Hegseth Ordered to Stop Polygraph Tests
Hegseth Ordered to Stop Polygraph Tests
The News
The White House pulled the plug on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of polygraph tests to root out leakers, according to a report.
Patrick Weaver, a current adviser to Hegseth, alerted high-ranking administration officials that he could soon have to submit a polygraph test, the Washington Post reported. That prompted a call to Hegseth to drop the lie detector tests.
"Recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense demand immediate and thorough investigation," Kasper wrote in the March 21 memo.
"The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy," Kasper added.
Timeline
The investigation to identify leakers within the Department of Defense began in late March with a memo from Joe Kasper, then Hegseth’s chief of staff.
Reactions
Then-national security advisor Michael Waltz assumed "full responsibility" for the misstep of including the Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg on the Signal chat alongside Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Hegseth.
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Weaver, who has previously held roles on the White House’s National Security Council and in the Department of Homeland Security during President Donald Trump's first administration, took offense to the potential measure.
The revelation is the latest controversy at the Pentagon, which earlier this year endured the 'Signalgate' scandal. Discussions about military action between Hegseth and a group of top Trump officials were leaked, despite being conducted on the encrypted app.
In the aftermath of the accidental leak to a journalist about impending U.S. military strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, Trump has remained firmly in Hegseth’s corner, offering public support.
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