The Pentagon’s highest-ranking military official is suspected of leaking classified secret information about Iran and Ukraine to journalists. The report was published on Thursday by Axios, citing an internal investigation.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth dismissed Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia earlier this week from his position as chief of strategy, plans and policy at the Joint Staff of the US Armed Forces.
Without naming Brett Sylvia, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Thursday that the institution has “zero tolerance for the deliberate and unauthorized disclosure of classified information.” He added that the Pentagon “has taken the necessary administrative steps to protect sensitive information.”
According to Axios, Sylvia admitted that he had leaked information to the media as early as June 2025, before most media outlets were barred from entering the Pentagon.
He is suspected of continuing to communicate with journalists through the encrypted messaging app Signal. On one occasion, he met a journalist at a restaurant to discuss, without authorization, US military assistance to Ukraine.
“The report stresses that he had difficulty passing several consecutive polygraph (lie detector) tests,” Axios reported.