A top advisor to Donald Trump‘s team had to be “escorted out” of the Pentagon and put on leave following a probe into a leak. Dan Caldwell – who worked with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth – was quickly removed from the US security headquarters by guards and had his access suspended on Tuesday.
Officials said Caldwell’s sudden downfall was linked to an investigation into a potential leak of sensitive information from the department. Caldwell, a former Marine Corps, worked closely with Hegseth and was the Defence Secretary’s designated staff member in the disastrous Signal messaging chat that a top journalist was added to.
The Signal group, which discussed detailed war plans for the bombing of Houthis in Yemen, was a huge embarrassment on the Trump administration after the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was added to the chat. The government did not publicly disclose what leaks were being investigated at the moment.
Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, revealed in a memo that the Pentagon was investigating – what it said were – leaks of national security information, on March 21. The message referred to “recent unauthorized disclosures” but did not give specific details.
Kasper warned that the investigation would begin immediately and result in a report to Hegseth. Kasper even suggested polygraphs, also known as lie detector tests, could be used in investigations.
The memo added: “I expect to be informed immediately if this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure, and that such information will be referred to the appropriate criminal law enforcement entity for criminal prosecution.”
Anonymous officials claimed the investigation was looking into leaks about military plans for the Panama Canal, another carrier going to the Red Sea, Elon Musk’s Pentagon visit and pausing intelligence sharing to Ukraine, according to Politico. The Pentagon’s deputy chief of staff, Darin Selnick, was also suspended as part of the probe.
A crackdown across the Pentagon and the Trump administration on the leaking of sensitive or classified information has already been been ongoing, even before the Signal chat emerged on March 24. Trump has desperately ordered any leakers within his team or the government be found and purged.
Caldwell and Hegseth’s relationship dates back to the pair working at Concerned Veterans for America, when the now Defence Secretary led the organisation. Caldwell worked at CVA beginning in 2013 as policy director and later as executive director.
Kasper’s probe was ordered just a day after a shock report from The New York Times that revealed Elon Musk was scheduled to receive a briefing on US plans concerning any potential conflict with China – involving some of the military’s most closely guarded secrets.
Trump quickly slammed the report calling it “ridiculous”, declaring: “China will not even be mentioned or discussed.”
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