The use of the #polygraph, & the nature of the questioning, is part of the FBI’s broader crackdown on news #leaks, reflecting, to a degree, #KashPatel’s acute awareness of how he is publicly portrayed. The moves, fmr bureau ofcls say, are politically charged & highly inappropriate, underscoring what they describe as an alarming quest for fealty at the #FBI, where there is little tolerance for #dissent. Disparaging Patel or his deputy, #DanBongino, fmr ofcls say, could cost people their job.
#law

The #Trump admin claims the move is intended to allow other media outlets the opportunity to report as resident members of the #press corps.

More broadly, the Trump admin has deployed #LieDetector tests to investigate unclassified #leaks, with some #DHS ofcls being told they could be fired for refusing polygraphs, Reuters reported on Friday. The WH says Trump will not tolerate leaks to the #media & that federal employees who do so should be held accountable.

Since #Trump returned to office, the #Pentagon has launched an investigation into #leaks that resulted in 3 ofcls being placed on leave [#Signalgate].

It has also required legacy media organizations, including the #NewYorkTimes, the #WashingtonPost, #CNN & #NBCNews, to vacate their Pentagon office spaces in a new *rotation system* that brought in others, including outlets generally friendly to the Trump admin such as the #NewYorkPost, #Breitbart, the #DailyCaller & #OANN.

#PamBondi wrote a memo last week decrying #leaks. #DOJ “will not tolerate unauthorized disclosures that undermine…#Trump’s policies, victimize govt agencies, & cause harm to the American people.”

A doc detailing the new regulation says it is meant to address “growing concerns about federal government employees intentionally disseminating confidential, privileged, or otherwise protected information to the media or the purpose of undermining executive agencies’ legal obligations & policies.”
#law

Garland’s policy was a major shift after 2 decades in which the #DOJ had become increasingly aggressive in prosecuting #leaks as #crimes, a tactic that was vanishingly rare in the 20th century but became routine in the 21st under admins of both parties before #Biden.

After threatening to target the media several hundred times since he first announced his candidacy for President, Trump is now instructing his bootlicking Attorney General Pam Bondi to make his war on journalists possible. Although Bondi is acting in the context of hunting down leakers in the Department of Defense, the reality is that Downmarket Mussolini will almost certainly come for his critics in the media and the sources they speak to, next.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/bondi-journalism-protections

Bondi Shreds Biden-Era Protections for Journalists as Trump White House Hunts Leakers

"As part of a renewed crackdown on leaks, Bondi said she is issuing revised Justice Department regulations stating that media outlets "must answer subpoenas" related to efforts to uncover sources of unauthorized disclosures within the federal government.

"The policy contemplates the use of subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to compel production of information and testimony by and relating to members of the news media, subject to the Privacy Protection Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000aa, and the approval of the department's leadership in some instances," the memo states. "The attorney general must also approve efforts to question or arrest members of the news media."

As I alluded to above, I find US corporate media's bloodless, minutiae-focused reporting on Bondi's actions here curious and alarming given that the Trump regime is giving itself the power to come after them and their journalists. Obviously the regime is acting in response to the embarrassing leaks surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the investigation DNI Tulsi Gabbard is conducting into those leaks. None of this is happening in a vacuum however, and I don't know who it serves to report only in the narrow context of the regime's narrative here.

Like let's cut the crap right? During his first administration, Trump's Department of Justice already tried to go after reporters to expose their sources. Trump is a guy who threatened journalists with implied carceral sexual assault if they didn't give up their sources, on the campaign trail. The Kelpto Kaiser has literally said negative reporting about himself and his regime should be "illegal." The regime is weaponizing the FCC and holding McCarthy-esque hearings lead by fascist conspiracy crank-turned Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to target NPR and PBS for criticizing Trump and admitting LGBTQ people exist in American life. Trump is literally exerting so much pressure on CBS over the editing on a 60 Minutes segment featuring Kamala Harris (a woman he already beat in the 2024 US election) that the program's longtime editor resigned because the show's independence was compromised.

I honestly couldn't give a rats ass about warmongers working for a fascist regime who get caught leaking, but surely it doesn't take a psychic to realize that the would-be dictator already targeting media that criticizes or opposes his fascist agenda, is going to use new Department of Justice guidelines that let him more freely target media that criticize or oppose his fascist agenda, to further target media that criticizes or opposes his fascist agenda. This isn't rocket science here. For corporate media outlets to pretend this story is purely about internal leaks inside Pete Hegseth's staff strains credulity, and would appear to be very shortsighted indeed.