The Pentagon subjected roughly 50 members of the U.S. military’s Joint Staff to polygraph tests as part of an investigation into suspected leaks of classified information to journalists, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
The tests were conducted in August and focused on whether military officers and civilian employees had disclosed classified information to the media, including details about U.S. weapons stocks during the war with Iran, according to reports.
The leak investigation followed a series of media reports raising concerns that the prolonged conflict with Iran was putting pressure on U.S. supplies of critical munitions, including long-range missiles and Patriot air-defense interceptors.
The Joint Staff includes roughly 1,500 to 2,000 military officers and civilian personnel, meaning the polygraph examinations covered a relatively small portion of the organization.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined to comment specifically on the examinations, saying the department does not discuss internal personnel or investigative matters. He said the Pentagon takes leaks of classified national-security information seriously and investigates them accordingly.
The examinations are part of a broader Trump administration effort to identify unauthorized disclosures of sensitive government information. The administration has increasingly used leak investigations and other measures to restrict the flow of classified information to the media.
The Pentagon has also recently tightened access to sensitive military information. The Washington Post reported that the department removed decades of classified documents associated with the Secretary of Defense Orders Book from an internal system used by defense officials and U.S. troops. The move followed reporting on disagreements among senior military commanders over the duration and impact of the Iran war.
The latest measures underscore growing concern inside the Pentagon over the disclosure of information related to the war, military readiness and weapons availability, while raising questions about how far the administration will go in pursuing suspected leakers.
