Trump Regime Gives FEMA Chief a Lie Detector Test Because That’s Just the Reality We Live in Now

The acting head of FEMA was recently given a lie detector test to determine if he leaked information to the press about the Trump regime’s plans to destroy the federal disaster agency, according to a new report from Politico. And while that may seem like a really bizarre thing to do to a senior official who’s supposed to be conducting crucial government work, it’s just another footnote in America’s rapid descent into fascism.

FEMA acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton was given the lie detector test after he had a meeting on March 25 with Kristi Noem, the former governor of South Dakota and current Secretary of Homeland Security. Also in the meeting, according to Politico, was Corey Lewandowski, an adviser to President Donald Trump who’s reportedly working as a “special government employee,” not unlike Elon Musk. The disclosure of the meeting, reported by CNN on March 26, was apparently considered a betrayal.

The Department of Homeland Security appeared to confirm that the lie detector test took place in a statement to Politico, warning that “leakers” would be prosecuted. But the result of the lie detector test wasn’t exactly clear.

“Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS is unapologetic about its efforts to root out leakers that undermine national security. We are agnostic about your standing, tenure, political appointment or status as a career civil servant—we will track down leakers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” a DHS spokesperson told Politico.

President Trump has not nominated a permanent FEMA administrator, and Hamilton is a former Navy SEAL who has worked in the federal government for the past decade, including at the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. As the New York Times pointed out when Hamilton was appointed to the role shortly after Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Hamilton was considered an odd choice for the head of FEMA given his lack of experience in disaster response.

The news about DHS lie detector tests comes as FEMA is in hot water over withholding financial assistance to “blue” states, or those that voted for Democrats in the 2024 election. A federal judge ordered a halt to federal funding freezes by FEMA that were holding back money to at least 19 states. And on Friday, that judge ruled that the order had been violated. What happens after that? It appears the judge hasn’t found the Trump regime lawyers in contempt yet, so nothing happens. At this point, the judge has just issued another order, telling them to obey the previous order.

And that seems to speak to the asymmetry right now happening with the rule of law on one side and the Trump regime on the other. These folks are sending U.S. residents to El Salvador without trial and making top officials take lie detector tests. Then you have judges doing little more than saying “Pretty please obey our orders.” It’s not great.