When the American Cameron Hamilton was appointed acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), he probably did not expect to end up being subjected to the polygraph test, also known by the very presumptuous name of “lies detector”. This is what happened to him, reveals Politico, after disclosure to the press of the details of his private interview with Kirsti Noem, Secretary of State for Internal Security.
During this meeting, which took place on March 25, 2025, the latter had told Cameron Hamilton that she wanted to reduce the size of FEMA, reduce the envelope of federal subsidies allocated to the agency and transfer some of the agency’s responsibilities to the states themselves. The day before, she had made similar comments to television, saying that the Trump administration was going “Eliminate FEMA”.
Nothing detector at all
Shortly after this exchange, details of the degreasing plan were published in the columns of Politico and CNN, which obviously irritated Kirsti Noem. In the process, it was indicated to Cameron Hamilton that he would be subject to the lies detector to determine if he was the author of the leaks. “Under the direction of secretary Noem, The Department of Internal Security (DHS) resolutely strives to flush out the leaks that compromise national security ”said a spokesperson for the DHS.
“We are indifferent to your status, your seniority, your political appointment or your career status”continued the spokesperson. “We will track down leaks and pursue them with all the rigor of the law.” Only here: nothing will determine if Cameron Hamilton has really leaned information. The results of the polygraph are generally not usable in front of a court, due to the lack of reliability of this more cinematographic than effective system.
As Futurism also explains, which has taken up information, polygraph tests were not created to detect lies, but only to monitor the heart rate of certain patients. Designed by British doctor James Mackenzie at the end of the 19th centurye A century before being diverted from its primary use from 1902, the polygraph never stopped being debated.
“The alleged” detection of lies “consists in deducting a deception by analyzing physiological answers to a series of structured, but non -standardized questions”summarized for example the American Psychological Association in 2004. For its part, the state of New York judged in 1938 that polygraph tests were inadmissible as judicial evidence, before being gradually followed by almost half of the other American states.
The fact remains that the Trump administration is quite capable of based on an unreliable test to draw the conclusions that will arrange it. Whatever the results of his passage to the “lies detector”, Cameron Hamilton therefore has every reason to worry about his future and that of his agency.
