Top Hegseth advisor Dan Caldwell placed on administrative leave by Defense Department

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Top Hegseth advisor Dan Caldwell placed on administrative leave by Defense Department
Caldwell has argued that the U.S. should dramatically reduce its footprint in Europe and pull out forces in Iraq and Syria
By Morgan Phillips Fox News
Published April 15, 2025 4:03pm EDT

A top advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was escorted out of the Pentagon on Tuesday and placed on administrative leave, according to a Defense Department official.

Reuters first reported Caldwell had been placed on leave for an "unauthorized disclosure" of information amid an investigation into Pentagon leaks. An official confirmed to Fox News Digital that Reuters' reporting is accurate but declined to comment on an ongoing investigation.

Caldwell, who formerly worked at restraint-minded think tank Defense Priorities and Concerned Veterans for America, a group formerly led by Hegseth. A foreign policy realist, he has argued that the U.S. should dramatically reduce its footprint in Europe and pull out forces in Iraq and Syria.

Last month the Defense Department announced a probe into "recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information" and said it planned to use polygraphs to determine the source of leaks.

"The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy," DOD Chief of Staff Joe Kasper wrote in a memo. "This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense."

He wrote that "information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure" would be referred for criminal prosecution."

Caldwell did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-hegseth-advisor-placed-administrative-leave-defense-department

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Two Top Advisers to Pete Hegseth Escorted Out of the Pentagon for Alleged Leaking

Kristina Wong 15 Apr 2025

Two top advisers to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were escorted out of the Pentagon and placed on administrative leave on Tuesday after being identified in an investigation as leakers, according to two officials.

The officials were Dan Caldwell, a top adviser to Hegseth, and Darin Selnick, the Pentagon deputy chief of staff.

It is not clear what their motives were, but one official said Caldwell leaking information to “far-left reporters to hurt the secretary.”

It is also not yet clear what the unauthorized disclosures were, but the Pentagon has been beset by a string of leaks in recent weeks, prompting Pentagon Chief of Staff Joe Kasper to order an investigation.

Kasper’s order came after the New York Times reported that Elon Musk was planning to visit the Pentagon to be briefed on “war plans” in the Tank — a secure conference room at the Pentagon where top defense and military leaders gather to discuss the department’s most pressing issues.

While Musk did visit the Pentagon, the meeting took place in Hegseth’s office — not the Tank — and China was not discussed.

However, even before that, there were leaks of classified information that was only known at the highest levels at the Pentagon.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/04/15/top-adviser-pete-hegseth-escorted-pentagon-alleged-leaking/

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 Third top Defense Department official placed on leave amid leak probe
by Filip Timotija - 04/16/25 3:54 PM ET

Suspensions at the Defense Department have continued, with a third top Pentagon official being placed on administrative leave amid an ongoing investigation into information leaks at the department.

Colin Carroll, chief of staff to deputy secretary of Defense Steve A. Feinberg, was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday, a U.S. defense official told The Hill. The department did not have any more information to share.

Carroll’s suspension came just a day after two of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s advisers were suspended and escorted out of the Pentagon.

On Tuesday, the Defense Department suspended and escorted out Dan Caldwell, Hegseth’s senior adviser, and Darin Selnick, the department’s deputy chief of staff. Both Caldwell and Selnick previously worked at Concerned Veterans for America, a nonprofit group previously headed by Hegseth.

Carroll, a U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer, previously worked at Anduril Industries, a defense contractor that specializes in autonomous systems, according to his LinkedIn. He also worked at Applied Intuition, a software company headquartered in California.

Carroll deployed to Afghanistan four times as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy with an aerospace engineering degree and got his master’s degree from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

The Defense Department said in March that it kicked off an investigation into “recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information.”

“This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense,” Hegseth’s chief of staff Joe Kasper wrote in a March 21 memo. “The report will include a complete record of unauthorized disclosures within the Department of Defense and recommendations to improve such efforts.”

Caldwell, a Marine Corps veteran, was a public policy adviser at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy-focused think tank. Selnick, a retired Air Force officer, worked as a senior adviser to the Concerned Veterans for America from 2019 to 2024.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5252419-dod-suspensions-third-official/