A flailing Pete Hegseth has taken to threatening colleagues with polygraph tests in an effort to get to the bottom of leaks from his department.
And he isn’t being particularly polite about it, either.
“I’ll hook you up to a f—ing polygraph!” Hegseth yelled at Adm. Christopher Grady, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, last month, after word got out that the Pentagon was planning a classified briefing about China to Elon Musk.
The outburst, reported by The Wall Street Journal Thursday, wasn’t the only time Hegseth mentioned the lie-detecting device.
The embattled Defense secretary also brought it up when accusing Joint Staff director Lt. Gen. Doug Sims of leaking. Ultimately, neither man was subjected to a polygraph.
At the time of Hegseth’s outburst, the fallout from the first of two scandals about him using unsecured Signal chats to discuss sensitive battle plans was well underway.
The department has since seen several abrupt firings and resignations. In addition, the Pentagon’s inspector general is investigating Hegseth for allegedly mishandling classified information.
As a result, Hegseth has grown concerned about being fired, according to the Journal.
Donald Trump, has begun the process of replacing the former Fox News host, a U.S. official told NPR on Monday. The White House, however, denied that report.
In public, Hegseth has taken a combative approach to the reporting on his tenure, and has staunchly defended his actions.
“What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax,” he said Monday at the White House Easter Egg Roll. “This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.”
No one has yet been charged over the leaks.
The post Rattled Hegseth Is Screaming at Staffers About Polygraph Tests appeared first on The Daily Beast.
