The Pentagon forced dozens of members of the Joint Staff to take polygraph tests as it hunts down internal leakers, The New York Times reported.
According to the report, the polygraph tests took place in August after numerous news reports came out about the Iran war diminishing the stock of long-range missiles, Patriot interceptors, and other crucial munitions.
About 50 members of the U.S. military’s Joint Staff had to take polygraph tests over leaks to journalists, an anonymous insider briefed on the move told The Times.
Investigators questioned military officers and civilian employees on the Joint Staff about whether they had disclosed classified information to members of the press, according to The Times. They were also asked whether they provided information about diminished U.S. munition stocks.
Between 1,500 and 2,000 officers and officials work for the Joint Staff, but the move marks an “extraordinary” step by U.S. government investigators, The Times noted.
The Pentagon recently purged classified documents from a secret computer system after a series of unprecedented Pentagon leaks revealed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been warned by several U.S. military leaders against a prolonged, large-scale operation in Iran.
The Trump administration has also gone after journalists directly. The Justice Department subpoenaed journalists for The Times who reported on security problems with Trump’s Qatari jet, though those subpoenas were ultimately dropped.
A freelancer for The Times was subpoenaed by the DOJ in an attempt to identify his sources for a story about a failed top-secret mission in North Korea. Federal law enforcement seized the devices of journalist Max Blumenthal when he returned from Iran.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell responded to The Times with a statement about the polygraph tests, saying the Pentagon “does not comment on internal personnel or investigative matters but takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly.”
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