Top military officers polygraphed in far-reaching munitions-leak probe, U.S. officials say
Washington — In an unusually expansive leak investigation, several dozen senior U.S. military officers were required to sit for polygraph examinations this summer after classified information about the country’s advanced weapons stockpiles appeared in the news, according to U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News.
The tests swept in officers assigned to U.S. Central Command and other combatant commanders, the officials said. The reporting that triggered the probe disclosed the rapid pace at which the U.S. was expending some of its most advanced, finite munitions during overseas operations. Three sources said President Trump was furious about the leaks. With a limited roster of officials cleared to see the classified data, one official said investigators also looked into whether anyone in that group could be acting as a foreign intelligence asset.
Polygraph exams are a normal part of the security review process for senior military and civilian leaders, particularly those with access to special-access programs. But several officials said the scale of this round was extraordinary. The questions ranged over a broad set of national-security issues. Two sources said no one failed the part of the test intended to determine whether they had leaked to reporters.
Not every senior officer was included. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not polygraphed, a senior Pentagon official said.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined to discuss specifics, saying, “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.”
The polygraph push is the latest sign of how aggressively Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pursued leaks since taking office. In July, Hegseth announced a joint task force with the Justice Department to identify and prosecute people suspected of leaking sensitive government information to the press. He also gave the Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel, led by Earl Matthews, broad authority to demand records, information and assistance, and ordered personnel to treat such requests as top priorities and respond 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,” Hegseth said at the time. “Leaked information risks lives.”
The task force was announced days after the Justice Department subpoenaed several New York Times reporters over a separate story about security shortcomings aboard President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One. Those subpoenas were later withdrawn after a federal judge sharply questioned the department’s actions. The New York Times was first to report that senior military officers had been polygraphed as part of the munitions leak case.
Federal law and Pentagon regulations permit defense secretaries to authorize counterintelligence investigations that include polygraph examinations, but the tests are subject to safeguards and in most cases require the consent of the person being examined. Military investigators handled the recent round; several people with direct knowledge said the FBI was not involved.
The scope of the testing is itself a notable development, one that signals alarm at the highest levels of the Pentagon about the disclosure of military logistics and operational stockpiles. It also lands at a moment when the relationship between the Pentagon and journalists is already strained by the administration’s broader crackdown on leaks and the separate fight over Times reporters’ phone records.
The episode follows a pattern for Hegseth. In March 2025, after details of a classified briefing planned for Elon Musk on China leaked to the press, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hegseth confronted Adm. Christopher Grady, then the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and yelled, “I’ll hook you up to a f—ing polygraph!” Grady never took a polygraph. The Times reported that Hegseth also threatened Lt. Gen. Doug Sims, then director of the Joint Staff, and later declined to promote him to a four-star billet; Sims retired in September.