Washington — Some of the highest-ranking officials in the U.S. military were subjected to polygraph tests as part of a sweeping leak probe after highly sensitive classified details about the nation’s stockpiles of sophisticated weapons were reported in the media, U.S. officials briefed on the matter told CBS News.
President Trump was furious about the leaks, according to three of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A very small set of people had access to the classified details on the munitions, and there was concern about whether anyone could potentially be acting as a foreign intelligence asset, one of the sources said.
Polygraph tests are often a part of the routine cadence for top military and civilian officials, but the mass volume of people who were pulled in for testing in this case was extremely rare, officials said.
Several dozen people were given the tests earlier this summer, including some U.S. Central Command officials as well as other combatant commanders.
The polygraph questions delved deeply into various national security-related matters. No one failed the questions meant to determine if these officials leaked to the media, two of the sources said.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to CBS News on Friday night: “The Department does not comment on internal personnel or investigative matters but takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly. Securing classified information is critical to ensuring the security of the United States and of our troops deployed around the world.”
Not all senior military officials were part of the testing. For example, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, wasn’t polygraphed, a senior Pentagon official said.
The New York Times was first to report on the polygraph tests.
Weeks into the war, CBS News and other news outlets had reported information concerning the rapid pace at which the U.S. was expending some of its most advanced finite munitions.