A flailing Pete Hegseth has taken to threatening colleagues with polygraph tests in an effort to get to the bottom of leaks from his department.
And he isn’t being particularly polite about it, either.
“I’ll hook you up to a f---ing polygraph!” Hegseth yelled at Adm. Christopher Grady, the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, last month, after word got out that the Pentagon was planning a classified briefing about China to Elon Musk.
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The outburst at the Navy admiral, reported by The Wall Street Journal Thursday, wasn’t the only time Hegseth mentioned the lie-detecting device.
The embattled defense secretary, who served as a National Guard major, also brought it up when accusing Joint Staff director Lt. Gen. Doug Sims of leaking. Ultimately, neither man was subjected to a polygraph.
At the time of Hegseth’s outburst, the fallout from the first of two scandals about him using unsecured Signal chats to discuss sensitive battle plans was well underway.
In that case, he revealed detailed plans for a forthcoming attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen in a group chat that inadvertently included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
Another Signal-related controversy came to light Sunday, when The New York Times reported that Hegseth used another unclassified group chat to discuss those upcoming strikes with his wife, his brother, and his personal lawyer, among others.
It was also reported Thursday that Hegseth set up an unsecure internet connection—also known in intelligence circles as a “dirty line”—in his office in order to bypass a lack of cell signal and use Signal instead.
According to The Washington Post, that move apparently flouted the Pentagon’s security policy.
While Hegseth’s brother and lawyer do work at the Defense Department, his wife, Jennifer Rachet, does not. A former Fox News producer, she has reportedly been attending meetings with her husband, and applied for a security clearance. It’s unclear if one was granted.
Amid these reports, the department has seen several abrupt firings and resignations.
Last week, three aides were shown the door: Colin Carroll, Darin Selnick and Dan Caldwell. In a joint statement last Saturday, they claimed that they didn’t know basic information about the circumstances of their exit.
“At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks’ to begin with,” they said.
Caldwell would go on to tell Tucker Carlson in an interview that “personal vendettas” had fueled their departures. The leaks, he claimed, are coming from “the career staff who don’t like what the president and vice president and secretary want to do.”
Another personnel change involved Hegseth’s former chief of staff, Joe Kasper, who originally said he would be transferring to another job within the Pentagon. Kasper, facing allegations of inappropriate workplace behavior, indicated he is leaving the Defense Department entirely and returning to consulting.
To compound matters, the Pentagon’s inspector general is investigating Hegseth for allegedly mishandling classified information.
As a result, Hegseth has grown concerned about being fired, according to the Journal.
Donald Trump has begun the process of replacing the former Fox News host, a U.S. official told NPR on Monday. The White House, however, denied that report.
In public, Hegseth has taken a combative approach to the reporting on his tenure, and has staunchly defended his actions.
“What a big surprise that a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax,” he said Monday at the White House Easter Egg Roll. “This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations.”
No one has yet been charged over the leaks.
To Hegseth’s frustration, more stories about the inner workings of his department continue to come out.
