Summary
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has ordered lie detector tests for DHS staff to identify leaks that allegedly foiled immigration raids, including a failed Colorado operation targeting Venezuelan gang members.
The directive, leaked to Bloomberg, requires polygraph questions about unauthorized communications with media and nonprofits. Despite polygraphs’ unreliability, DHS insists they are necessary for national security.
The crackdown follows frustration from Trump’s border czar Tom Homan over compromised raids and aligns with broader MAGA-era efforts to control government communication.
I’m going as far back as the 1400s, and your 1810 usage doesn’t match any common meaning of “snuff out”, so I don’t think it really applies here. But thanks for the interesting etymological diversion. :)
In any case, polygraphs still cannot put an end to leaks, so I stand by my original interpretation.
And I stand by mine, as “snuff something out” in the modern Cambridge dictionary is “to cause to end suddenly,” and of course that’s what they’re trying to do by using a polygraph as “evidence” (which it’s not going to accomplish, but that doesn’t stop attempted improper usage of the device). Their approach (as in many things) is horribly wrong, but the reporter’s word usage is not improper.