One of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top advisers was escorted from the Pentagon on Tuesday after an investigation into leaks.
A US defense official told Reuters that Dan Caldwell was placed on administrative leave for “an unauthorized disclosure.” The report did not explain the nature of the alleged disclosure.
One of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leading advisers, Dan Caldwell, was escorted from the Pentagon on Tuesday after being identified during an investigation into leaks at the Department of Defense, a U.S. official told Reuters.
Caldwell was placed on administrative leave for "an unauthorized disclosure," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The decision has not been previously reported.
"The investigation remains ongoing," the official said without providing details about the nature of the alleged disclosure, including whether it was made to a journalist or to someone else.
Caldwell and Hegseth have been friends for over a decade, according to The New York Times.
Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Hegseth have a long relationship, dating back more than a decade to their tenure at Concerned Veterans for America, a conservative group that pressed for reforms to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Caldwell, a Marine Corps veteran, served in Iraq but eventually doubted the wisdom of the war.
“I think the Iraq war was a monstrous crime,” Mr. Caldwell told The Financial Times in December 2024. Mr. Hegseth has expressed similar reservations about the war.
Mr. Caldwell previously worked for Defense Priorities, a think tank that pushed for a more restrained U.S. foreign policy and was deeply skeptical of American engagement in the Middle East and support to Ukraine.
Mr. Caldwell’s positions have been a source of debate within his own Republican Party, which remains divided between those who maintain that the U.S. military is overextended in the world and traditionalist Republicans who see American power as central to global stability.
Story in 3 parts.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) April 15, 2025
Part 1: Concerns raised about Dan Caldwell pushing isolationist appointments at the Pentagon.
Part 2: Tucker claims it’s a smear campaign and Caldwell is a “man of genuine integrity.
Part 3: Caldwell put on leave after investigation into recent leaks. pic.twitter.com/4dXh5Bqivy
Caldwell was included in the leaked Signal chat that was reported last month in which officials planned the military strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen. Hegseth named him as the point of contact for the National Security Council as it prepared to launch the airstrikes.
The adviser was a vocal critic of the Iraq War, calling it a “monstrous crime.”
Hegseth’s Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick was also reportedly removed as a result of the leak investigation, CBS News reported.
We don’t yet know what information Caldwell and Selnick allegedly leaked – but it must have been egregious if it warrants escorting them from the building. But it does demonstrate something important: President Donald Trump has learned his lesson from his first term, which was rife with leaks to the press.
Indeed, the White House under Trump’s first term was leakier than wire mesh, about as effective at preventing information from getting out as Get Smart’s cone of silence.
Some of these leaks likely had President Trump consuming entire bottles of aspirin. When a whistleblower claimed Trump had pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate former President Joe Biden, it sparked the first impeachment attempt against him.
You might also remember the leak regarding former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s discussions with the Russian ambassador about lifting sanctions on the Kremlin.
We also can’t forget former FBI Director James Comey’s leaked memos claiming Trump asked him to drop the investigation into Flynn, can we?
Perhaps this development shows that the president appreciates the trouble leaks can cause for his administration and is doing what is necessary to prevent certain types of information from getting to the press.
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