Polygraphs, Purges, and the Snake Pit Inside Hegseth’s Pentagon. What is the Pentagon Doing About AI?
Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe pulls back the curtain on a Pentagon defined by press restrictions, unexplained leadership shakeups, internal polygraphs, military influencers, and growing questions about transparency and credibility.
Washington Post national security reporter Dan Lamothe returns to Independent Americans to break down what it actually looks like to cover Pete Hegseth's Pentagon in 2026 — no press conferences since May, no embeds in an active conflict, a four-star purge with no explanations, Dan Driscoll's resignation, polygraphs inside the building, paid military influencers on the federal payroll attacking reporters on X, a 60 Minutes segment that played like propaganda, General Dan Cain's growing credibility problem, and the AI void at the top of the Defense Department. Host Paul Rieckhoff and Dan lay it all flat in the kind of no-BS conversation you won't get anywhere else.
Get the latest episodes of Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff on the podcast's YouTube channel.
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