After a top Army general was fired this week, a Pentagon official said the officer had "failed polygraph tests," according to a CBS News report. The same report said the disclosure is now the subject of legal questions, with some attorneys saying it could run afoul of privacy laws.
CBS News's summary, which is the only portion of the report available for this story, does not identify which attorneys hold that view or which privacy laws may apply. It also does not say whether the Pentagon has responded to the concerns, whether the general has commented, or whether any court or agency has taken up the question.
According to the summary, the firing came first and the polygraph statement followed. The summary does not describe how the Pentagon official came to disclose the results or what the official said beyond the statement that the general had failed the tests.
CBS News framed its headline around the phrase that the disclosure "may have" violated privacy laws, presenting the matter as a possible violation rather than a settled one. The summary leaves that question unresolved, and nothing in the material available for this story resolves it.
Sources: CBS News: Disclosure of fired general's polygraph may have violated privacy laws.