What do we think - is this really about the Hanssen case, or is that a cover story for "clearing out the 'Old Guard'"?

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Saturday March 24 7:32 AM ET
Spy Case Prompts Polygraphs for 500 in FBI - Post

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some 500 FBI employees with access to intelligence information will be given lie detector tests beginning next week in the first security reform stemming from the arrest of alleged spy Robert Hanssen, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

The newspaper cited officials as saying the 500 employees who will face the first polygraph tests of their careers include about 150 top managers at FBI headquarters in Washington, special agents in charge of regional offices and any others with access to sensitive intelligence material.

FBI Director Louis Freeh has also ordered reviews of all ''sensitive investigations'' to determine if other agents have accessed information outside their normal duties, the Post said, citing a memo sent to FBI employees last week.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced March 1 that the FBI would expand the use of polygraph tests and would more closely audit access to computers and other information.

Ashcroft said that he and Freeh had agreed on the interim measures after the February arrest of Hanssen, a 25-year FBI veteran and counter-intelligence expert.

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.

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.

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