The polygraph tests, first reported by The New York Times last week, followed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement in July that the Pentagon was forming a joint task force with the Department of Justice to identify and prosecute what he called the “unauthorized disclosure of sensitive” information to the press.
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to TIME that it does not comment on investigative matters but “takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly.”
The August interrogations included some 50 members of the Joint Staff, according to the Times. CBS News also reported that several dozen officials were tested earlier this summer, including those from the U.S. Central Command.
Sources told The Washington Post that Trump clashed with Hegseth over the matter during a visit to Camp David on July 31, claiming that he had been “misled on extreme munitions shortages that now threaten to limit military options with Iran.”
“The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types,” Trump wrote in his post. “Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed.”
“The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down,” he added. “Long term jail sentences will be sought!”
“I am extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing,” he said.
Despite Trump’s repeated denials of a broad munitions shortage, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated in late July that missile interceptor inventories have dropped—with Patriot inventories now under 1,000 and THAAD inventories at about 250.
“That is valuable information to any U.S. adversary,” he tells TIME. “Obviously, if they know that we're out of ammo in some significant way, it changes deterrence calculations for U.S. adversaries.”
“Smart people can put together pretty accurate estimates of what the U.S. has used up between looking at what's been produced, which isn't necessarily a closely guarded secret, and looking at what has been expended on the battlefield,” he says. “Maybe not with the same amount of fidelity [as Pentagon officials], but the Iranians can tell when they're not getting hit by as many standoff munitions, and certainly everyone can tell when U.S. and partners have run out of interceptors.”
“If two people at a think tank can do this analysis with entirely unclassified sources, then the Chinese, with tens of thousands of intelligence operatives, and way better sources of information can get much better numbers,” Cancian says.
What Pentagon polygraph rules require—and what the tests found
Pentagon rules require an examinee’s written consent and allow the person to end the examination at any time. For an issue-specific counterintelligence examination, investigators must have interviewed the person, reasonably believe that the person knew about or was involved in the matter, pursue other investigative avenues as thoroughly as circumstances permit, and determine that the polygraph is essential to the investigation.
The Pentagon has not released enough information to determine whether investigators followed all those requirements. It also has not disclosed the investigation’s findings. CBS News, however, reported that no one had failed the questions meant to determine whether any officials had leaked information to the media.
People familiar with the effort told the Times that the tests appeared intended not only to identify a leaker but also to deter officials who might leak classified information to the media in the future.
David Pozen, a law professor at Columbia University, pointed TIME toward his article for the Harvard Law Review that assesses information leaks within the federal government.
This was notably implemented during Ronald Reagan’s presidency in 1983. Reagan authorized polygraph testing in investigations of unauthorized classified disclosures, although he barred agencies from using the results alone to discipline employees.
In subsequent years, publicly documented operations involving dozens of senior military officials appear exceedingly rare. But the Trump Administration has used polygraphs in previous leak investigations.
Still, Cancian says that polygraph use is more common at intelligence agencies than among senior military staff. He characterizes a polygraph hunt of this scale as incredibly unusual.
How the Pentagon’s polygraph hunt could affect future disclosures
Cancian says the investigation stems from an “understandable” desire for senior Pentagon officials to have candid conversations with their employees without worrying about leaks to the press.
“Meetings get smaller and smaller, fewer and fewer people can attend because of concerns that larger groups, you know, might leak,” he says.
“You can game them. You can get false positives,” he says. “So, you certainly won't necessarily get to the bottom of whatever you're searching for by running a lot of polygraphs, but it is quite effective as an intimidation tool and as a deterrent against leaks.”
“They know it's something that you can fail and that can then disrupt your career or suspend your clearance if you can't pass it, even if it's just because you were nervous that day,” Mann continues.
“Independent of the Iran war, [Hegseth] has been trying quite hard, in my view, to streamline that bureaucracy to more personal loyalty—often at the expense of readiness or combat effectiveness,” Mann says. “This is one of the products of somebody who is trying to have a very, very tight grip on the bureaucracy he leads.”
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