White House Reportedly Tells Hegseth To Stop Polygraph Tests As Senior Official Believe They Could Be Targeted Next

The White House reportedly directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to stop using polygraph tests to search for people who have leaked inside information to news media. The practice raised concerns among senior officials in the White House about possibly being targeted next, sources told The Washington Post.

Hegseth and his closest aides have been carrying out polygraph tests since at least this April, when the scandal known as Signalgate was initially reported, raising concerns about the possibility that Hegseth was willingly ignoring federal government protocols on handling sensitive information.

The intervention from the White House came after senior adviser Patrick Weaver raised concerns that he or another member of his team could be targeted next. That possibility angered Weaver, an immigration hawk seen within the administration as a loyal foot soldier to President Donald Trump and associate of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the outlet noted.

Weaver had previously served as a Republican congressional staff member and as an aide in the first Trump administration on the White House's National Security Council and in the Department of Homeland Security. He remains an adviser to Hegseth.

By the time he raised his concerns to the White House, polygraph tests already had been administered to members of the Joint Service Interagency Advisory Group, a team in Hegseth's front office that was assembled to examine how to counter drug cartels and enhance security on the southern border, people familiar with the matter said. The team includes numerous Special Operations troops and representatives from other government agencies, including the FBI.

Senior Hegseth adviser Colonel Ricky Buria took a polygraph test and received inconclusive results.

Navy Admiral Christopher Grady, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Army Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, have also faced the threat of polygraph tests, those with knowledge of the matter added.

The Independent reached out to The Pentagon for comments on the tests, which they declined, citing an "ongoing investigation."

"The Fake News Media's obsession with months-old workplace gossip is a reflection of the sad and pathetic state of 'journalism' in Washington," spokesperson Sean Parnell said.

Hegseth's Pentagon has been ravaged by controversies, which some MAGA supporters have expressed as concerning. However, Trump himself continues to publicly support the former Fox presenter.

"A lot of people swirl sh-t to try to take him down, honestly— but talk of drama with him is overblown," a senior White House official told Politico on Monday. "What I know is that everyone who matters has his back completely, currently."