Three Hegseth aides ousted in leak investigation decry ‘baseless attacks’…

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Three former top advisers to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth criticized on Saturday what they described as unfounded accusations after being escorted out of the Pentagon as part of a widening investigation into information leaks. Caldwell, an aide to Hegseth; Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg; and Darin Selnick, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff, were among four officials from Hegseth’s inner circle who were removed this week. Initially placed on leave pending the investigation, the three released a joint statement, with Caldwell stating that they were “extremely disappointed by the way our tenure at the Department of Defense concluded. Unnamed Pentagon officials have maligned our reputation with groundless accusations as we exited.”

“We have yet to be informed of the specific reasons for the investigation, if it is ongoing, or if there was even a legitimate inquiry into ‘leaks’ in the first place,” the statement read. Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot also declared his resignation this week, although the Pentagon stated that Ullyot was requested to resign. The shakeup occurred within the first 100 days of the Trump administration, during which the Pentagon has faced numerous controversial actions, from dismissing senior military and civilian personnel to issuing directives to remove content promoting diversity, equity, or inclusion. This led to the temporary removal of images or other online material depicting figures like the Tuskegee Airmen and Jackie Robinson from military websites, sparking public outrage.

Last month, Hegseth disclosed that the Pentagon’s intelligence and law enforcement units were looking into leaks of national security information following reports that Elon Musk was to receive a classified briefing on potential war plans involving China. In a statement from Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, the office cautioned that Defense Department personnel might undergo polygraph tests as part of the investigation. The departures also follow the dismissals of senior military officials, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti, National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command director Gen. Tim Haugh, and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee.