Washington: The Pentagon has subjected roughly 50 senior members of the military’s Joint Staff to polygraph tests as part of an investigation into leaks about US munitions stockpiles, US media reported on Friday.
The tests, conducted in August, focused on whether officers and civilian employees disclosed classified information to journalists, including details on dwindling supplies of key weapons such as long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors amid months of fighting Iran, according to The New York Times and CBS News.
In July, a string of reports said the United States was rationing munitions, particularly missile interceptors, because of supply concerns. Administration officials denied the claims, with President Donald Trump saying, “we have a lot of ammunition, different types,” while acknowledging that “for some of the more sophisticated stuff, we’d certainly like to have more.”
Unprecedented Scale Of Testing
Late on Friday, the Times reported that about 50 members of the Joint Staff — the Pentagon’s central planning and advisory body — were being required to take lie-detector tests to trace how classified stockpile data reached the press.
CBS News later corroborated the wide-scale use of polygraphs, adding that Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine had not been tested. Both outlets cited unnamed officials briefed on the matter.
Asked by AFP about the reports, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell declined to comment on “internal personnel or investigative matters,” but said the department “takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly.”
He added that “securing classified information is critical to ensuring the security of the United States and of our troops deployed around the world.”
Routine Screening, Rare In Leak Probes
While polygraph screening is routine for background checks and security-clearance renewals for personnel with access to top secrets, the broad deployment of lie detectors in a leak probe — especially at such senior levels — was described by analysts and officials as rare, if not unprecedented.
CBS News reported that no one failed the specific questions aimed at determining whether they had leaked to the media.
