By Michael Katz | Friday, 04 September 2026 10:37 PM EDT
The Pentagon subjected dozens of military officials to polygraph examinations to identify who leaked sensitive information to the news media — an investigation that has itself been extensively leaked to the news media.
A report on Friday indicated that military personnel were given polygraph tests after highly sensitive classified details about the nation’s stockpiles of sophisticated weapons were disclosed to journalists. The individuals tested included some of the military’s highest-ranking officials.
Officials stated that roughly 50 members of the Joint Staff — the military officers and civilian employees who support the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — underwent examination.
It was reported that several dozen people, including some U.S. Central Command officials and other combatant commanders, were given the examinations earlier this summer.
Polygraph examinations are routine for some top military and civilian officials, but testing so many people as part of one investigation was extremely rare, according to officials.
President Donald Trump expressed fury over the leaks, with anonymous sources telling that a small number of individuals had access to the classified details on the munitions and there were concerns about whether anyone could be acting as a foreign intelligence asset.
The polygraph questions delved deeply into national security matters. No one failed the tests meant to determine if officials leaked information to the media, two sources said, adding that not all senior military officials were part of the testing.
Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for example, was not examined, a senior Pentagon official stated.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell issued a statement: “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. Securing classified information is critical to ensuring the security of the United States and of our troops deployed around the world.”
In July, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon and Department of Justice formed a joint task force to identify and prosecute people suspected of leaking sensitive government information to the media.
Hegseth tasked the Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel with leading internal leak investigations and instructed War Department components to prioritize its requests for information and respond within 48 hours.
“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,” Hegseth said when announcing the task force.
He added: “Leaked information risks lives.”
The move followed days after the Justice Department subpoenaed several reporters to testify before a federal grand jury as part of an investigation into leaked information concerning security features on the new Air Force One jet donated by Qatar. The DOJ stated that the reporters were not targets of the investigation.
The Justice Department withdrew subpoenas seeking grand jury testimony and phone records on July 23 after a federal judge sharply questioned prosecutors about how they had been obtained.
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
