JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a top Army general who oversees planning at the Pentagon. Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia is the subject of a leak investigation. That is, according to officials who are not authorized to speak publicly. Now, soon after this news broke, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell released a statement without referring to any individual and said there was an investigation into the release of classified information and that the matter has been referred to the Justice Department for possible legal action. NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman is here with more. Hey there.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: Tom, what can you tell us? What else do we know about why General Sylvia was fired?
BOWMAN: Well, officials are alleging that the general was releasing information about Iran and Ukraine to reporters. That's it. No other details. Now, the Parnell statement said the Air Force Office of Special Investigations oversaw this probe into General Sylvia. So judging by that office, it appears this has to do at least in part with air strikes over Iran. There were, of course, thousands of strikes beginning earlier this year from airfields in the U.S., as well as Europe and the Middle East. But again, no detail on what possible information was shared.
And what's ironic, Juana, is that a year and a half ago, Secretary Hegseth shared classified information about airstrikes in Yemen over a Signal chat with his wife, brother and others who did not have top secret clearances. The Pentagon inspector general found that Hegseth transmitted secret information on aircraft launch times, number of aircraft and strike times on target. The IG said all that could have imperiled U.S. service members had it been intercepted. There was talk then, Juana, of replacing the secretary, but President Trump stood by him.
SUMMERS: OK, and I am not familiar with General Sylvia. What do we know about him?
BOWMAN: Highly respected, West Point grad, been in the planning job for less than a year, was a former commander of the 101st Airborne Division, lots of combat time in Afghanistan and Iraq, has a Purple Heart and six Bronze Star medals, including one for valor. And, of course, he's one of a number of senior officers fired by Secretary Hegseth, some because they disagreed with, let's say, having U.S. troops on American streets, or the secretary believed they got their jobs because of their race or gender. You're looking at two dozen or so senior officers let go without any explanation. Still, others were fired because they were seen as tied to former Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley, who Trump despises and who the Pentagon investigated, charging he was undermining the president. I'm told that investigation is going nowhere. Now, Congress is looking at including language in the defense bill that would prohibit firing military personnel without first coming to lawmakers. That's according to a Hill staffer.
SUMMERS: OK, just thinking through this here for a second, Tom, firing the planning director while there is an ongoing contentious war with Iran. That sounds like potentially a problem.
BOWMAN: Well, yeah, the general's job that he was fired from is a more widespread position that covers broad strategic planning, policy, development, long term assessment. So not a direct role in the current Iran war. That falls to the top officer in central command, Admiral Brad Cooper and his staff, as well as, you know, air and naval forces in the region.
SUMMERS: Now, getting back to the subject of leaks, am I right to notice that this has been - or it seems like it's been a particular concern for Secretary Hegseth?
BOWMAN: Yeah, right from the beginning, and I think partially spurred by that Signalgate (ph) problem. And there were anonymous reports of infighting among his staff members. After that, he fired a number of his civilian staff, threatened military officers with polygraphs and, frankly, has created a climate of fear in the Pentagon. The secretary hasn't had a press briefing since early May. There were a few background briefings for reporters. Staff on Capitol Hill say they're kept in the dark on military matters, as well. So, you know, should the Democrats take control of the House, you'll likely see a lot more scrutiny of Secretary Hegseth.
SUMMERS: NPR's Tom Bowman. Thanks as always.
BOWMAN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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