A prominent Republican senator raised the prospect Thursday of using lie detector tests to figure out which Trump administration official authored the controversial New York Times essay that criticized the president.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., spoke with reporters on Capitol Hill and said the tool could be employed.
"I think it's not unprecedented for people with security clearances to be asked to, whether or not they were revealing things against the law under oath and also by lie detector," Paul said, CNN reported.
"We use a lie detector test routinely for CIA agents and FBI agents. I think if you have a security clearance in the White House, I think it would be acceptable to use a lie detector test and ask people whether they are talking to the media against the policy of the White House."
The Times piece was published Wednesday and took a critical look at President Donald Trump, accusing him of putting the country at risk. The author was described as a senior Trump administration official.
Paul said national security could be at stake, so it is important to determine the person's identity.
"This could be very dangerous if the person who is talking to the media is actually revealing national security secrets," Paul said. "So, yes, I think we need to get to the bottom of it."
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