‘I’ll Hook You up to a F*****g Polygraph!’ Hegseth Reportedly ERUPTED at Joint Chiefs Chairman He Suspected of Leaking To the Press

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth went off on the acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff amid a search for a leaker at the Pentagon, according to a report published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.

The paper said Hegseth was “rattled” after word got out last month that the Pentagon was set to brief Elon Musk on China, where the Tesla CEO has three factories. President Donald Trump denied the report the next day. However, Axios later reported that Trump had canceled the briefing while asking, “What the fuck is Elon doing here?”

During his search for the leaker, Hegseth erupted at Admiral Christopher Grady, who was then the acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

“I’ll hook you up to a f——-g polygraph!” Hegseth shouted at the admiral, the Journal reported, according to two people familiar with the interaction. The secretary demanded proof that Grady was not the source of the Musk leak. Grady was never polygraphed. Hegseth reportedly threatened others with a polygraph test, including Lt. Gen. Doug Sims, the Joint Chiefs director.

The report is just the latest trouble for Hegseth. After a slog of a confirmation fight that ended with the vice president casting the tie-breaking vote, the secretary has only provided his detractors with fodder. Last month, it was revealed that Hegseth shared looming plans for airstrikes in Yemen with more than a dozen administration officials in a Signal group chat. This week, it was reported that he shared the same plans in another chat with his wife, brother, and lawyer. It was also reported that Hegseth set up a makeup studio at the Pentagon to be used ahead of television appearances, which Hegseth denied. Last week, Hegseth lost four staffers amid what one Pentagon official called “chaos” at the department. And on Thursday, the Associated Press reported that Hegseth used “an internet connections that bypassed the Pentagon’s security protocols set up in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer,” according to two sources.

For its report, the Journal said the Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.