Acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency(CISA) Madhu Gottumukkala wanted to look at some extremely sensitive intelligence reports from, "Another Agency." (If I had to guess, it would be the Defense Intelligence Agency).
He could have looked at the pretty fucking secret reports, but he wanted to access the unbelievably fucking super duper secret version of the report, for which the agency required that a polygraph exam for clearance and access.
Mr. Gottumukkala failed the polygraph examination and promptly retaliated against the staff who told him that he had to take the exam or who had administered the exam.
This man should not have access to Colonel Sanders' 11 herbs and spices.*
At least six career staffers at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were suspended with pay this summer after organizing a polygraph test that the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, failed.
The Department of Homeland Security opened an investigation into whether the staff provided “false information” about the need for the test — which was scheduled after Gottumukkala sought access to certain highly sensitive cyber intelligence shared with the agency.
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The incident this July and the subsequent fallout — which has not been reported before — have angered career staff, alarmed fellow Trump administration appointees and raised questions about Gottumukkala’s leadership of the nearly $3 billion cyber defense agency.
It does not raise questions, it answers them. He is unsuited to his position.
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In an emailed statement, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that Gottumukkala “did not fail a sanctioned polygraph test.”
“An unsanctioned polygraph test was coordinated by staff, misleading incoming CISA leadership,” McLaughlin wrote. “The employees in question were placed on administrative leave, pending conclusion of an investigation. We expect and require the highest standards of performance from our employees and hold them directly accountable to uphold all policies and procedures. Gottumukkala has the complete and full support of the Secretary and is laser focused on returning the agency to its statutory mission.”
The technical term for the above is, "Bullshit."
Anyone who needs access to something that requires a polygraph would have to get it signed off from senior management, i.e. Madhu Gottumukkala
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Compounding that instability, CISA has not had a permanent, Senate-confirmed leader since former Director Jen Easterly stepped down in January at the start of the Trump administration. Gottumukkala, a former senior IT official in South Dakota under Kristi Noem, was appointed by the governor-turned-secretary as deputy director in May. He is currently the most senior official at CISA and also holds the title of acting director.
This guy's qualification is that he's a friend of ICE Barbie?
Chinese spies must be high fiving each each other and doing jello shots right now, because it's like a permanent vacation for them.
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Gottumukkala failed the polygraph test in the last week of July, according to five current officials and one former official.
The test was scheduled that month to determine his eligibility to review one of the most sensitive intelligence programs shared with CISA by another spy agency, three current officials and one former official said.
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Senior staff raised questions about whether Gottumukkala needed to review the intelligence materials on at least two occasions. But he continued to push for the access, even if it meant taking a polygraph, according to four current officials.
In early June, a senior agency official did not approve an initial request signed by mid-level CISA staff to grant Gottumukkala access to the program, on the basis that there was not an urgent need-to-know, according to the third current official. The agency’s previous deputy director, this person noted, had not seen the program.
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The senior official who denied that read-in request was placed on administrative leave in late June for a reason unrelated to the polygraph, according to three current officials. As a result, that senior official was no longer in their role by the time a second request for a read-in — this time signed by Gottumukkala — was approved in early July, the third current official said.
The phone call is coming from inside the house!
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Less highly classified versions of the requested intelligence materials would have been available to Gottumukkala without taking a polygraph, said the third current official.
Still, Gottumukkala persisted.
We are doomed.
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