Reading Room Document

Status of Presidential Memorandum on Use of the Polygraph in the Executive Branch

An undated four-page memorandum from President Lyndon Johnson entitled "Use of the Polygraph in the Executive Branch" and addressed to the heads of Executive Branch departments and agencies, which was neither issued as a directive to the Executive Branch nor understood contemporaneously to have legal effect, does not now bind the Department of Justice or other entities within the Executive Branch. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-01-14-polygraph/download.

January 14, 2009