered by retired FBI special agent and veteran polygraph examiner George Olivo for A&E's "Lie Detector: Truth or Deception." The 39-year-old was questioned about the details surrounding Coleman's fatal fall. "When I say that she failed the exam, I'm not saying that she deliberately, with willful intent, killed him in cold blood – I'm not saying that at all," Olivo told Fox News Digital. "I don't know what happened in that house. All I know is that she knows why she failed, and there's more to the story than she's telling." 'Diff'rent Strokes' Star Todd Bridges Claims Troubled Gary Coleman Was Exploited By 'Greedy People' "It could be that maybe she was there when he fell," Olivo shared. "Maybe they got into a heated argument, and it turned into a shoving match, and he slipped and fell… I don't know what it is. I'm not trying to say that I know what happened. I just know that there's more to the story. It could still be an accident, but an accident that she doesn't want to show her involvement in." A statement from Price was shared with Fox News Digital, "We were extremely disappointed with the overall experience of both the polygraph testing and dealing with A&E. Many promises were made and not kept. The testing situation was unfair and very uncomfortable, and the testing was performed non-verbally--which I should have refused. From the beginning it was apparent they cared more about ratings than finding the truth." Read On The Fox News App Below are the questions Price was asked, along with the results: Question: Did you ever strike Gary during your relationship?Shannon Price answered: Inconclusive (did not score high enough to pass, did not score low enough to fail). Question: Did you intentionally decide to withhold help to Gary when he fell?Shannon Price answered: Inconclusive (did not score high enough to pass, did not score low enough to fail). Question: Did you physically cause Gary's fall? Did you physically cause Gary to fall that day?Shannon Price answered: Failed with deception indicated to those relevant questions. Fox News Digital reached out to Santaquin Police for comment. In 2010, Santaquin Police Chief Dennis Howard told People magazine that "there was absolutely nothing suspicious about [Coleman's] death" and there was "no [criminal] investigation going on." According to the outlet, Coleman's death certificate also listed his manner of death as an "accident." Price has never been charged in connection with Coleman's death and maintains her innocence. Click Here To Sign Up For The Entertainment Newsletter Olivo has conducted thousands of polygraph examinations for the FBI. Notably, Olivo administered a lie detector test to Casey Anthony's parents in 2024 for the A&E and Lifetime special, "Casey Anthony's Parents: The Lie Detector Test." "There's this idea or notion that if someone tells a lie long enough, then they begin to believe it – I don't really believe that," Olivo explained. "I've tested folks that were crimes committed 20, 30 years ago, and they've been saying the same story." "When someone gets very, very confident… they don't believe they're going to get caught. They're so confident now that the lie is accepted. [So], they're just as confident as if they were telling the truth. But [Price] knows why she failed my test. I'm very confident about that." "I don't purport to know what happened in that house," Olivo stressed. "Only she knows. She's the only one alive now who knows what happened in that house. But I maintain that she knows exactly why she failed my test." Coleman, the former child star who skyrocketed to fame in the sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes," died at age 42 after falling inside his Utah home. After suffering an intracranial hemorrhage, the actor was transported to the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. His condition worsened, and he was removed from life support. Coleman and Price were married from 2007 to 2008. They were still living together at the time of his death. Like What You're Reading? Click Here For More Entertainment News "My impression [of Price] was that she complained a lot – she did a lot of complaining in my exam room," Olivo explained about meeting Price for the first time. "She complained about the chair, she complained about the lights, she complained about the size of the room. First, it was too hot, then it was too cold. I started getting that impression that maybe she wasn't there just to get to the truth. She wanted to have her own little show. I had to reel her in a couple of times… And it wasn't to be mean. It was just not to allow someone to sabotage an otherwise legitimate process." In the episode, Price was adamant that she was very nervous, which could impact her results. Olivo pointed out that he conducted a "diagnostic test" that wasn't captured on camera to get a "truth signature." "When you tell the truth, it'll look the same," Olivo explained. "So, I like to always say that the truth looks like a river. A river doesn't change course or direction. The current stays the same… If she's very nervous and fidgety, that's like a raging rapid… [But] it's going to look the same… The general nervousness is built into the process of that diagnostic test." While Price was adamant that she wanted to clear her name and address hurtful rumors publicly, she repeatedly said on camera that she couldn't sit still for a long period. That prompted Olivo to give her some "tough love" before the examination began. "I had to reel her in a bit," he explained. "She was going off the rails. There was a lot of complaining – a lot… She just wanted to change the whole environment there… I told her in the beginning, 'I'm not here to judge you. I'm not here to doubt you.' I wanted to be true to that. But the thought in my mind was, 'Come on now, you're being given a golden opportunity to clear your name to pass this test, and you're complaining that the chair is too hard. You're complaining that it's too cold. Five minutes later, it's too hot.'" "There's possibly another agenda going on," said Olivo. "Maybe she didn't necessarily want the truth on all those issues to come out. That's just my thinking… I think she would've been pretty happy with just inconclusive all across the board. If all three had been inconclusive, I think she would've considered it a win. You can take that how you want to." Olivo also noted there's good reason why two results from Price's polygraph test were "inconclusive." "We asked one question about whether you intentionally decided to withhold help to Gary when he fell," said Olivo. "I think that in her mind, she's still not sure about that. In interviews, you see her say, 'I could have done more,' 'I could have done this.' "I think in her mind, she's still undecided on that issue… In her mind, I think she's inconclusive on that issue… The other question of whether you ever struck Gary during your relationship… She would know if she did or not…. They either had violence, striking violence in the relationship, or they didn't. But I think she's trying to reconcile that in her mind." "Quite frankly, I could have probably just turned a blind eye and called it a fail," said Olivo. "But I wanted to be true to the process. And numerically, she was inconclusive." Olivo admitted he's unsure why Price is coming forward now. WATCH: 'BEWITCHED' ACTRESS ERIN MURPHY SAYS SHE'S PART OF SECRET GROUP WITH FORMER CHILD STARS "I know she's been under a cloud of suspicion ever since [Coleman's death]," said Olivo. "I'm not sure what's going on in her life or what motivated her. It could have just been the production team that reached out to her, and she thought it was a good opportunity. But you'd have to ask her that." "I never asked her why," he said. "I just assume she's like most people at the center of these cases. They have an overwhelming desire to want to try and clear their name." Price claimed she found Coleman in a pool of blood after she heard a loud thud. In a recording of her 911 call, Price is heard refusing to listen to the operator's instructions to help him, saying that she couldn't cope with the amount of blood present. In the episode, Price is heard saying, "I know where I'm at. I'm at peace. There is a reason I am not in prison. There is a legit reason for that. It's because they did a thorough investigation."Original article source: Gary Coleman's ex knows more about his death 'than she's telling': former FBI agent
