Mass polygraphs at the Pentagon show Hegseth’s weaknessMargaret Sullivan
The more defense secretary Pete Hegseth tries to flex his manly strength, the wimpier he looks
The more the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, tries to flex his manly strength, the wimpier he looks.
The former Fox News host has attempted to seize control of what the public is allowed to know, but bad news keeps creeping out from the Pentagon.
Shortages of key weapons, deteriorating conditions onboard a US aircraft carrier, and no end in sight for President Trump’s misguided war – all a very bad look for the boss.
But what to do?
Hegseth has restricted reporters’ access at the Pentagon, fired journalists at the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, and installed “influencers” to spread pro-Trump propaganda. He hasn’t held a Pentagon news briefing on the war since early May.
But none of it seems to work.
Now, trying to root out the problem at the source, he’s chasing down leakers by giving polygraph tests to about 50 military officers and civilian officials – something never done before in such a widespread way, according to New York Times reporting.
The boss, of course, heartily approves.
“The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down!” Trump crowed on Truth Social, his favorite venue for venting rage and threatening retribution. “Long term jail sentences will be sought!”
Granted, the ubiquitous news reports about shortages of American weapons, including long-range missiles, are a particularly bad look for Trump’s war effort, which seems more every day like a costly and directionless flop. And a huge political liability.
The war’s unpopularity has driven down the president’s approval ratings, and that’s a real worry as the midterm elections approach in early November. Trump himself is not on the ballot, of course, but control of Congress certainly is.
Democratic control of one or both houses, now in Republican hands, could put some unwelcome restraints on this president’s unbounded malfeasance and endless self-dealing.
Such control might even restore long-missing checks and balances. That is a nightmare scenario for this out-of-control president.
No wonder he and his allies are trying every method to seize control of journalists and their sources. The weaponized justice department even went so far as to subpoena several New York Times reporters over their stories on security problems with a Qatari-donated plane that’s been repurposed as the new Air Force One.
Instead of addressing underlying problems, it’s all about seeking revenge. Since the media’s reporting is (largely) protected by the first amendment, the leakers themselves must seem like fair game.
Hegseth has played the polygraph card before. Furious last year after press leaks about plans to give Elon Musk a Pentagon briefing on China, the defense secretary yelled at Christopher Grady, then the acting joint chiefs chairman, accusing him of leaking, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“I’ll hook you up to a f—ing polygraph!” Hegseth reportedly shouted at Grady.
But poorly led organizations, like Hegseth’s Pentagon, will always leak. Chaos and dysfunction need a steam valve. And the truth will out.
Inevitably, facts come to the surface when insiders have information that they want exposed and when journalists are doing their jobs.
What politicians never admit is that leaks often serve an important and positive purpose.
“Without leaks, we’d be left in the dark about vital information involving government, corporations, and powerful individuals, who often act in secret,” notes the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which also downplays the constant warnings of threats to national security. “We should be skeptical of claims that leaks cause harm and of broad leak investigations that can lead to the surveillance of journalists and sources and the chilling of reporting.”
Don’t try telling that to Hegseth and Trump, who vastly prefer pro-war propaganda to uncomfortable facts. And who are always looking for someone to blame and punish.
Some military officials may be scared off by this witch-hunt and decide to keep their lips sealed. But others, if they trust journalists to provide protective anonymity, will take their chances and expose the truth.
Some, at least, do this out of old-fashioned patriotism, allowing cleansing sunlight into the dark corners of government and the military.
Call such truth-telling another form of lie detection, one that is a far cry from Trump’s charges of treason. And in terms of democracy, a far more effective one.
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Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist
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