Grain of salt stuff — Politico is definitely not an unbiased source when it comes to the Trump administration.
[Politico] At least six career staff were placed on leave after DHS opened an investigation into whether they misled the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, into taking the test.
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.
This article is based on interviews with eight current and four former U.S. cybersecurity officials, including multiple Trump administration appointees, who have either worked closely with Gottumukkala or have knowledge of the polygraph examination and the chain of events that followed. They were granted anonymity for fear of retribution.
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.
“Instead of taking ownership and saying, ‘Hey, I screwed up,’ he gets other people blamed and potentially ruins their careers,” said a current official, who described Gottumukkala’s tenure at CISA so far as “a nightmare” for the agency.
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.”
When asked for clarification on what is considered an “unsanctioned” polygraph, McLaughlin said that “random bureaucrats can’t just order a polygraph. Polygraph orders have to come from leadership who have the authority to order them.”
The repercussions over the polygraph come at an already turbulent period for the agency, which has experienced sweeping personnel and budget cuts under President Donald Trump. Nearly a third of its staff have left the agency since January, and some were recently given an ultimatum to either move into immigration-related roles at the Department of Homeland Security — which houses CISA — or leave the agency altogether.
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.
Trump’s pick to lead the agency, Sean Plankey, has not been confirmed, meaning Gottumukkala could remain as acting director for the foreseeable future — a prospect some cybersecurity officials are wary of.
#1
“The employees in question were placed on administrative leave, pending conclusion of an investigation.
The results were "inconclusive?" (termed used in the trade}. Schedule a follow-on test with a second polygrapher and continue to monitor performance. "Inconclusive" does not necessarily mean failure. The poly is a tool, not a jury finding.
#2
CISA was formed to do something that is detrimental to the 1st Amendment based on a fabrication. We need to stop arguing about how to lead it and give it the USAID treatment.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/22/2025 5:45 Comments ||
Top||
The incident centers on Madhu Gottumukkala, the current acting CISA director, who assumed the role earlier this year amid sweeping staffing and budget cuts.
[JTN] Pentagon is raising questions about Vindman’s private business efforts in Ukraine while he worked on a State Department-funded project.
The Department of War is calling for an ethics inquiry into Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., over business deals he and his brother — retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman — struck in Ukraine while Eugene was simultaneously part of a State Department-funded inquiry into Russian atrocities in Ukraine.
The Pentagon's General Counsel Earl Matthews sent the November letter to House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., as well as to the leaders of the House Armed Services and Oversight Committees.
The letters urged an ethics-related inquiry into the efforts undertaken by Eugene — elected to Congress in 2024 — and by his brother Alexander as the brothers each worked with U.S. defense companies and the Ukrainian government to pursue potentially lucrative contracts in the war-torn country at the same time as Eugene was also being funded by the State Department for Russian war crimes work in Ukraine.
Rep. Vindman's authorized biography says that "On July 25, 2019, Eugene's twin brother, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who also served on the NSC, listened in on President Donald Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky," during which time Vindman claimed that "Trump attempted to extort Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden. Alex reported the call to Eugene, and together they reported it up the chain of command. Trump was impeached for this attack on democracy but was never held accountable. Two days after he was acquitted by the Senate, he fired Alex and Eugene from the White House."
BROTHERS SOUGHT TO PERFORM SERVICES FOR UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT, PENTAGON SAYS
"They founded their company to perform services for the Ukrainian government in exchange for money and to represent American companies seeking to do business with the Ukrainian government for money," Matthews wrote in his ethics letter. "They were required to seek the pre-approval of the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of State."
Matthews added: "As retired U.S. Army officers, just as they could not become direct civil employees of the Ukrainian government without obtaining the prior approval of both the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of State, they could also not lawfully provide ’consulting’ or ’defense services’ through their ’consulting firm’ to the Ukrainian government without first obtaining the permission of the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of State. If any U.S. military retiree could simply form a ’consulting firm’ and immediately start providing services to a foreign government without the required Secretarial approvals, it would make a mockery of the law."
The Vindman brothers also played key roles in the Ukraine-related Trump impeachment effort in 2019 and early 2020.
Eugene’s campaign website last year specifically touted the fact that he had worked for the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) in Ukraine for a year and a half, and that he had done so as part of a "Department of State funded program." Eugene was described in interviews as having been the Director of Military Analysis and Prosecution Support for the ACA.
Georgetown University was the organization designated by the State Department as the lead agency for the ACA, and the school has said it received $10 million in the fall of 2022, another $8.5 million in the spring of 2024, and another $3 million earlier this month.
THE VINDMANS AND THE SHADOWY "TRIDENT SUPPORT" GROUP
During interviews with Ukrainian government-linked outlets and with local Virginia newspapers, the overlap between Eugene’s work for the State Department-backed ACA and his role in a so-called Trident Support business effort in Ukraine run by himself and his brother was apparent, as he discussed both efforts in both interviews.
During the April 2023 interview with Ukrinform — the Ukrainian National News Agency — Eugene also noted that "on my latest trip to Ukraine, very unexpectedly, I received an award from the Defense Ministry, the Badge of Honor. So once again, thank you to the Ukrainian people and Slava Ukraini!"
The apparent intersection of Eugene’s work on a State Department-funded contract and his connection with Trident in Ukraine has raised eyebrows.
Although Trident describes itself a "non-governmental agency," Just the News was unable to directly locate any corporate records or reports indicating if Trident is recognized as a non-profit charity.
PEOPLE FAMILIAR SAY VINDMANS SHOULD HAVE SOUGHT APPROVAL
A senior defense official who insisted upon anonymity due to the sensitivity of the inquiry told Just the News that the Vindman brothers were attempting to work with the Ukrainian government, and that whether or not they were successful, they should’ve gotten proper permission.
The defense official said the main focus by the Pentagon is on Eugene seeking to do work with a foreign government without seeking proper approval from the U.S. military as required, but that the fact that he was drumming up business while being funded by the State Department is certainly interesting as well.
Matthews said that "a preliminary review of Department of War records has found no indication" that Rep. Eugene Vindman nor his brother and business partner, retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, "sought or obtained the approval of the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of State to provide defense services to the government of Ukraine over the course of the two and a half years that they operated Trident Support LLC."
A financial disclosure form filed by Eugene in August 2024 covering the time period from January 2023 to July 2024 stated the value of an entity called Trident was between $500,000 to $1 million. The disclosure form also said the future congressman’s salary from Trident had been $76,995 during the filing period and $125,000 during the prior year. The now-congressman filed in July 2025 a disclosure form where he said that he had resigned from Trident in 2024.
Eugene did not respond to a request for comment sent to him through his congressional office. Vindman did not respond to a request for comment sent to him through his Here Right Matters Foundation.
The Democratic congressman had responded to the letter from the Pentagon’s general counsel back in November by claiming that "unlike the President, I have nothing to hide. Donald Trump and his lackeys are working overtime to weaponize the government against his political opponents."
[IsraelTimes] US Vice President JD Vance claimed in an interview on Sunday that almost no Americans are antisemitic and that concerns about antisemitic voices are raised as a way to avoid discussing "a real backlash to a consensus view in American foreign policy" on Israel. If he studied history, he'd know how mutatis mutandis typical his statement is.
After snubbing the local Jewish community, he’s another who wants to be seen with Israel following the Bondi Beach attack.
[IsraelTimes] Brandon Johnson, who has called Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza ‘genocidal,’ says he’s grateful for relationship with Jewish state, sends condolences over Bondi Beach attack
reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel... Mayor Brandon Johnson ...Hizzonner da Mare of Chicago. He was elected in April 2023 to replace the disastrous Lori Lightfoot and immediately set about out-Richtering her. A member of the Democratic Party (naturally), Johnson previously worked as a social studies teacher in the city's stellar public schools system. He helped organize the 2012 teachers strike. Prior to becoming Da Mare, he served on the Cook County Board of Boodling Commissioners from 2018 to 2023... attended a Hanukkah party hosted by the Israeli consulate in the Midwest US city on Thursday, where the progressive politician expressed a message of solidarity days a terror attack targeted Jews who had gathered to celebrate the holiday in Bondi Beach in Australia.
In remarks at the event, Johnson expressed his condolences "to the Jewish community in the wake of yet another tragedy," saying that the attack serves as "yet another reminder of why we all have to come together to root out the evil of antisemitism."
His decision to appear at an event hosted by the Israeli consulate rather than one organized by a Jewish organization in the city was notable given his fraught relationship with the mission since the outbreak of the war with Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Johnson cast the deciding vote to pass a City Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in February 2024, angering legacy Jewish organizations that argued that the initiative was one-sided and failed to condemn the Hamas terror group, which had launched a devastating surprise attack on Israel four months earlier.
The motion was completely symbolic, but its advocates said it sent a message to then-US president Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family... ’s administration from Chicago, one of the most prominent Democratic-majority cities in the US and host of the Democratic National Convention the following summer. The White House, at the time, was pushing back against calls for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in favor of extended humanitarian pauses during which hostages held by Hamas could be released.
Johnson later characterized Israel’s war in Gaza as "genocidal," telling the Mother Jones news site: "We have to acknowledge and name it for what it is and have the moral courage to exercise our authority."
But against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire that was signed between Israel and Hamas in October this year and the Bondi Beach attack days earlier, Johnson struck a far more conciliatory tone.
"I did have a conversation just yesterday with [Israeli] Consul General [Elad] Strohmayer... and I assured him that my door will always remain open for us to be able to engage in continued dialogue on matters that affect all of our communities, but specifically the unique challenges that the Jewish community is experiencing," Johnson said.
"I’m grateful for the strong and important relationship between Chicago and Israel, including our sister city partnership with Petah Tikva. In moments like this, that connection underscores our shared values as well as our mutual support," he added.
"As mayor, I reaffirm my commitment... to the safety and dignity and the inclusion of all communities, but especially our Jewish community and those who are enduring a great deal of fear right now," said the mayor.
Strohmayer thanked Johnson for attending the gathering, maintaining that "in a city as diverse and vibrant as Chicago, moments like this matter."
"Only together can we face this moment. Israelis and Americans, Jews and non-Jews, religious and secular, those who love Israel unconditionally and those who challenge it because they care. By standing together this Hanukkah, we will bring light into the darkness," said the Israeli diplomat.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[JTN] Pentagon is raising questions about Vindman’s private business efforts in Ukraine while he worked on a State Department-funded project. 
...Hizzonner da Mare of Chicago. He was elected in April 2023 to replace the disastrous Lori Lightfoot and immediately set about out-Richtering her. A member of the Democratic Party (naturally), Johnson previously worked as a social studies teacher in the city's stellar public schools system. He helped organize the 2012 teachers strike. Prior to becoming Da Mare, he served on the Cook County Board of 
