Pentagon senior adviser Dan Caldwell ousted in probe into leaks

Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been positioned on administrative go away and was escorted out of the Pentagon by safety on Tuesday, two protection officers mentioned.

The officers mentioned Caldwell’s sudden downfall was tied to an investigation into unauthorized disclosure of division data. The officers spoke on situation of anonymity to debate personnel issues.

Caldwell, who served within the Marine Corps, was certainly one of a number of senior advisers who labored carefully with Hegseth. Caldwell’s ties to the secretary return to Hegseth’s time as the top of Involved Veterans for America, a nonprofit that fell into monetary problem throughout his time there. Caldwell labored at CVA starting in 2013 as coverage director and later as govt director.

He additionally was the workers member designated as Hegseth’s level individual within the Sign messaging chat that prime Trump administration nationwide safety officers, together with Hegseth, used to convey plans for a army strike towards Houthi militants in Yemen. The chat, arrange by nationwide safety adviser Michael Waltz, included quite a lot of prime Cupboard members and got here to gentle as a result of Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, was added to the group.

The officers didn’t disclose what leaks are being investigated, however there was a crackdown throughout the Pentagon and the Trump administration on the disclosure of delicate or labeled data.

Caldwell’s ouster was first reported by Reuters.

On March 21, Hegseth’s chief of workers, Joe Kasper, mentioned in a memo that the Pentagon was investigating what it mentioned had been leaks of nationwide safety data. Protection Division personnel might face polygraphs.

The memo referred to “latest unauthorized disclosures” however offered no particulars. Kasper warned that the investigation would start instantly and end in a report back to Hegseth.

“I count on to learn instantly if this effort ends in data figuring out a celebration answerable for an unauthorized disclosure, and that such data might be referred to the suitable legal regulation enforcement entity for legal prosecution,” Kasper mentioned within the memo.

Caldwell, who graduated from Arizona State College in 2011, additionally labored as a public coverage adviser at Protection Priorities, a assume tank based mostly in Washington.

Editor’s word: This story has been up to date.