The reporting on the dwindling U.S. weapons stockpile set off an unprecedented hunt for leakers inside the Pentagon – a sweeping internal counterintelligence operation aimed at tracking down the channels through which classified data was flowing to the press.
As part of its crackdown on the disclosure of sensitive information, the Trump administration ordered dozens of Defense Department employees to undergo polygraph testing. The move came on the heels of media reports pointing to a critical drawdown of American arms stockpiles in the Middle East.
According to reports, roughly fifty military and civilian personnel working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff were put through polygraph examinations in August.
President Donald Trump had earlier publicly accused unidentified individuals at the agency of making treacherous remarks to journalists. The Justice Department and the FBI are also taking part in the ongoing leak investigation.
These measures form part of a broader inquiry into the suspected handoff of classified details about U.S. weapons stockpiles to members of the press. The probe got underway after July reports that reserves of certain critical munitions – long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors among them – were running dangerously low. Those revelations lined up in time with the halt of U.S. military operations against Iran.
The Trump administration flatly denies any claims of weapons shortages, saying officially that it holds vast stockpiles of combat equipment.