U.S. government investigators have put roughly 50 Joint Staff members to polygraph tests in the Pentagon’s hunt for leaks to journalists, The New York Times reported on Friday. These include leaks on the Iran war, particularly with regards to it creating a munitions shortage, per the outlet.
Questions were posed to both military officers and civilian employees in August in the latest step of the Pentagon’s expansive hunt for internal members giving unauthorized information to the press. Those put to the lie detector tests were asked if they have given such information to any journalists, including knowledge of the crucial munition shortage in the conflict between the United States and Iran.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell shared a statement with TheWrap Friday, relaying that 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 added: “Securing classified information is critical to ensuring the security of the United States and of our troops deployed around the world.”
For months, Donald Trump’s administration has tried to plug leaks as information has made its way to the press. In May, the Washington Post reported that Trump was seeking mandatory NDAs for all federal employees to stop such leaks from occurring. These documents aimed to stop “all non-public, confidential, or proprietary information” from being given to the public.
“These leaks put the lives of members of the armed forces at risk, leading news organizations to delay ‘publishing what they knew to avoid endangering US troops,’” the draft read. “Also this year, the personal information of approximately 4,500 ICE employees — including nearly 2,000 employees working in frontline enforcement — was disclosed by a Federal employee, including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and job titles. This leak jeopardized the safety of the agents.”
In a similar vein, the Wall Street Journal and CNN reported in May that Trump pushed for the Department of Justice to subpoena reporters’ records in an effort to stop Iran war leaks. Trump allegedly gave then-acting attorney general Todd Blanche a stack of news articles that he and other officials felt threatened the country’s security. The stack reportedly had a sticky note on top of it labeled in sharpie with the word “Treason.”
