Pentagon launches probe including polygraphs after Elon Musk visit
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The investigation into leaks will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defence.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has initiated an investigation incorporating polygraph tests to hunt down leakers after Mr Elon Musk called for the prosecution of any Defence Department officials spreading “maliciously false information” about his dealings with the military.
In response to accusations surrounding Mr Musk’s recent visit to the Pentagon, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff, Mr Joe Kasper, called for an investigation into “unauthorised disclosures” of national security information with those found responsible to “be referred to the appropriate criminal law enforcement entity for criminal prosecution”.
Mr Musk, the world’s richest man with billions of dollars in defence contracts, visited the Pentagon on March 21 for a conversation about cost-cutting and innovation.
The visit sparked controversy before it began, after the New York Times reported that Mr Musk was to get a top secret briefing
The Times, which cited multiple unidentified US officials familiar with the matter, said Mr Musk was scheduled to view sensitive US military strategies concerning China, potentially exposing critical Pentagon secrets given Mr Musk’s substantial business interests there.
Mr Musk’s views on China have also provoked concern.
He’s called Taiwan “an integral part of China” and once suggested that the self-ruled island become an administrative zone of the country.
Both US President Donald Trump and defence chief Mr Hegseth denied there were ever any plans for Mr Musk to get such a high-level briefing.
In the Oval Office on March 21, Mr Trump acknowledged Mr Musk’s potential conflict
Further intensifying the scrutiny, Mr Musk took to X, a social media platform he owns, insisting on the prosecution of Pentagon officials leaking misleading information to the media.
Mr Hegseth has been one of the most vocal champions of Mr Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, boasting of hundreds of millions of dollars in spending cuts done in collaboration with Doge staffers.
The investigation into leaks “will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defence”, Mr Kasper wrote in a memo issued late on March 21.
“The report will include a complete record of unauthorised disclosures within the Department of Defence and recommendations to improve such efforts.” BLOOMBERG
