“Unprecedented”: Around 50 senior US military officials subjected to lie-detector tests

The US government subjected about 50 senior military officials and civilian employees to lie-detector tests after classified information about the war against Iran and ammunition stocks reached the media. The unusual investigation followed reports that the conflict had depleted essential US munitions and triggered concern inside the administration over its strategic direction.

The polygraph tests took place during August, the New York Times reported, after leaks from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Three anonymous sources told CBS News that President Donald Trump was furious about the disclosures. Only a small number of people had access to the classified ammunition information, raising fears that one of them might be a foreign intelligence agent.

Two sources said nobody failed the tests. But the screening did not include every senior military official. General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not tested, according to a senior Pentagon official cited by CBS News. The FBI also played no role, as the military used its own investigators.

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I have never seen the polygraph used so broadly or at such a high level of responsibility.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Defense Department does not comment on internal personnel matters or ongoing investigations, but takes leaks involving national security seriously. He said protecting classified information is essential to safeguarding the United States and troops deployed around the world.

The scale of the inquiry has been described as unprecedented. Retired Rear Admiral Donald J. Guter, a former Navy judge advocate general, told the New York Times: “I have never seen the polygraph used so broadly or at such a high level of responsibility.” He added: “In my experience, it is unprecedented.”

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In my experience, it is unprecedented.