The Wall Street Journal cited Pentagon insiders as reporting that the US Department of Defense had originally planned to brief billionaire Musk on 29 highly confidential counter-China weapons plans last month. However, the briefing plan was urgently canceled after Acting General Counsel Charles Young intervened.
The report pointed out that Young found that the content of the briefing memorandum involved highly confidential information classified as a "Special Access Program" (SAP), and immediately contacted senior staff of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was visiting Japan, to confirm whether approval had been obtained to disclose relevant content to Musk. In a text message, Young wrote, "This memorandum is put on hold before you return to discuss it."
Although Musk ultimately did not access the briefing content, this incident highlighted the internal chaos in the upper echelons of the Pentagon during Hegseth's early tenure. Although Hegseth and President Trump later claimed that they never intended to brief Musk on sensitive China military intelligence, the fact shows that the plan had entered the preparation stage and was scheduled for a briefing on March 21 when Musk visited the Pentagon.
After the plan was exposed and Trump learned about it from the media, the briefing was immediately canceled. There were also concerns within the Department of Defense about providing sensitive information to Musk, who has close business interests with China.
SAP projects typically involve highly confidential weapon development technologies, and only a very small number of officials with "need-to-know" qualifications are privy to them. Former CIA senior official John Sipher emphasized, "Having a high-level security clearance does not mean you have access to all information."
It is currently unclear whether the briefing was definitely prepared for Musk's visit, but several informed sources indicated that some staff in the Deputy Secretary of Defense's office misunderstood Hegseth's instructions and began compiling content until Young intervened to stop it.
Insiders revealed that several officials at the Pentagon have been dismissed or transferred due to suspected leaks. Hegseth even requested that his staff take lie detector tests, causing turmoil among the military leadership and delaying operations at the Department of Defense.
Hegseth denied on Monday in a speech at the Army War College in Pennsylvania that the Pentagon was in chaos, calling personnel changes necessary for reform. He said, "The media calls it chaos; we call it reform."
Neither the Pentagon nor Musk's side has commented on this matter so far.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7497577958379504163/
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