Texas Weekly Online

Menu
Menu
Facebook Twitter Youtube

Author:

Pentagon announces investigation into leaks, which could include polygraph tests

Pentagon announces investigation into leaks, which could include polygraph tests

The Pentagon said it would investigate what it claims are leaks of national security information, saying that the probes could include polygraph tests for employees in the Defense Department. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, sent a memo Friday saying that the Pentagon’s intelligence and law enforcement arms are probing “recent unauthorized disclosures” of national security information, without offering details about alleged leaks. “Recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) demand immediate and thorough investigation,” Kasper wrote. HEGSETH SUGGESTS JUDGE REPORT TO MILITARY BASES AFTER RULING THAT PENTAGON MUST ALLOW TRANSGENDER TROOPS “If this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure,” then the information “will be referred to the appropriate criminal entity for criminal prosecution,” he added. Kasper’s memo said the polygraphs would be used “in accordance with applicable law and policy.” President Donald Trump rejected a report from The New York Times that his senior adviser, Elon Musk, would be briefed on how the U.S. would handle a potential war with China. Musk responded by suggesting that people leaking “maliciously false information” to the media will be identified and prosecuted. HEGSETH SAYS DEFENSE DEPT ELIMINATE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN ‘WASTEFUL’ SPENDING AFTER DOGE FINDINGS “The New York Times is pure propaganda,” Musk said Friday on X. “Also, I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. They will be found.” Investigations into the alleged leaks at the Pentagon come after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed a move to step up lie-detector tests on employees in an attempt to identify people who may be leaking information to the media about immigration enforcement operations. The Justice Department also announced an investigation on Friday into what it purported to be “the selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified, information” from intelligence agencies about a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua, alleged members of which are being targeted by the Trump administration for removal from the U.S. Leaks from within the federal government happen in every administration across various agencies. While polygraph exams are typically not admissible in court proceedings because of concerns about their unreliability, they are often used by federal law enforcement agencies and for national security clearances. The Supreme Court also ruled in 1998 that polygraph tests were inadmissible in military justice proceedings. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Hegseth suggests judge report to military bases after ruling that Pentagon must allow transgender troops

Hegseth suggests judge report to military bases after ruling that Pentagon must allow transgender troops

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday said the judge who ruled that the Pentagon must allow transgender troops should report to military bases since she is “now a top military planner.” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction last week blocking the Pentagon from enforcing President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from serving in the military. Trump’s Jan. 27 order said “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service” and instructed the Department of Defense to update its medical standards for military service and pronoun policies. TRUMP ADMIN ASKS FEDERAL JUDGE TO DISSOLVE INJUNCTION BARRING TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN The president’s order said that “beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.” In her ruling, the judge said Trump’s order contains language that is “unabashedly demeaning,” adding that the policy “stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit.” Hegseth responded to the ruling on the social media platform X. PENTAGON TO APPEAL JUDGE’S DECISION BLOCKING TRANSGENDER BAN, HEGSETH SAYS “Since ‘Judge’ Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600 to instruct our Army Rangers on how to execute High Value Target Raids…after that, Commander Reyes can dispatch to Fort Bragg to train our Green Berets on counterinsurgency warfare,” he wrote. The judge delayed her order until Friday morning to allow time for the Trump administration to appeal, which it said it would do. Reyes said in her decision that the executive order likely poses constitutional rights violations. “The court knows that this opinion will lead to heated public debate and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes,” Reyes wrote. “We should all agree, however, that every person who has answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect.” “Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed – some risking their lives – to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them,” the judge added, noting that the defendants, on the other hand, “have not shown they will be burdened by continuing the status quo pending this litigation, and avoiding constitutional violations is always in the public interest.”

Tim Walz says he was joking when he mocked Tesla’s falling stock: ‘These people have no sense of humor’

Tim Walz says he was joking when he mocked Tesla’s falling stock: ‘These people have no sense of humor’

First he was a “knucklehead” now he’s a “smarta–.”  Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said Saturday that he was making a joke when he made a comment last week mocking Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk for the company’s recent downward trend in the stock market. Walz attempted to clarify his comments during a town hall in Rochester, Minnesota. “This guy bugs me in a way that’s probably unhealthy,” Walz said, referring to Musk. “I have to be careful about being a smarta–. I was making a joke. These people have no sense of humor. They are the most literal people.” “But my point was, they’re all mad, and I said something I probably shouldn’t have about a company,” he continued. TIM WALZ CHEERS TESLA SOCK TUMBLE, BUT MINNESOTA STATE EMPLOYEES’ PENSION OWNS OVER 1M SHARES Earlier in the week, the governor was holding an event in Wisconsin when he mocked Tesla’s falling stock. “Some of you know this. On the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day — $225 and dropping,” Walz said. “And if you own one, we’re not blaming you. You can take dental floss and pull the Tesla thing off.” As of March, Tesla’s stock is down 41.4% year-to-date. There have been a series of recent vandalism incidents targeting Tesla vehicles in a protest against Musk for his role in President Donald Trump’s administration. Walz further criticized Musk on Saturday for his role in the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, in which the billionaire tech executive seeks to cut the federal workforce as a cost-cutting initiative for the federal government. SUSPECTED TESLA ARSONISTS HIT WITH FEDERAL CHARGES IN ACTS OF ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM’: AG “They’re all butthurt about the Tesla thing, but they don’t care about the disrespect they have shown to employees at the Minneapolis VA who care for our veterans, and they fire them. They don’t care,” the governor said. “Maybe it’s just me. If I’m the richest man in the world, I’m like out on the streets handing out money,” he added. “It’d be fun as hell just to help people out. Go help people out. Not this guy.”