The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sept. 6, 2026.
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We're joined now by Colorado Democratic Congressman Jason Crow.
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It's good to have you here in person.
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So CBS is reporting that several dozen of the highest-ranking officials in the United States military were subjected to polygraph tests as part of the sweeping leak probe that Secretary Hegseth has ordered.
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This includes combatant commanders.
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They're looking for who leaked the highly classified details about the nation's stockpiles of sophisticated weapons.
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Has Congress been told anything about the outcome?
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I haven't been briefed anything about this.
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We haven't received any information; it's just been public reports.
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And- and certainly, stopping leaks and protecting classified information is really important.
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And I would always support that.
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The problem is- is the broader context that Pete Hegseth has created here.
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He has purged over 80 generals and admirals, the top 10% of the entire military chain of command has been purged.
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We are at a 25-year low for the number of women on the promotion list, and he's created an environment of fear.
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He's pushed out journalists.
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He's pushed out media.
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This is part of his effort to create fear and to clamp down on information coming out of the Pentagon.
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I mean, polygraph tests are part of routine cadence, but from what I understand, it's the number, it's the rank of people here.
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It also seems to confirm the reporting about the problems with America's munitions shortages.
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Well, because they don't- they don't want people to know.
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They don't want people to know what's actually happening.
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That's why they fired the editor of the Stars and Stripes, an independent newspaper that's been around since 1861 by the way- 1861, it was founded during the Civil War to be an independent media outlet for our service members, so that people would understand what they're going through.
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This is the broader trend of them not wanting anybody, including members of Congress, to understand what's going on.
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Munitions have been depleted.
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The stockpiles are very low, contrary to what Donald Trump wants us to believe.
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These types of precise munitions do not grow on trees.
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They take a long time to build up.
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They started this war.
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The president started this war without a plan, without a strategy.
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I mean, I just heard your prior guest, Secretary Wright, talk about numbers and barrels, and- and that's all tactical discussion, right?
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There's no longer-term plan for how we get out of this and how we normalize the markets and how we drive down prices for Americans.
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Speaking of the region, one of the other things we're looking at is the 50,000 personnel the U.S. keeps currently in the region.
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The Navy's Fifth Fleet is headquartered in the country of Bahrain.
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The Chief of Naval Operations held a town hall this past week.
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A sailor asked about like, when can I go back and get all my gear, and he said, "We're not getting back in there anytime soon.
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I just want to be completely honest about that."
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Should we understand that as saying the U.S. is withdrawing or drawing down personnel from- from the Gulf?
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REP. CROW: I- I have for a long time thought that we need to draw down our forces generally in the Middle East.
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We need to get out of endless conflict in the Middle East.
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Donald Trump campaigned on this, by the way.
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…and 56 more, not listed.
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