Pentagon and Justice Department Create Joint Task Force to Prosecute Media Leaks

Jul 13, 2026

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a joint Pentagon and Justice Department task force to identify and prosecute media leakers. The move escalates a broader Trump administration crackdown, coming days after the DOJ subpoenaed four New York Times journalists over reporting on President Trump's plane. While Hegseth emphasizes national security, critics highlight his own 2025 Signal chat controversy, where an inspector general found he violated policy by sharing sensitive strike details.

Pentagon-DOJ leak prosecution task force

▪The United States Department of Justice and the Pentagon have created a joint task force to identify and prosecute individuals who leak sensitive government information to the news media.
▪Under the new policy, Pentagon offices and personnel must prioritize requests from the Office of General Counsel and provide a full and complete response within two days of submission.
▪Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thanked acting United States Attorney General Todd Blanche for his assistance in establishing the joint leak task force.
▪Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delegated tasking authority to the War Department's Office of General Counsel, empowering it to request and receive all information, records, and support across the department concerning media leak investigations.

Hegseth crackdown on media leaks

▪Former Pentagon officials Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll were placed on leave, escorted out, and fired from the Pentagon amid a leak investigation.
▪The Pentagon launched investigations last year into personnel accused of leaking classified information, threatening to conduct polygraph tests.
▪President Donald Trump threatened in April 2026 to jail journalists who leaked information regarding a missing U.S. pilot from a downed F-15E fighter jet over Iran.

New York Times reporter subpoenas

▪The Justice Department previously sought to compel testimony from journalists at the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post earlier in 2026, but withdrew the subpoenas after legal challenges.
▪A Justice Department spokesperson stated that the subpoenaed New York Times reporters are not the targets of the investigation, but rather those who leaked the classified information.
▪The Justice Department issued subpoenas to four New York Times reporters to compel their testimony before a federal grand jury in Manhattan regarding security concerns of President Donald Trump's Qatari-donated plane.
▪Prior to publishing its first story on the aircraft, a senior FBI official contacted a New York Times reporter and editor requesting they withhold the article and disclose their sources, which the newspaper refused to do.

Pentagon press access restrictions

▪Pentagon reporters turned in their press passes in October 2025 instead of signing an updated media policy requiring them to pledge not to solicit unauthorized material.
▪The Pentagon barred reporters from entering the building and designated the facility as a classified space, curtailing press access.

Hegseth Signal chat controversy

▪Reports in 2025 indicated that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared details about U.S. airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen in a Signal group chat that included his wife and brother.
▪A December 2025 report from the Pentagon's Office of Inspector General found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated department policy and jeopardized troop safety by using the Signal app on his personal cell phone to discuss pending U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.