Fired general accused of being source for Wall Street Journal, NYT
· Axios
The Pentagon's former top military planner is under federal investigation and may face a court-martial for allegedly leaking to reporters from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, according to three sources familiar with the controversy.
Why it matters: Former Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week after being accused of misconduct as part of the department's war on leaks.
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- Sylvia failed four polygraphs and admitted to the incidents during two interviews on video that lasted more than a total of two hours, according to details from an internal Pentagon report shared with Axios.
- "The president has no tolerance for leakers, so Sylvia's termination is the first step in the accountability process, not the last," one of the sources said.
Zoom in: Starting in the fall of 2025, the sources said, Sylvia gave information without authorization to reporters Michael Gordon of the Wall Street Journal and Greg Jaffe of the New York Times.
- Neither reporter is suspected or accused of doing anything illegal, improper or unprofessional in their reporting.
- Journalists often rely on confidential sources in reporting on issues that involve institutions where insiders aren't authorized to speak publicly.
The report states Sylvia admitted to more extensive contacts with Gordon in 2025 and 2026, when the general allegedly shared classified information about Ukraine and Iran with the reporter. The Justice Department is investigating that.
- Only one discussion with Jaffe appears in the investigative report, concerning Hegseth's unexplained purging of military leaders. Sources said the unauthorized communication by Sylvia potentially violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice's prohibition of "conduct unbecoming of an officer."
Behind the scenes: Sylvia allegedly admitted to first disclosing information to Gordon in the fall of 2025 when the two met in the Pentagon and discussed unspecified information about Ukraine, the sources said.
- After the Wall Street Journal and other outlets were barred from the Pentagon, Sylvia met Gordon at the Silver Diner in Arlington, Va., to give information about a book the reporter was planning to write, the report said.
- "Major General Sylvia relied on notes he took while reviewing a classified secret report to orally brief Gordon on assistance to Ukraine," said the report, which emphasized that Sylvia didn't receive clearance to discuss the sensitive information.
- A separate legal analysis of Sylvia's conduct alleged that the general also discussed "munitions stockpiles and high-level interagency discussions with Iran" that were classified, according to a source briefed on the document.
Then, "sometime in June or July," Gordon sent Sylvia a message on the encrypted app Signal, the report said.
- "Sylvia is unable to recall exactly what was in that message" the report said. "But he believed it had something to do with Iran. He stated that he did not respond to the message and instead deleted it."
- While deleting the message, Sylvia allegedly told military investigators that "he believed he deleted the entire message thread with Michael Gordon. This erased Signal messages and Signal phone calls that would have been recorded in Signal on [Sylvia's] personal phone."
- Sylvia "indicated multiple times he was comfortable with what he told Gordon about Ukraine assistance," the report said without elaborating.
The intrigue: Sylvia's case has led to some friction in the Pentagon after the Joint Staff initially issued a positive statement about the general immediately after he was terminated.
- The Joint Staff retracted its statement after senior Defense Department officials sent word that Sylvia had been fired for allegedly leaking.
- A source familiar with the investigation said the Joint Staff should have known better.
- "You don't get four polygraphs deep without the head of the Joint Staff being briefed at some point. Why wasn't he flagged, what red flags flared up?" the source said.
- "Their first statement, they gave him a farewell — you know, 'We wish you well in your future endeavors' — and had to retract that information after the truth came out," the source said. "So there's a level of culpability within the Joint Staff that I think is a critical part of this they need to answer for."
What they're saying: The Joint Staff declined to comment and referred questions to the Justice Department.
- The New York Times and Wall Street Journal declined to comment.
- Sylvia could not be reached for comment.
- The Defense Department referred Axios to a statement by Assistant Defense Secretary Sean Parnell, who said last week that "classified information is not personal property. Leaking it for personal, political or professional gain is a betrayal of the trust placed in those responsible for keeping it."