The Department of Homeland Security has closed its investigation of seven career employees of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who administered a counterintelligence polygraph exam that the agency’s former acting director failed, according to three current and one former officials with knowledge of the matter.
The development marks a major vindication for the employees, who were informed this week that they had been cleared of wrongdoing and were welcome to return to CISA, according to the four people, all of whom were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
This comes more than seven months after DHS revoked his security clearance and placed him under paid investigative leave, which was first reported by Politico","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/21/cisa-acting-director-madhu-gottumuklakala-polygraph-investigation-00701996","_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b980012","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b980013","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Which was first reported by Politico.
Former DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin previously told POLITICO that the staff was under investigation for “misleading” CISA’s then-acting director Madhu Gottumukkala about the need for testing, which she described as “disproven.” But multiple officials told POLITICO at the time that it was Gottumukkala who pressured him to take the test so he could review sensitive intelligence material shared with CISA.
The incident raised questions about Gottumukkala’s leadership among current and former agency officials, including several Trump administration appointees, who believed the allegations against the staff were not credible.
Spokespeople for DHS and CISA, which are located inside the sprawling department, did not respond to requests for comment.
The decision to close the investigation follows a series of major leadership changes at both DHS and CISA.
Gottumukkala — who was appointed last year by then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to lead the cyber agency — was removed from her post last month","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/26/madhu-gottumuklakala-dhs-cisa-00803221","_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b980014","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b980015","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Was removed from his post last month. President Donald Trump announced next week that he was ousting Noem from DHS","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/05/markwayne-mullin-noem-dhs-00814761","_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b980016","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b980017","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Reassigning Noem from DHS And on a newly created post.
CISA is now led by interim director Nick Anderson, who was originally appointed by the Trump administration to head the agency’s flagship cybersecurity division. Former Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) appointed DHS Secretarytook over the role of","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/24/mullin-dhs-noem-trump-00842057","_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b980018","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b980019","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Assumes role as DHS Secretary Following his Senate confirmation earlier this week.
The $3 billion cyber defense agency was also affected by several incidents.","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/28/cisa-cyber-leadership-madhu-gottumuklakala-00804515","_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b98001a","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b98001b","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>affected by a series of events This includes Gottumukkala, who sought to oust other agency personnel","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/18/acting-cisa-head-sought-ouster-of-agencies-head-information-officer-00735826","_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b990000","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b990001","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Demanded ouster of other agency personnel on personal disputes and once sensitive agency contract documents have been uploaded to the public version of ChatGPT","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/27/cisa-madhu-gottumuklakala-chatgpt-00749361","_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b990002","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b990003","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Uploaded sensitive agency contract documents to the public version of ChatGPT. MLAs on both sides of the aisle CISAsought information from","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/02/grassley-presses-nations-cyber-chair-over-chatgpt-use-00768128","_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b990004","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b990005","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Information sought from CISA On some accidents.
Gottumukkala did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Politico reports that DHS has suspended a total of seven employees over the polygraph incident. Those officials did not conduct the trial but helped Gottumukkala schedule and approve it.
Politico could not confirm whether each person was informed that the investigations against them were being closed, but one of the four US officials said all had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The suspended employees include CISA’s chief security officer, the deputy chief of staff, an executive action officer, an agency action officer, a contractor in the agency’s security office, and two officials from CISA’s intelligence division.
Representatives Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who help oversee CISA on the House Homeland Security Committee, told POLITICO they were relieved by the news. The two lawmakers wrote a letter in response to Politico’s reporting, seeking a briefing","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://democrats-homeland.house.gov/news/correspondence/thompson-himes-swalwell-write-kristi-noem-demanding-briefing-on-cisa-polygraph-debacle","_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b990006","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3816-d1d2-a5bd-3b971b990007","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>seeking a briefing Regarding suspension of employees
“We are pleased that CISA personnel who were punished for doing their jobs by previous DHS and CISA leadership have been cleared of wrongdoing and recalled to work, as we demanded three months ago,” Thompson and Swalwell said in a statement. “We cannot and will not tolerate political leadership punishing career employees for faithfully executing their security mission,” he said.
