Polygraph tests were administered to several dozen senior US military officials during an unusually broad Pentagon investigation into leaks about the country’s dwindling stocks of advanced weapons, according to officials briefed on the inquiry.
The examinations, carried out earlier this summer, included officials from US Central Command and other combatant commands. The questioning covered sensitive national security matters, including whether those tested had disclosed information to journalists.
Two officials said nobody failed the questions specifically intended to establish whether they had leaked information to the media. The tests were conducted by military investigators and did not involve the FBI, according to people familiar with the matter.
President Donald Trump was said to have been angered by the disclosures. One official said only a small number of people had access to the classified details about weapons stocks, prompting concern that the information might have been passed to a foreign intelligence service.
Pentagon leak investigation
Polygraph examinations are a routine part of maintaining security clearances for officials with access to top-secret material and special access programmes. They can be used periodically to re-certify personnel, but officials described the scale of the latest testing as highly unusual.
Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not among those tested, a senior Pentagon official said. The identities of the other senior officers involved have not been disclosed.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department would not discuss internal personnel or investigative matters, but added: “The Department does not comment on internal personnel or investigative matters but takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly.”
He said protecting classified information was essential to the security of the United States and American troops deployed overseas.
The inquiry follows reports by several news organisations about the rapid use of some of the US military’s most sophisticated and limited munitions. The disclosures raised questions about the effect of the conflict on supplies of weapons including long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors.
In a further sign of the administration’s efforts to restrict sensitive information, the Pentagon recently removed decades of documents linked to the Secretary of Defense Orders Book from an internal classified network, the Washington Post reported. The material includes details about the position and availability of warships, military units, weapons systems and other resources.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in July that the Pentagon and Justice Department had established a joint task force to identify and prosecute suspected leakers. He gave the Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel broad powers to demand records and assistance from officials, with personnel instructed to respond to requests within two days.
“When a leak of department information occurs today, it’s critical that we provide the Department of Justice and other partners in federal law enforcement — including the FBI — with actionable information as quickly as possible,” Mr Hegseth said at the time. “Leaked information risks lives.”
Federal law allows the defence secretary to direct counter-intelligence investigations involving polygraphs, but imposes restrictions and procedural safeguards on their use. In cases of this kind, officials must consent to the examination or request one as part of an effort to resolve serious security concerns or challenge allegations made against them.
The latest tests are not the first time Mr Hegseth has threatened to use polygraphs in response to suspected leaks. Last year, he reportedly confronted senior officers after details of a classified Pentagon briefing prepared for Elon Musk were disclosed to the press.
