Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team abruptly changed its story overnight about a fired top general, after accusing him of leaking secrets and failing three lie-detector tests.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on X Thursday that the department took “necessary personnel action” after an investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. His statement did not name Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, the Joint Staff’s director for strategy, plans and policy.
Late Wednesday, an anonymous Pentagon official told correspondent Alexandra Ingersoll of the pro-MAGA One America News Network that Hegseth fired Sylvia for “severe misconduct.” The official said Sylvia “failed three polygraphs” about leaking classified information on the Iran war and other matters.
In less than 14 hours, the Pentagon’s account of Sylvia went from an officer thanked for his service to a suspected leaker, then to a general its statement would not name.
“We wish him and his family the best as they graduate to new opportunities,” a Joint Staff spokesperson told CNN Wednesday night, thanking Sylvia for “32 years of distinguished service.”
The Joint Staff later withdrew it, saying the statement “did not appropriately reflect the full circumstances,” ABC News reported.
Defense officials had told The Atlantic, which broke the news Wednesday night, that Hegseth lost confidence in Sylvia.
Reporters and analysts covering the military questioned both the official statement and the anonymous accusation.
“These are significant legal differences,” Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe wrote on X, noting that Parnell’s statement did not name Sylvia or directly accuse him of leaking. He said the statement refers to “sensitive national security information,” which differs from classified material “both legally and practically.”
“Here is why the current DoD narrative on firing of Lt Gen Sylvia is so odd,” former CNN national security reporter Barbara Starr wrote on X. “Did the chairman of joint chiefs know about alleged three lie detector failures and then still keep Sylvia on the job?”
“If there’s an investigation, Lt. Gen. [Sylvia] would normally be suspended until the completion of the investigation, then fired,” former Army aviator Crispin Burke wrote on X. “Not fired mid-probe.”
“Do I believe LTG Sylvia was leaking classified information to the media?” asked Ryan Evans, founder of the site War on the Rocks, on X. “No, not for one second. This would not be the first time this Pentagon has lied about polygraphs.”
The accusations against Sylvia first surfaced through the outlet that had stayed inside the Pentagon when other reporters walked out.
Dozens of reporters turned in their Pentagon badges in October 2025 rather than agree to new press rules, and only One America News Network signed on at the time, NBC Washington reported.
Ingersoll posted the official’s account at 11:53 p.m. Wednesday, about nine hours before CNN’s Zachary Cohen reported similar claims.
“Due to the Pentagon’s media policy requiring journalists to have escorts in the building, Sylvia began meeting with journalists outside of the Pentagon in order to leak classified information,” the official told Ingersoll.
“Hegseth’s henchmen are accusing a decorated general and combat veteran … of being a leaker,” Washington Post columnist Max Boot wrote on X. “And they’re doing so in leaks to MAGA outlets!”
Parnell said the matter was referred to the Justice Department “for potential further legal action,” which could expose Sylvia to prosecution. Sylvia did not respond to The Atlantic’s request for comment.