Three former top advisers to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denounced what they called “baseless attacks” on Saturday after they were all ousted from the Pentagon as part of a growing leak investigation.
Dan Caldwell, an aide to Mr. Hegseth; Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg; and Darin Selnick, Mr. Hegseth's deputy chief of staff, were among four senior officials suspended last week.
All three were initially placed on leave pending an investigation, but in a joint statement issued by Mr Caldwell on X they expressed their “incredible disappointment at the way our service to the Department of Defense ended.”
He added: “Anonymous Pentagon officials have slandered us with baseless attacks during our departure.”
“At this point, we have yet to be told what specific reason we were being investigated, whether there is an active investigation going on, or whether there has been any real investigation into the 'leaks',” they said in a statement.
Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot also announced his resignation this week. However, the Pentagon said Mr. Ullyot had been asked to leave his position.
The events come less than 100 days into the Trump administration, during which the Pentagon has frequently found itself at the center of controversy, from firings of high-profile military and civilian employees to significant orders to remove content related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
This led to the temporary removal of images and other online content related to heroes such as the Tuskegee Airmen and Jackie Robinson from military websites, sparking public outrage.
Last month, Mr Hegseth announced that the Pentagon's intelligence and law enforcement agencies were investigating leaks of national security information following reports that Elon Musk was to receive classified information about possible war plans with China.
In a statement, Mr. Hegseth's chief of staff, Joe Kasper, said the department had warned that Defense Department employees could be subject to polygraph testing during the investigation.
The dismissals also followed the removal of senior military officers, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. K.K. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti, Director of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command Tim Ho, and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
