Justice Department lawyer Kurt Olsen lost security clearance after failing polygraph

Olsen told Reuters that he maintains an active security clearance from an agency he did not name and stated that any suggestion of a revoked clearance is false. He also said he held a clearance when he was a Navy SEAL in the mid-to-late 1980s. Reuters could not independently confirm if Olsen held more than one security clearance or if any remain active, and he did not address questions about the polygraph test.

Failing a polygraph test does not prove guilt of any specific criminal offense, and its results are generally not admissible in most U.S. state and federal courts due to reliability concerns. Reuters could not establish what Olsen was asked during the polygraph test or why he failed.

Olsen remains at the Justice Department as a senior counsel in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami. However, the loss of his Justice Department clearance has made it difficult for him to continue working on a Florida-based investigation. This probe involves extensive review of classified material and aims to build a case that law enforcement and intelligence officials under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden violated Trump's constitutional rights while investigating his 2016 campaign's ties to Russia and later seizing classified documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed that Olsen does not currently have an active clearance with the department and stated the DOJ could not comment on any prior clearance he may have held. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The episode is another instance of turmoil affecting both the Florida investigation and Olsen's tenure in government, during which he has often unsuccessfully sought evidence to support Trump's grievances. The Justice Department official overseeing the investigation, Joseph diGenova, resigned on September 10 after clashing with leadership over strategy and resources.

The New York Times had previously reported that Olsen had issues with his security clearance, but did not link the termination to the polygraph test. The decision to revoke Olsen's clearance came days before he notified senior officials in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami on September 28 that he wanted off the investigation. Another person familiar with the situation said Olsen left the probe due to dissatisfaction with directives from Justice Department leadership following diGenova's resignation.

Olsen told Reuters that his security clearance was not relevant to his decision to leave the Florida investigation but declined to comment on his reasons for departing the probe. The investigation has not yet resulted in any charges, and attorneys for individuals under scrutiny have argued there is no evidence of a broad conspiracy to target Trump. Prosecutors have informed John Brennan, who served as CIA director under Obama, that he is a target of the investigation. Olsen led a call with Brennan's lawyers to discuss a subpoena for grand jury testimony before he left the investigation, according to a court document filed in Brennan's lawsuit against the Justice Department. Brennan has denied wrongdoing, and a lawyer for Brennan declined to comment.