Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration recently forced high-ranking military officials to undergo polygraph tests after information regarding munitions stockpiles was leaked to the press.
According to CBS News, officials briefed on the matter claim a sweep of tests was given to a relatively small number of officials after President Trump was left "furious" after news outlets published stories regarding the nation's stockpiles of weapons in relation to the Iran war.
The stories shared classified details known to a very small number of officials, prompting fears within the administration that a leaker could be acting as a foreign intelligence asset.
In a statement, a Pentagon spokesperson refused to comment on "internal personnel or investigative matters," but insisted the department takes them very seriously.
"Securing classified information is critical to ensuring the security of the United States and of our troops deployed around the world," the statement said.
In his second term in office, President Trump and his Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have been issuing the tests to weed out officials that are not loyal to MAGA and crush internal dissent.
Last July, officials within the administration ordered Hegseth to cease the tests, but months later, he issued a memo seeking for force the tests on officials, and prohibit them from releasing any "non-public information without approval or through a defined process."
Last month, Hegseth announced the creation of a joint task force tasked with identifying and prosecuting people suspected of leaking sensitive information to the press.