Wired Up

If top Administration officials take lie-detector tests, they will undergo an experience familiar to accused criminals, suspected leakers and candidates for sensitive jobs both inside and outside Government. The subject is hooked up to the machine with rubber belts placed across the stomach and chest, electrodes attached to the fingertips and a blood-pressure cuff wrapped around the arm. The sensors measure pulse rate, blood pressure, breathing and perspiration as the subject answers a series of yes-or-no questions. Explains Sergeant Michael McFadden of the Washington police department: "There's always a fear attached when...

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