Pentagon Leak Probe: Planner Fired, Claims Disputed

Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia admitted leaking classified information about Iran and Ukraine to two reporters, an internal investigation report reported by Axios Thursday says. The Pentagon fired him this week. Now the same military apparatus that controls classified information is investigating how it reached the press, while the inquiry’s conclusions remain contested.

The Pentagon’s Information Police

A US official told Axios that Sylvia acknowledged the misconduct on video after failing four polygraph tests. The report accused him of making “unauthorized disclosures to the media.” Those are the investigation’s claims. Two other Pentagon sources told CBS News they disputed allegations that Sylvia leaked classified information.

The disclosures began as early as June 2025, Axios reported, and continued through Signal communications and an in-person meeting with a reporter at a diner in Arlington, Virginia. During that meeting, Sylvia used notes he had taken while reviewing a classified report to provide information about US assistance to Ukraine, according to the investigation.

The report also examined messages with another reporter. Sylvia told investigators that he received a Signal message he believed “had something to do with Iran” and later deleted it, along with the entire message thread. US officials suspect the deletion was intentional, Axios reported. That suspicion isn’t the same as a finding presented in the article.

A Firing, Then a Retreat

The Atlantic and The Hill reported Wednesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had removed Sylvia as director of strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Staff, a key position known as the J5 that helps advise Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine. The reason for the dismissal wasn’t disclosed at the time.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Sylvia’s dismissal followed an extensive investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Reuters reported Thursday that officials had referred the matter to the Justice Department for potential further legal action. Referral is a step toward possible action, not a report that charges have been filed.

The Joint Staff first issued a statement thanking Sylvia for his 32 years of service, then withdrew it. The staff said the statement “did not appropriately reflect the full circumstances,” Reuters reported. Even the official thank-you needed revision once the investigation’s allegations became public.

The Wider Leak Inquiry

The Pentagon subjected dozens of senior military officials to polygraph tests earlier this year as part of a broader investigation into leaks of classified information. The inquiry included information about US stocks of sophisticated weapons during the Iran war. The New York Times first reported on the tests, according to CBS News.

Two other Pentagon sources told CBS News Sylvia’s firing was related to the polygraph tests, while disputing the claim that he leaked classified information. The accounts conflict, leaving a basic question unresolved in public reporting: whether the dismissal followed proven disclosures, or the machinery of a leak investigation whose methods and conclusions are themselves disputed.

Sylvia’s removal comes as the US military plans for a potential resumption of intensive strikes on Iran. The same institution is managing military plans, guarding classified information and investigating a senior officer accused of sharing it. Its report gives allegations and an account of an admission; the dispute among Pentagon sources remains part of the record.