The Pentagon has initiated an investigation incorporating polygraph checks to seek out leakers after Elon Musk referred to as for the prosecution of any Protection Division officers spreading “maliciously false data” about his dealings with the navy.
In response to accusations surrounding Musk’s current visit to the Pentagon, Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of employees, Joe Kasper, referred to as for an investigation into “unauthorized disclosures” of nationwide safety data with these discovered accountable to “be referred to the suitable prison legislation enforcement entity for prison prosecution.”
Musk, the world’s richest man with billions of {dollars} in protection contracts, visited the Pentagon on Friday for a dialog about cost-cutting and innovation. The visit sparked controversy earlier than it started after the New York Occasions reported that Musk was to get a prime secret briefing concerning the US navy’s planning for any potential struggle with China.
The Occasions, which cited a number of unidentified US officers acquainted with the matter, mentioned Musk was scheduled to view delicate U.S. navy methods regarding China, probably exposing vital Pentagon secrets and techniques given Musk’s substantial enterprise pursuits there. Musk’s views on China have additionally provoked concern. He’s referred to as Taiwan “an integral a part of China” and as soon as advised that the self-ruled island turn out to be an administrative zone of the nation.
Each President Donald Trump and protection chief Hegseth denied there have been ever any plans for Musk to get such a high-level briefing. Within the Oval Workplace on Friday, Trump acknowledged Musk’s potential battle when he defined why he’d by no means give him such a briefing.
Additional intensifying the scrutiny, Musk took to X, a social media platform he owns, insisting on the prosecution of Pentagon officers leaking deceptive data to the media.
Hegseth has been probably the most vocal champions of Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity, boasting of a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars} in spending cuts carried out in collaboration with DOGE staffers.
The investigation into leaks “will start instantly and culminate in a report back to the Secretary of Protection,” Kasper wrote in a memo issued late on March 21. “The report will embrace an entire file of unauthorized disclosures inside the Division of Protection and proposals to enhance such efforts.”
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
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