“The polygraph is a much-maligned procedure, but I shudder
to think what security and counterintelligence at the CIA would have been without it. John Sullivan
was a virtuoso of the ‘box,’
the best examiner we ever produced. He has an amazing inside story to tell, as
only he could tell it. His book is a major contribution to the
intelligence literature. I found it absolutely riveting.”
James M. Olson, former chief of CIA counterintelligence
and author of Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying
“I learned more about the workings of the CIA’s polygraph
program from reading Gatekeeper than I
learned during the twenty-seven years I served in the Agency’s Directorate of
Operations. The polygraph is the CIA’s most important tool for
validating the intelligence information it collects and for protecting itself from hostile penetration and peddlers of
false information. This book provides a wealth of detail about the growth and maturation of the
Agency’s polygraph program.”
Merle Pribbenow, former CIA case officer and translator
of Victory in Vietnam: The Official History of the People’s Army of Vietnam,
1954–1975
“Only John Sullivan would have written Gatekeeper. He had
the experience of the perfect insider, and his
conscience did not make him a coward unwilling to tell the bad as well as the
good. Having often worked closely with John, I agree with his
premise that evaluating polygraph results is much
more of an art than a science. Among the examiners I have known, John Sullivan
was a Rembrandt.”
Charles Gillen, former CIA case officer and author of
Saigon Station
“CIA’s most experienced polygrapher lifts the shroud
surrounding an instrument which plays a pivotal
and often greatly misunderstood role in the agency’s personal vetting and agent
validation systems. Sullivan demystifies many of the misconceptions
about this instrument and the role played
by its practitioners. Counterintelligence historians will learn much new and
useful information as to how the polygraph was employed in the
investigations of CIA turncoats Ames, Nicholson, and Scranage.”
Brian J. Kelley, retired officer with forty years of counterintelligence experience at CIA and the U.S. Air
Force
“The CIA censors have taken the handcuffs off John
Sullivan. The whole story is out, warts and all, including Operation Bad Apples.”
Sheriff Bob Pickell, Flint,
Michigan
