ISLAMABAD: Dozens of senior US military officers were made to take polygraph tests earlier this summer as part of an investigation into leaks of classified information on US weapons stockpiles, CBS News reported Friday, citing US officials.
President Donald Trump was "furious about the leaks," the news channel reported. The officials were particularly concerned because only a small number of people had access to the classified information on munitions, with one source saying investigators were examining whether anyone could be acting as a foreign intelligence asset.
While polygraph tests are routinely administered to officials holding top-secret clearances, the scale of the latest round was described as unusually large. Several dozen officials, including US Central Command leaders, were tested, according to the news organization, CBS reported.
The tests included detailed questions on national security matters, including whether officials had provided classified information to the media, though none was found to have failed any questions, according to the report.
Not all senior officers were subjected to the tests. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not polygraphed, a senior Pentagon official said. The FBI was not involved in conducting the examinations, though officials said their scope pointed to a formal counterintelligence probe.
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell declined to comment on the specifics but told CBS that the department "takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly."
The tests come after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in July that a joint Pentagon-Justice Department task force would identify and prosecute leakers, granting the department's legal office expanded powers to demand records within 48 hours.
US law allows the defense secretary to direct counterintelligence investigations that can include polygraph examinations, while federal law and Pentagon regulations restrict their use and require procedural safeguards, according to the report.
CBS said this was not the first time Hegseth has resorted to polygraphs over leaks, having reportedly threatened senior officers last year, including the then-acting Joint Chiefs chairman, after details of a classified briefing for tech billionaire Elon Musk were disclosed to the media.