The Pentagon is using polygraphs to hunt leakers, but the tests are more theater than fact

In August, government investigators subjected roughly 50 military officers and civilian employees on the Joint Staff to polygraph tests as part of an inquiry into press leaks about the Iran war and depleted U.S. munitions, according to The New York Times. The newspaper described the scope of the investigation as unprecedented in the modern military.This is not the first time the Trump administration has used polygraphs in this way; in 2025, it directed that a wave of tests be