FBI to Expand Polygraph Testing After Spy Case
He told a Justice Department news conference that he and FBI Director Louis Freeh had agreed on the interim measures after last month's arrest of Robert Hanssen, a 25-year FBI veteran and counter-intelligence expert.
Justice Department officials said the expanded use of polygraphs and tighter security access to information would go into effect immediately while former FBI and CIA chief William Webster reviews what changes should be made at the FBI.
Hanssen has been accused of spying for Moscow since 1985 in exchange for $1.4 million in money and diamonds. He allegedly gave Moscow secrets that included names of double agents and U.S. electronic surveillance methods, revelations that severely damaged national security, U.S. officials said.
Ashcroft disclosed the steps a day after being summoned to appear with Freeh before the Senate Intelligence Committee for a closed hearing on the damage from the case and whether internal FBI security needs to be improved.
"The director and I have agreed that, because of the national security involved and the risks involved and the very important consequences of breaches, that we should elevate the use of polygraph in certain cases," Ashcroft said.
"And the other interim measure would be to have a different way of auditing access to information in the agency, particularly on computers," he said.
.................More Use of Polygraphs Urged ..............
Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, an Alabama republican, said panel members had recommended an expansion of polygraph testing.
"I questioned why they hadn't done it before. I'm glad to hear this. It won't help them with what's gone on in the past, but perhaps it will help in the future," Shelby told Reuters.
The FBI in the mid-1990s started giving polygraphs to new hires and agents working on highly-sensitive cases. But Hanssen and other long-time agents were never tested.
Court documents in the case alleged Hanssen combed through the FBI's computer system to get classified information and check whether he had fallen under suspicion.
Ashcroft's Spokeswoman, Mindy Tucker, was unable to give details on the expanded polygraph tests. It was unclear whether they would apply to all FBI employees, or just those working on counter-intelligence.
"This is a decision that was made by Director Freeh and the attorney general after the arrest of Hanssen," Tucker said. She said other changes could be made after Webster makes his recommendations.
Ashcroft said polygraph testing was not a perfect tool.
He said the tests have a 15 percent rate for "false positives" -- showing deception when someone is not really lying -- and that in some past cases the tests have failed to uncover espionage.
That appeared to be a reference to former CIA officer Aldrich Ames, who was given a polygraph test, but was not detected, at a time when he was spying for Moscow. He was sentenced in 1994 to life in prison.
In another development, federal prosecutors submitted in Federal Court in nearby Alexandria, Virginia, written documents on why hanssen should be kept in jail without bond.
"Robert Philip Hanssen poses a grave risk of flight and an equally grave danger to this country, and no conditions of release will reasonably assure either his appearances in court or the safety of our country," they said.
When hanssen was arrested on Feb. 18, he had in his briefcase his passport and a statement for his Swiss bank accounts, the prosecutors said. A hearing on the request that he remain in jail has been scheduled for Monday.
Both sides also filed two joint motions extending until May 21 the time limit for the filing of an indictment against Hanssen and for a preliminary hearing date.
In a footnote in the documents, Hanssen Waived a challenge to the evidence offered by the prosecutors in support of his detention, and said he will not contest his continued detention.
The prosecutors also disclosed that the FBI fired Hanssen late last week. He was apprehended just months before he was to retire from FBI.
(Reuter)