CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala allegedly failed a polygraph, DHS disputes

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is casting doubt on reports that the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Madhu Gotomukkala, failed to take a polygraph after seeking access to highly sensitive intelligence, as an internal investigation and suspension of several career cybersecurity officials deepens turmoil within the agency, according to a report.

Politico reported That Gottomukala pushed for access to a severely restricted intelligence program that required a counterintelligence polygraph, and that at least six employees were later placed on paid administrative leave due to allegedly misguided leadership on that requirement, is an assertion that DHS strongly denies.

The newspaper said its reporting was based on interviews with four former and eight current cybersecurity officials, including several Trump administration appointees who worked with Gottomukala or had knowledge of the polygraph test and the events that followed. All 12 people were granted anonymity due to concerns about retaliation, Politico reported.

DHS responded to the report, saying that the polygraph in question was unauthorized and that disciplinary action against career employees was consistent with department policy.

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“Acting Director Madhu Gottomukala did not fail an prohibited polygraph test. The unauthorized polygraph test was coordinated by employees, misleading incoming CISA leadership,” Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “The employees involved have been placed on administrative leave, pending the completion of the investigation.”

She continued: “We expect and demand the highest standards of performance from our employees and hold them directly responsible for upholding all policies and procedures.” “Acting Director Gottomukkala has the full and complete support of the Secretary and is laser-focused on returning the agency to its statutory mission.”

Politico also reported that Gottomukala failed a polygraph test during the last week of July, citing five current officials and one former official.

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The test was conducted to determine whether he would be eligible to review one of the most sensitive intelligence programs that another U.S. spy agency shares with CISA, according to the outlet.

That intelligence was part of a controlled access program with strict distribution limits, and the original agency required any CISA employee granted access to the knowledge to first pass a counterintelligence polygraph, according to four current officials and one former official cited by POLITICO.

As a civilian agency, most CISA employees do not need access to such top-secret materials or a polygraph to be hired, although polygraphs are commonly used across the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community to protect the government’s most sensitive information.

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Politico reported that senior staff had raised questions on at least two occasions about whether Gottomukala needed access to intelligence, but he said he continued to push for it even if it meant taking a polygraph, citing four current officials.

The outlet also reported that an initial access request in early June, signed by mid-level CISA employees, was denied by a senior agency official who determined there was no urgent need to know and noted that the agency’s former deputy director had not seen the program.

That senior official was later placed on administrative leave for unrelated reasons in late June, and a second access request signed by Gottomukala was approved in early July after the official was no longer in office, according to current officials cited by Politico.

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Despite being advised that access to the more sensitive materials was not necessary for his job and that lower-rated alternatives were available, Gottumukkala continued to pursue access, officials told the outlet.

Officials interviewed by POLITICO said they could not conclusively explain why Gottomukala did not pass a polygraph in July, and warned that failures could occur for innocuous reasons such as anxiety or technical errors, noting that polygraph results are generally inadmissible in U.S. courts.

On Aug. 1, shortly after the polygraph was administered, at least six career employees involved in scheduling and approving the test were notified in letters from DHS’s then-acting chief security officer, Michael Boyajian, that their access to classified national security information had been temporarily suspended due to the potential for misleading Jotomukkala, according to the officials and a letter reviewed by POLITICO.

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“This action is being taken due to information received by this office that you may have engaged in providing false information to the Acting Administrator of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) regarding a requirement to undergo a polygraph examination prior to accessing certain programs,” the letter said. “The above allegation demonstrates a willful or negligent failure to follow policies protecting government information, raising concerns about an individual’s credibility, judgment, reliability, willingness and ability to protect classified information.”

In a separate letter dated August 4, CISA’s acting head of human resources, Kevin Diana, informed the suspended employees that they had been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation, according to current and former officials and a copy reviewed by POLITICO.

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Gottomukkala was appointed deputy director of CISA in May, and previously served as commissioner and CIO of South Dakota’s Office of Information and Technology, which oversees technology and cybersecurity initiatives statewide.

Gottumukkala has more than two decades of IT and cybersecurity experience in the public and private sectors, CISA said in a May news release.